WASHINGTON :
DONALD J Trump on Monday
took oath for a second term as
the United States President,
announcing a raft of executive
decisions, saying that the “golden age” of America had just
begun.
In a fiery inaugural address, the
47th US President described
January 20 as the “liberation day”
and declared that “America’s
decline is over” as changes will
come “very quickly”.
“America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most
powerful, most respected nation
on earth, inspiring the awe and
admiration from the entire
world,” he said.
Trump storms back to the
White House for the second term
with a strongman persona and
a vision of an all-powerful presidency with a promise to aggressively reset US policies in a range
of domains including immigration, tariffs and energy.
The new US President listed a
series of actions he would roll out
immediately including declaring a National Emergency at
the US-Mexico border, renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf
of America, and that the United
States would take back the
Panama Canal.
“From this day forward, our
country will flourish and be
respected again all over the
world. We will be the envy
of every nation, and we will
not allow ourselves to be
taken advantage of any longer,”
Trump said.
The Republican leader vowed
to put America “first” and that
the country would “flourish
and be respected” under his
leadership as a “peacemaker and
a unifier”.
The American dream will soon
be back and thriving like never
before, he said.
“After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional restriction of expression, I will also sign
an executive order to stop all
censorship and bring back free
speech to America,” he said.
External Affairs Minister S
Jaishankar attended the inauguration ceremony as Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s
special envoy.
“The scales of justice will be
rebalanced.
The vicious, violent
and unfair weaponisation of the
Justice Department and
Government will end,” Trump
said. In his remarks, Trump said America will not be “conquered or intimidated” “We will not fail. From this day on, the United States of America will be a free, sovereign and independent nation,” he says.
“The future is ours, and our golden age has just begun.”
In his address, Trump also pledged to increase domestic oil production, establish a Government entity to collect promised tariffs and revoke the programme promoting electric vehicles. JD Vance was sworn in as the Vice President ahead of Trump.
Trump registered a spectacular victory over his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the November 5 presidential election, defying two assassination attempts, two presidential impeachments and his criminal conviction.
Four years ago, Trump had left Washington as a pariah in the face of his unsuccessful attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election to stay in office. His victory in the bitterly fought election was widely acknowledged as the most momentous comeback in American political history.
The inauguration ceremony was held indoors under the Capitol Rotunda as against the initially planned outdoor venue in view of frigid temperatures in the US capital city.
The ceremony was attended by Trump’s wife Melania, his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, and billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook.