President-elect Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Capitol Rotunda Monday as his first act as president.
Trump was sworn in to the office about noon eastern as the 47th president and immediately shook hands with now former President Joe Biden.
Trump said Jan. 20, 2025, was “liberation day” and pledged to end America’s decline, saying he hopes his election is remembered as the most consequential in the nation’s history
“The Golden Age of America begins right now,” Trump said to begin the speech.
“From this day forward our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world … I will very simply put America first.”
Trump promised a series of executive orders on his first day in office, pledging to declare a national emergency over the crisis at the southern border. He said deportation would begin and that he would reinstate Remain in Mexico, a policy that requires asylum seekers to wait outside the U.S. for processing.
He also promised to send troops to the border, and designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and end catch and release, a policy where border agents release illegal immigrants into the U.S. while they await court hearings, hearings they often never show up for.
The weaponization of the Justice Department was among the first problems Trump promised to tackle, clearly referencing his own prosecution.
Trump said he would also declare a national energy emergency and that the U.S. would “drill, baby, drill.” He also said he would cancel a Biden-era rule requiring a massive transition to electric vehicles over the next decade.
“America will soon be greater, stronger and far more exceptional than ever before,” Trump said.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s opponent in the 2024 campaign for president, looked on as Trump gave the address.
