Just before noon on Monday inside the U.S. Capitol, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States.
Two and a half months after his convincing election victory over Vice President Harris, the president-elect returns to office in what will symbolize his reinvention and redemption four years after being ushered out of the White House by the American electorate.
“We put America first, and it all starts tomorrow,” Trump told thousands of supporters jam-packed into Washington, D.C.’s, Capitol One Arena at his inauguration eve rally. “We begin a brand-new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride.”
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President-elect Trump takes the stage during a rally on Sunday, the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term in the White House. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
President Biden, Harris, former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat members of Congress, foreign dignitaries, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos – three of the wealthiest men in the world – other tech and business executives and some high-profile celebrities will crowd into the U.S. Capitol’s Rotunda for Trump’s inauguration, which will be held indoors for the first time in four decades due to an arctic blast that’s sweeping much of the nation.
After Trump’s inaugural address, there will be a rapid-fire series of events, including a formal farewell for Biden and Harris as they leave the Capitol. Minutes later, members of Congress will watch as Trump and JD Vance, the nation’s new vice president, take part in a signing ceremony followed by an inaugural lunch and then a review of the troops.
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Trump then returns to Washington, D.C.’s, downtown arena for an abbreviated parade, which was moved indoors because of the frigid weather, in front of thousands of supporters. After that, the new president heads to the White House for an Oval Office ceremony before making his way to the traditional inaugural balls in the evening.
Trump is also expected to get to work immediately, signing more than 200 executive actions on his first day in office, as Fox News Digital first reported Sunday.
“I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” Trump vowed at his inauguration eve rally. “You’re going to see executive orders that are going to make you extremely happy, lots of them, lots. We have to set our country on the proper course.”
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Trump’s first wave of policy priorities will focus on issues he highlighted during his presidential campaign, including border security, energy, curbing inflation and ending DEI programs across the federal government.
A senior administration official familiar with the executive actions and authorized to brief Fox News Digital said Trump on day one will end the “catch and release” of illegal immigrants; pause all offshore wind leases; terminate the electric vehicle mandate; abolish the so-called Green New Deal; withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord; and take several major steps to assert presidential control over the federal bureaucracy.
President-elect Trump speaks at a rally Sunday on the eve of the 60th presidential inauguration in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt and all the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home,” Trump pledged.
And “we’re going to end the Biden war on American energy and unleash our energy resources to quickly defeat inflation and achieve the lowest cost of energy and electricity on Earth.”
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Monday’s inauguration stands in stark contrast with President Biden’s inauguration four years ago, which was held two weeks after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory.
Trump, who disputed the results, refused to attend the inauguration or acknowledge Biden’s White House victory.
Four years ago, Trump left Washington in an extremely weakened position with much of the nation, including many Republicans, angry over the Capitol riot that forced members of Congress to flee for safety.
But four years later, after a two-year presidential campaign and a convincing popular-vote victory and sweep of all the key battleground states, Trump returns as a conquering hero.
President-elect Trump gestures during a rally on Sunday, the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term in the White House. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
“On this day, the U.S. will witness the return of President Trump at the zenith of his political power,” veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance noted.
As Trump retakes control of the presidency, the latest Fox News national poll indicates he receives his highest favorable rating – 50% compared to just 42% when he entered the White House the first time in 2017 – with half of registered voters approving of his handling of the presidential transition.
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“Trump’s journey since the election loss in 2020 is nothing short of remarkable. His refusal to accept the election results, support for the Jan. 6 insurrection and subsequent legal challenges, including indictments and convictions, would have historically ended any future political ambitions,” Lesperance said.
But Lesperance, president of New England College, noted that “voters in 2024 went another way. Trump’s path to redemption and his return to the Oval Office comes as a result of the unwavering commitment of his supporters and broad dissatisfaction of Americans over the direction the country had taken under Democrats. For Trump, Inauguration Day is a day of redemption.”
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Pointing to his White House victory, as well as Republicans winning back control of the Senate and defending their razor-thin majority in the House, Trump touted that “we not only won a mandate, but we built a new American majority that will lead our country to unparalleled success for generations to come.”
