Trump takes office, promises 'only two genders', border crackdown

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump pledged to rescue America from what he described as years of betrayal and decline in his inaugural address on Monday, prioritizing a crackdown on illegal immigration and portraying himself as a national savior chosen by God.

“First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,” he said. “All illegal entry will be immediately halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”

“I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America.”

“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders – male and female.”

The speech echoed many of the themes he sounded at his first inauguration in 2017 when he spoke darkly of the “American carnage” of crime and job loss that he said had ravaged the country.

Trump, 78, took the oath of office to “preserve, protect and defend” the U.S. Constitution at 12:01 p.m. ET (1701 GMT) inside the U.S. Capitol, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts. His vice president, JD Vance, was sworn in just before him.

The inauguration completes a triumphant comeback for a political disruptor who survived two impeachment trials, a felony conviction, two assassination attempts and an indictment for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss.

The ceremony was moved inside the Capitol due to the extreme cold, four years after a mob of Trump supporters breached the building, a symbol of American democracy, in an unsuccessful effort to forestall Trump’s loss to Joe Biden.

Biden and outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November, were on hand inside the Capitol’s Rotunda, along with former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016, arrived with her husband Bill, but Obama’s wife, Michelle, chose not to attend.

Numerous tech executives who have sought to curry favor with the incoming administration – including the three richest men in the world, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg – had prominent seats on stage, next to cabinet nominees and members of Trump’s family.

Trump, the first U.S. president since the 19th century to win a second term after losing the White House, has said he will pardon “on Day One” many of the more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. He skipped Biden’s inauguration and has continued to claim falsely that the 2020 election he lost to Biden was rigged.

Biden, in one of his last official acts, pardoned several people whom Trump has targeted for retaliation, including former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci, former Republican U.S. Representative Liz Cheney and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley.

The service heard an invocation by the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan and evangelist Reverend Franklin Graham.

Graham, a Trump supporter and the son of evangelist Billy Graham, said: “When Donald Trump’s enemies thought he was down and out, you and you alone saved his life and raised him up with strength and power by your mighty hand. We pray for President Trump that you’ll watch over, protect, guide, direct him.”

As Graham thanked God for saving Trump’s life, the crowd inside the Capital One Arena roared and applauded, followed by shouts of “alleluia”, giving the venue the air of a religious revivalist meeting.

Republican Trump and outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden had earlier travelled by motorcade together to the Capitol, where the ceremony was being held indoors — and with a much smaller crowd — for the first time in decades due to frigid weather.

Earlier, they and their spouses met for a traditional tea at the White House.

“Welcome home,” Biden said to Trump as he and First Lady Jill Biden greeted their successors at the front door to the presidential residence.

Over a dozen senior career diplomats to step aside

Donald Trump’s transition team has asked more than a dozen senior career diplomats to step down from their roles, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter said.

One of the sources said all undersecretary and assistant secretary level officials – effectively the entire two layers of officials under the secretary of state – were asked to step down.

Reuters reported last week that the team overseeing the State Department’s transition to the new administration asked three other senior career diplomats who oversee the department’s workforce and internal coordination to resign from their posts.

Trump has pledged to “clean out the deep state” by firing bureaucrats he deems disloyal – the staff changes appear to be in line with a broader effort reported to seize greater control of the federal government than any modern president.