Nobody ever accused Donald Trump of consistency. Shortly after being sworn in, he promised to bring peace to the world, reoccupy the Panama Canal and expand the US’s territory. The latter sounded very much like a declaration of war – a first in the history of US inaugural addresses. The trick, as ever with Trump, is to figure out what he means from the merely rhetorical.
His imagery of a new golden age was very different from 2017 when he spoke of “American carnage”. But his speech this time round carried far more specific actions, including territorial aggression on America’s neighbours, US troops on the Mexican border, the start of mass deportations of illegal immigrants, an end to electric vehicle subsidies and a new age of “drill, baby, drill”. These should be taken seriously.
The vibes in the Capitol Rotunda also spoke volumes. It would be an understatement to say that Trump’s second inauguration was unprecedented. Surrounded by the world’s richest men, with north of a trillion dollars of wealth in the room, topped by Elon Musk ($434 billion), Jeff Bezos ($240 billion) and Mark Zuckerberg ($212 billion), Trump’s return was blessed by what outgoing president Joe Biden called the new oligarchy.
Never before has such wealth rubbed inaugural shoulders with a president who is also a billionaire. Trump has been using his return to expand his own wealth. In the days before the inauguration, he added billions to his paper wealth by launching a meme coin instantly dubbed “$Trump”. His wife, Melania, followed suit with her own crypto offering. He also made a bid for the US to take a 50 per cent stake in TikTok, the China-owned social media app whose ban by Congress was upheld last week by the supreme court. Shou Zi Chew, TikTok’s chief executive, was also there.
Trump inauguration as it happened: ‘We will be the envy of every nation,’ Donald Trump says as he becomes 47th US president
Donald Trump returns to strike sombre tone of vindication and providential intercession
Right-wing figures jockey to be UK’s Trump whisperer as Keir Starmer is left to watch from afar
Trump inauguration speech signals regime change rather than a transfer of power
The contrast between Trump and his predecessors, Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama and Biden, signalled more of a regime change than an ordinary transfer of power. They listened with thinly disguised astonishment as Trump laid out an agenda that would undo virtually everything they stood for – whether Bush Republican or Biden Democrat.
That morning Biden said “welcome home” to Trump as he greeted him at the White House. He also pre-emptively pardoned former public officials and members of his own family from the retribution that Trump reiterated in his address. The ceremony took place in a room that was vandalised four years ago by Trump’s supporters claiming the 2020 election was stolen.
In addition to promising he would plant the stars and stripes on Mars, Trump said that God had saved him from the assassin’s bullet last July so that he could make America great again. After Trump finished speaking in 2017, Bush turned to the Clintons and said “that was some weird s**t”. It is unclear if Bush had any words to describe Trump’s second inauguration on Monday.
– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
- Listen to our Inside Politics Podcast for the latest analysis and chat
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date