US President Donald Trump yesterday began his first day in office, riding a wave of executive orders signed just hours after his inauguration on Monday on everything from immigration to the environment and culture wars.
It was unclear if or when more executive orders would come from Trump, as the country and world digest the blizzard of actions he took on Monday — including initiating withdrawals from the Paris climate accord and the WHO.
Signed in front of roaring supporters at an arena and then later in the Oval Office, the long list of policy changes offered a vivid symbol of Trump’s increased preparedness versus eight years prior, when he entered the White House with zero governing experience.
Photo: AFP
The Republican said in a speech after taking the oath at the Capitol — in a ceremony held indoors due to freezing weather — that “America’s decline is over” after four years of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency, pledging “the golden age of America begins right now.”
Biden watched stony-faced during the inauguration ceremony, as his political nemesis read the last rites over his single term in office.
However, after the pomp and ceremony, it was the showman Trump of his first term — along with the sometimes strongman-style rhetoric — who was on display later in the day.
Photo: Reuters
“Could you imagine Biden doing this? I don’t think so,” Trump told a cheering crowd at a Washington sports arena as he threw them the pens he had used to sign a first round of orders.
Back in the Oval Office, he held an impromptu 50-minute press conference as he signed more orders — including one pardoning about 1,500 Capitol rioters.
They were charged for taking part in the assault on Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, by thousands of Trump supporters seeking to stop the certification of Biden’s election victory.
“We hope they come out tonight frankly,” Trump said. “They’re expecting it.”
He signed orders declaring a national emergency at the Mexican border and said he would deploy US troops to tackle illegal immigration — a key campaign issue that drove his election victory over Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
The returning president often struck a nationalistic tone, pledging to impose trade tariffs, rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” and take “back” the Panama Canal, which has been controlled by the Central American country since 1999.
Trump signaled plans to impose previously threatened tariffs of as much as 25 percent on Mexico and Canada by Feb. 1, reiterating his contention that the US’ closest neighbors and largest trading partners are letting undocumented migrants and drugs flood into the nation.
However, he played down his earlier promises to get a peace agreement in Ukraine before taking office.
He confirmed that he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and said the latter was “destroying Russia” by not making a deal to end the war.
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