Donald Trump’s Four Inaugural Addresses
And all the Day One executive orders you should know about.
Good morning! It’s Tuesday, January 21, 2025, the first full day of Donald Trump’s second term as president.
Hold on tight. If the last 24 hours are any indication, the next four years in American politics promise to be consequential, unpredictable, and full of action. I’m looking forward to being your guide through it all: I’ll be here to break everything down and explain it for you, every step of the way.
My pledge to you is that I will cover the new administration fully, fairly, and substantively, without regard to party and with the goal of putting events in a broader context wherever it may be helpful. If you appreciate my mission, the most helpful thing you can do is upgrade to a paid subscription to support fact-based journalism for the next four years.
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Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Monday, cementing an extraordinary political comeback that made him the first former president to return to the White House since Grover Cleveland in 1893.
The ceremony — held inside the Capitol Rotunda due to weather — brought together titans of American politics, media, and culture, arrayed in an order that signaled the hierarchies of power for the next four years to come.
In front of the incoming Cabinet sat the world’s three richest men — Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg — boasting a combined net worth of nearly $1 trillion between them. Just behind the nation’s former presidents and vice presidents sat UFC head Dana White and Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch.
While Republican heavyweights like Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott were relegated to an overflow room, Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan received prime seats in the rotunda. (Influencers like Theo Von, Jake and Logan Paul, Adin Ross, and the Nelk Boys were also spotted in the overflow room.) The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, sat behind Trump, facing many of the 400+ lawmakers of both parties who voted to ban his app less than a year ago.
Standing just feet away from outgoing President Joe Biden — who used his final minutes in office to give preemptive blanket pardons to his siblings — Trump laid into his predecessor’s management of the country. “We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home while, at the same time, stumbling into a continuing catalogue of catastrophic events abroad,” Trump said.
“The golden age of America begins right now,” the new president promised. Trump, 78, is the oldest president to be sworn in, while his deputy JD Vance, 40, became the third-youngest vice president in U.S. history.
The realities of Trump’s return could immediately be felt. At the Pentagon, a newly hung portrait of the retired general Mark Milley — who had previously called Trump a “fascist” — came down. Along the border, tens of thousands of migrants were stranded as the CBP One app (used by the Biden administration to schedule times for migrants to seek asylum) was shut down, canceling all pending appointments. Elsewhere, thousands of Afghans who had worked with the U.S. were left scrambling as Trump moved to suspend refugee admissions.
At jails across the country, approximately 1,500 January 6th rioters prepared to be released as Trump granted a “full, complete and unconditional pardon” to all those who had been convicted of storming the Capitol in defense of his false election claims. No discrimination was made between violent and non-violent offenders, ensuring that rioters who assaulted police officers will also walk free. (14 rioters, including leaders of groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, were granted commutations, not pardons, which means they will still be freed from prison but the conviction won’t be wiped from their record entirely.)
Meanwhile, Trump’s acting U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. — who was on the board of a group that defended Capitol rioters — moved to dismiss pending cases against other January 6th defendants.
In other parts of the federal bureaucracy, Admiral Linda Fagan, the first female head of a military service, was ousted as commandant of the Marine Corps, a position that normally remains constant across administrations; the leaders of the U.S. immigration court system were dismissed as well. “Over a thousand Presidential Appointees” were in the process of being removed, Trump wrote on Truth Social after midnight, name-checking four officials in particular.
In total, Trump signed 26 executive orders, 12 memoranda, and four proclamations on his first day. With the stroke of a pen — make that a Sharpie — the U.S. withdrew from the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accords. Federal employees were ordered to return to in-person work. Energy and border emergencies were declared. DEI programs across the government were wound down. The Gulf of Mexico, at least for federal purposes, became the “Gulf of America.”
On Capitol Hill, Republican lawmakers moved just as quickly: Trump’s first Cabinet nominee, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was confirmed in a 99-0 vote. In another display of bipartisanship, the Senate also passed the first piece of legislation of the Trump era, an immigration bill called the Laken Riley Act, by a vote of 64-35. Trump’s nominees to be Defense Secretary, Homeland Security Secretary, and CIA Director also advanced out of committee.
Several of Trump’s executive actions are poised to face immediate legal challenges: the ACLU has already filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship for children of parents who illegally entered the U.S. or were in the country through student, work, or tourist visas. Actions declaring it “the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female” and directing his attorney general “not to take any action on behalf of the United States to enforce” the law banning TikTok are also likely to end up in court.
