WASHINGTON — In his second inaugural address, President Donald Trump painted a dark picture of an America in decline and vowed to be the nation’s savior, starting with a torrent of executive orders he will sign on his first day to jumpstart an ambitious agenda.

“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said shortly after he and Vice President JD Vance took their oaths in the Capitol Rotunda.

With the stroke of a pen, Trump said he will pause all offshore wind leases, abolish the electric vehicle mandate, withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accord and end all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government.

But the most sweeping and immediate actions will focus on the U.S.-Mexico border. An incoming White House official said at least 10 executive actions regarding immigration would be signed today, with more following.

Trump said he would declare a national emergency on the southern border, which will allow him to send resources and the military to the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Trump also said he would  end what he derisively calls a “catch and release policy,” under which immigrants seeking asylum or other ways to remain legally in the United States would not be allowed to stay in this country while their claims were adjudicated.

The president also said he will  designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, raising the question of whether U.S. troops would be deployed in Mexico. A White House official said that has not been determined but could be at the discretion of the new defense secretary, which would be Pete Hegseth if he is confirmed to that position. 

Although he did not mention these proposals in his speech, the White House official said Trump also plans to pause refugee resettlement programs for at least four months and end asylum claims and birthright citizenship, which grants all who were born in the United States, including the children of undocumented immigrants, U.S. citizenship.

Ending birthright citizenship and other proposals, including the establishment of new federal security task forces to work with state and local law enforcement officials to carry out deportations, are expected to be challenged in court as violations of the U.S. Constitution.

In his inaugural speech, with Biden only a few yards away, Trump cast himself as a savior that would “reverse a horrible betrayal and all these many betrayals that have taken place and give people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom.”

“From this moment on, America’s decline is over,” Trump said.

He also invoked a phrase used historically to justify the expansion of the United States, saying he planned to plant an American flag on Mars and “take back” the Panama Canal, incorrectly saying China controlled the passageway and that U.S. ships were subject to unfair fees to cross it.

But he left his more incendiary comments for a speech to supporters in the U.S. Capitol who could not enter the rotunda because of space limitation.

Trump told those supporters he would sign an executive order on his first day back at the White House that would pardon those serving sentences for their roles in the January 6 rioting at the Capitol.

He repeated false claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and said there were Democratic attempts to steal last year’s election too, but his margin of victory was “just too big” for them to be able to do so. 

Activities moved indoors

Trump’s swearing in and other inauguration ceremonies were  moved indoors because of concerns over chilly weather. Trump was sworn in in the Capitol Rotunda and his supporters gathered in the Capital One Arena that usually hosts professional hockey and basketball games to watch inauguration ceremonies on big screens.

The inaugural parade that usually winds down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House was also moved to the sports arena.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who as a senior member of the Senate Rules Committee is now the highest-ranking member of the panel and the chair of the Joint Inaugural Committee, had a high-profile role on Monday.

After Friday’s decision to move the inaugural activities indoors, Klobuchar scrambled to help move the swearing in to the Capitol Rotunda and the parade to the Capitol Center. She rode with now-former President Joe Biden and Trump to the Capitol Monday morning and addressed the crowd of lawmakers, former presidents and celebrities in the rotunda before the  swearing in.

“Our great American experiment, grounded in the rule of law, has endured. So as we inaugurate a new president, let us remember that the power of those in this room comes from the people,” Klobuchar said.

She also said the peaceful transfer of power on Monday is “a further reminder that we should uphold our values as enshrined in the Constitution.” 

In another nod to Klobuchar, and to her Republican counterpart, Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, the congressional lunch that traditionally follows the  swearing in ceremony featured Omaha Angus Ribeye steak and Minnesota Apple Ice Box Terrine for dessert.

Klobuchar was also seated next to Trump at the table of honor during the congressional lunch, with Vance sitting on her other side. 

After the inaugural activities were moved indoors, Minnesota’s lawmakers advised constituents they could still drop by the lawmakers’ Capitol Hill offices to pick up their tickets to the inauguration, but they were now merely “commemorative.”

“While I am sure Minnesotans would have braved the cold to watch President Trump’s inauguration, unfortunately the Inaugural Committee will no longer hold the inauguration outdoors and constituents who had secured tickets will no longer be granted access to the ceremony,” Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6^th District, posted on X. 

Emmer and fellow Minnesota Republican Reps. Brad Finstad, Pete Stauber and Michelle Fischbach all attended the inauguration, as did Democratic Sen. Tina Smith and Democratic Reps. Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig. But two Democrats – Reps. Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum — preferred to instead attend events honoring Martin Luther King Jr. in Minnesota. 

In a video posted on X, Fischbach cheered Trump’s vow to end “wokeness” in society, politics and the workplace. “For too long, Democrats have been pushing a woke agenda that frankly benefits criminals more than American citizens,” Fischbach said.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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