WASHINGTON – With less than 24 hours under his belt as the 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump fulfilled several of his campaign promises with a series of executive orders signed before an audience of over 20,000 inaugural parade attendees at the Capital One Arena. The president’s first official actions put on display his MAGA agenda and his criticism of the Biden-Harris administration.
His executive orders came after a full day of traditional Inauguration Day activities, some looking slightly different than tradition thanks to sub-freezing temperatures.
Immediately after taking the oath of office for his second term on Monday, President Trump took to the podium in the Capitol rotunda among 600 of Washington’s greatest politicians and promised a better future.
His first remarks as president: “The golden age of America begins right now.”
That promise was followed by criticism of the outgoing administration. Trump described the government under former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris as, “a radical and corrupt establishment” that failed to protect law-abiding U.S. citizens by providing a haven for dangerous criminals, not defending the southern border from illegal immigrants and failing to give appropriate disaster relief.
Trump said he has been tested and challenged throughout the past eight years more so than any president in America’s nearly 250-year history. But, he declared, “America’s decline is over.”
Trump signed many of the changes he discussed at his inaugural address later in the day. Those included declaring a national emergency on the southern border, designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and directing all Cabinet members to marshall their power to “defeat what was record inflation.” Trump also signed an executive order to stop all government censorship, declare that only two genders exist in U.S. policy and announce an end to the Green New Deal, an ambitious plan to wean the U.S. from fossil fuels and drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions.
When introduced at his inaugural address, those promises earned him standing ovations from fellow politicians in the rotunda.
Meanwhile, over 20,000 Trump supporters dressed in “Daddy’s home” sweaters, MAGA hats, Uncle Sam costumes and other paraphernalia gathered at the Capital One Arena for a live viewing of all Inauguration Day activities.
In the arena, attendees were overjoyed — some showing their excitement with derogatory terms and phrases directed at any Democratic party officials shown on the arena’s jumbotron.
Whether it was Minority U.S. House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, many attendees shouted charged, derogatory statements.
But, Democratic leaders weren’t the only targets of these comments.
When Former Vice President Mike Pence entered, the crowd reacted with boos.
One attendee who had been standing immediately sat down and urged others to do the same when Pence appeared on screen. “Sit down, don’t stand for him.”
The inauguration viewing continued inside the arena with special guest speakers like Elon Musk, who promised to take the U.S. to Mars, and Charlie Kirk, known for his videos on college campuses. Meanwhile, guests – some of whom had been there for over 12 hours – grew restless.
Doors for the event opened at 8 a.m., but many Trump supporters camped out hours earlier, ensuring their spot to see and hear from President Trump after failing to see him at a rally on Sunday.
For sisters Laurel Gebben, 65, and Michele Nunnelley, 61, of Orlando, waking up at 4 a.m. to camp in front of the arena was a no-brainer.
Sunday, the two tried to get into the ‘Make America Great Again Victory Rally, also hosted at the Capital One Arena, but were unsuccessful because of the sheer number of people who had the same idea.
“There were people who waited eight hours and never got in,” Nunnelley said.
Gebben and Nunnelley also had tickets for the in-person inauguration — that is, before the event was moved inside.
The news of its relocation arrived before the day of their scheduled flight, they said, so, they could’ve canceled the entire trip to Washington, but they didn’t care.
“We'll never have this experience in a lifetime,” she said. “The country is really behind him now — before [Trump’s first inauguration] he had so much pushback.”
From a small wooden desk on the arena’s stage, Trump signed his first term-defining executive orders.
Those include orders to:
- Revoke 78 Biden-approved administration executive actions
- Prevent “bureaucrats” from issuing any more regulations
- Freeze all federal hiring, with exceptions for military and undisclosed categories
- Require all federal workers to immediately return to full-time, in-person work
- Call for every federal government agency to address the cost of living
- Withdraw from the 2015 Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change
- Order a restoration of freedom of speech and prevent government censorship of free speech going forward
- Directive to end the “weaponization” of the federal government
President Trump is expected to sign a slew of executive orders in the coming days of his second term.