At 2,885 words, Trump’s inaugural address was the longest in almost 100 years, since Herbert Hoover’s speech in 1929. (Neither come close to William Henry Harrison’s record-setting, ultimately fatal 8,460-word stemwinder.) But it ended up being only a fraction of his oration for the day: all told, Trump gave about two hours’ worth of speeches Monday, delivering remarks not only at his inauguration, but also to the overflow crowd at the Capitol, to supporters at Capitol One Arena, and to reporters as he signed executive orders at the White House. (He also gave brief remarks at three inaugural balls.)
While the official inaugural address was largely stilted and scripted — as Trump flatly read off a teleprompter — his three other extended remarks appeared to be largely extemporaneous, offering an insight into the new president’s mindset as he returned to office. “I think this was a better speech than the one I made upstairs,” Trump said after offering a freewheeling stream of consciousness for the overflow crowd, remarking several times that he was mentioning topics (like the January 6th pardons) that his aides had asked him to leave out of the formal address.
Taken together, the four speeches revealed a president savoring his victory, boasting in the formal speech of his “powerful win in all seven swing states,” campaign rhetoric that was unusual for an inaugural address. While his formal address largely cast forward, the other speeches included plenty of looking backwards, repeating his false claims of election fraud and unleashing grievances against past rivals from Hillary Clinton to Nancy Pelosi.
They also showed a president — despite his rhetoric about the media — anxious to engage with reporters: as he signed executive orders in the Oval Office, an aide repeatedly struggled to capture his attention as Trump answered about 45 minutes of shouted questions from reporters, a break from former President Biden’s infrequent extended Q&As.
And they reflected a penchant for showmanship (whether he was throwing Sharpie pens into the audience at Capitol One or dramatically holding up Biden’s letter to him in the Oval Office) and a meticulous producer’s eye (from praising the acoustics of the Capitol Rotunda to re-positioning a photographer at one point). “Not on the side angle,” Trump said.
Most importantly, to Trump at least, the four speeches ensured that he was omnipresent for the entire day. As a Trump adviser put it to Axios: “He owned every second of screen time today.”
At each event, Trump was happy to use others as set pieces: the billionaires in the Rotunda; the reporters in the Oval; even relatives of Israeli hostages at Capitol One Arena, who were made to stand behind Trump and applaud as he reeled through partisan talking points (even comparing their plight to that of the January 6th rioters, who he termed “hostages” as well). According to Politico, Trump said the words “I,” “me,” and “my” 50 times in his formal Rotunda speech, compared to four times in his 2017 inaugural address.
By day’s end, it was clear that a new era in Washington had begun — and there was no question about who was planted firmly at the center of it.
More news to know
Elon Musk is set to receive a sought-after West Wing office, placing the world’s richest man within feet of the Oval Office, an unprecedented merger of wealth and power. (Vivek Ramaswamy, ousted from DOGE, will not be joining him.)
Two Americans held in Afghanistan were released in exchange for a Taliban member, as part of a prisoner swap negotiated by the Biden administration in one of its final actions.
Don’t believe the rumors: Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) says a party switch is not going to happen. “I would make a pretty bad Republican,” he added.
Israel’s military chief resigned, citing his “terrible failure” to prevent the attacks on October 7th.
Kamala Harris, in her first act as a former vice president, looked awfully like a future California gubernatorial candidate as she thanked first responders and handed out free meals to people affected by the Los Angeles fires and
The day ahead
All times Eastern.
President Donald Trump will attend a National Prayer Service with interfaith leaders at the National Cathedral, continuing a post-inaugural tradition that dates back to FDR. Later, he will meet with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), and make an announcement about infrastructure.
Vice President JD Vance swore in Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this morning.
The Senate will resume consideration of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would penalize health care practitioners who fail to provide care for infants who survive after a failed abortion.
The House will consider seven pieces of legislation, including bills to create a National Medal of Honor Monument near the Lincoln Memorial and to establish a task force on shark depredation.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in FDA v. R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. and McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates, Inc. v. McKesson Corporation.
This is a detailed and concise breakdown of how the day happened. It is valuable information to have. I’ve created a file to keep each of these types of articles, both online and printed, so there is a historical record.
I did miss your voice though. You have been writing in your own voice and adding your thoughts to your reporting for some time. It’s not here and I miss it. If this is a conscious decision for self-preservation I fully understand that. We are all in for, at least, a horrible four years. Barring an attack by space aliens - which might be preferable to what awaits us. Well, those of us who value what America could be are in for it. The fascists are giddy and will grow even more so with every person they hurt (which, according to president musk, includes me). Those of us not evilangelicals, fascists or cruel bastards are in for it. So, I definitely understand self-preservation during these horrible, tumultuous years. No judgement here.
Stay safe Gabe. These articles are needed.
One note - Linda Fagan was the Commandant of the Coast Guard, not the Marine Corps.