The inauguration ceremony is typically an event that is bipartisan. It takes place in Washington D.C every four years after the new president is elected, and it is a celebration for and of the American people. It is a salute to America’s choice and Americans right to choose.
And so, on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump returned to power. This time he was accompanied at the inauguration by his new vice president, JD Vance.
The ceremony and other events of the day definitely signal changes in America. With electoral choice comes consequences; some of these voters intended and others they may not have. Swinging in the balance are such issue as climate change, social media, immigration policies and many more.
Around noon Monday, Trump swore an oath to the American people, but by midnight Tuesday, it seemed to some critics as if his oath had already been tainted by the billionaires and the conglomerates beside him. Meanwhile, the MAGA, or Make America Great Again, faithful expressed pure jubilation.
Trump’s inauguration promised to curb American liberalism and yield to a new conservative regime. Thousands gathered in Washington, D.C. despite frigid temperatures to party as Trump deemed that the “golden age of America begins right now.”
With an intentional pivot away from placing his hand on the Bible, Trump seemed to pledge his oath toward the billionaires, and their billion-dollar stocks, in paid attendance. Within hours, he signed executive orders undoing much of his predecessor’s work and pardoning hundreds for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2017 riots.
Some of his Day 1 actions included the extension of the Tiktok-ban, which effectively take places 75 days from his inauguration date, and America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, a move he said will salvage the American economy.
He also declared that the U.S. will only recognize two genders and that the body of water between the U.S. and Mexico should be called, the Gulf of America.
But out of all these, the executive order that made headline news was his strict policy on immigration. Trump immediately began an authoritarian clamp on immigration, blocking migrants heading to the country and expelling thousands of migrants imminently. He also declared a national emergency at the southern border and tasked the military with border enforcement.
Trump wasn’t the only one who made headlines at his inauguration. His wife, Melania Trump, was also the talk of the town as she was adorned in a classy suit that appeared built of armor. She seemed almost decadent by his side, much different from her 2017 First Lady persona, which was stiff and nearly mute. There was a certain eeriness about her appearance, as if it foreshadowed another massive change to be watched during Trump’s second go-around as President of the United States.
