Donald Trump returns to power

(Washington) Donald Trump, at the height of his political power, became president of the United States for the second time on Monday.

“The golden age of the United States begins,” the Republican declared in his first speech as the 47th president .

Minutes earlier, he had raised his right hand and vowed to “protect the Constitution” under the dome of the Capitol, the very site his supporters stormed on January 6, 2021, to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s election.

The Republican billionaire, who defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris on November 5, is now, at 78, the oldest American head of state ever inaugurated.

The oath concludes the most extraordinary political comeback in recent American history, that of a former president who never acknowledged his defeat in 2020, who cries for “revenge” against his opponents, who has been convicted of criminal charges, who was the target of two assassination attempts this summer, and who led a campaign of staggering rhetorical violence, peppered with racist and sexist remarks.

His Democratic predecessor, who is concluding half a century of political life, organized a smooth transition of power to this man who never ceased to humiliate him.

Multiple promises

US President Donald Trump promised in his inauguration speech on Monday to tax foreign countries to “enrich” American citizens.

“I will immediately begin to overhaul our trade system to protect American families and workers. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will impose tariffs and taxes on foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” declared the 47th American president, who was recently sworn in at the Capitol in Washington.

He also announced that he would declare a national “energy emergency” aimed at boosting hydrocarbon production in the United States, already the world’s largest producer, thereby jeopardizing global efforts to curb global warming.

“We’re going to drill like crazy,” declared the American president, reiterating his campaign promise and assuring that he would reverse many of the climate measures taken by his predecessor Joe Biden to promote the energy transition and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the country, the world’s second-largest polluter after China.

The administration of new US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the United States would withdraw for a second time from the Paris climate agreement, thus jeopardizing global efforts to slow global warming.

“President Trump will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement,” the White House said in a statement. The United States, the world’s second-largest polluter behind China and historically the largest polluter, had already briefly left the agreement during the Republican’s first term, before Joe Biden acted on their return.

Donald Trump has vowed to “take back” control of the Panama Canal, stressing that “the purpose of our agreement and the spirit of our treaty have been totally violated.”

Then, the official policy of the United States will recognize only “two sexes, male and female,” the 47th American president Donald Trump also declared during his inauguration speech.

“Effective immediately, it is the official policy of the United States government that there are only two sexes, male and female,” said Donald Trump, whose team has promised several executive orders to stop federal aid for transgender people.

US President Donald Trump said in his inauguration speech on Monday that Americans would “plant” the American flag “on the planet Mars.”

Thanks

“Welcome home,” Joe Biden had said earlier when he received Donald Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania Trump, for a final courtesy visit to the White House.

The normality is only a facade, because the 82-year-old Democrat also took, a few minutes before handing over power, an absolutely unprecedented decision.

He has indeed preemptively pardoned his closest family members, for fear that they would be the object of a Republican judicial vendetta. These are his brother James Biden, his sister Valerie Biden Owens, their respective spouses, Sara Jones Biden and John Owens, as well as his brother, Francis Biden.

Unlike the Republican, who had boycotted his inauguration, the 46th Democratic president had taken his place in the vast marble-paved room, the cathedral of American political life.

Alongside him were former US presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as multi-billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, the now unavoidable Elon Musk, as well as far-right leaders and personalities invited in a personal capacity.

The inauguration ceremony is usually held outdoors, but protocol was disrupted by the freezing temperatures.

In the process, Donald Trump must sign a first round of decrees.

“The decline of the United States is over,” the Republican assured after taking the oath of office. A decline caused, according to him, in the first place by an “invasion” of migrants as well as by progressive ideas, which he describes with the pejorative term “woke” ideology.

For example, he will declare a state of emergency on the border with Mexico and mobilize the army there.

He who had promised to put an end to the “transgender delirium” will also order the “recognition” of the existence of only “two sexes” by the federal state, senior officials of his future administration have announced.

Also expected are announcements on energy and the environment, as well as pardons for the Capitol attackers convicted following January 6, 2021.

Return without concussion

Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump promised to “get revenge” on his political opponents.

Faced with this threat, Joe Biden, a few hours before leaving power, and before doing the same for his family, had decided to grant preventive pardons to a series of “state servants” risking “unjustified legal proceedings”.

Among them, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, a virulent critic of Donald Trump, doctor Anthony Fauci, in the sights of Trumpists for having orchestrated the American response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as congressmen who investigated the assault on the Capitol.

Donald Trump’s first term was a succession of internal political crises and diplomatic clashes.

There is no guarantee that his second presidency will be more controlled, but his return to power is taking place without the commotion caused by his victory in 2016.

Donald Trump has, in four years, locked down the Republican Party. He can rely on a slim majority in Congress and a Supreme Court anchored to the right.

He has surrounded himself with loyalists in the government, has received the allegiance of the biggest bosses, and few foreign leaders dare to criticize him openly.