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Your guide to what the 2024 US elections mean for Washington and the world

Donald Trump promised a “golden age for America” ​​as he used his inaugural address to unveil sweeping moves to undo Joe Biden’s policies and reverse a “crisis of trust” that he said has engulfed the government.

The new president announced bold new steps to boost energy production and curb immigration, as he pledged to quickly implement the populist and nationalist platform that propelled him to victory in the White House race last year.

Trump He also spoke of his return to the White House as a personal vindication, after two assassination attempts, and a mission to implement radical reforms in domestic and foreign policy.

“God saved me to make America great again,” he said in a speech that included echoes of his somber description of “American carnage” in his first inaugural address in 2017.

“For many years, an extremist and corrupt establishment has taken power and wealth from our citizens while the pillars of our society are broken and appear to be in complete tatters,” he said.

“We now have a government that cannot manage even a minor crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling through a continuing list of disastrous events abroad,” he said.

Trump said that his return to office means that “America’s decline is over,” and he pledged to “build again the strongest army the world has ever seen.” But he also signaled a new era of American expansionism when he said his country would regain control of the Panama Canal.

He repeated his election promises to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, saying that he would be a “peacemaker.”

“We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars we end, and perhaps more importantly, by the wars we never get into,” Trump said. “The legacy I am most proud of is that of a peacemaker and unifier.”

In an apparent reference to previous efforts to impeach him, Trump vowed that “the immense power of the state will never again be used as a weapon to persecute political opponents.” He had previously threatened to prosecute his political opponents.

The ceremony was attended by former presidents, including George W. Bush and Barack Obama, while tech billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, who recently sided with Trump, took prominent positions in the audience.

Trump returns to the White House with broader support from the public and business community than when he left office in 2021, just weeks after his supporters stormed the US Capitol to try to overturn Biden’s election.

Trump now faces the daunting task of fulfilling his promise to lower the cost of living for middle-class families, a pledge that was his most powerful political weapon in his victorious campaign against Kamala Harris.

The new president said he would declare a national emergency on issues including immigration and energy, giving the president the power to expedite new measures. As he spoke, the White House said he was withdrawing from Paris climate agreement.

“I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country,” he said in the speech.

But Trump stopped short of announcing new tariffs right away, instead planning to issue a memorandum directing government agencies to reevaluate US trade relations with trading partners including China, Mexico and Canada.

The hesitation suggests that his top aides are grappling with how aggressively to impose tariffs on America’s major trading partners. But Trump said tariffs would still be imminent.

“Instead of imposing taxes on our citizens to enrich other countries, we will impose tariffs and taxes on foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” he said.

Dollar It fell by as much as 1.3 percent against a basket of other currencies in Monday afternoon trading in the United States, putting it on track for its biggest decline since November 2023.

Trump’s return to the White House has alarmed some of America’s closest allies, who fear a further tendency towards protectionism and a new shift towards isolationism in Washington.

But loyal conservative world leaders cheered his election victory. Javier Miley, President of Argentina, and Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, were among the leaders who attended his inauguration.