New Delhi: Donald Trump began his second US presidency and the country’s 47th overall on Monday (January 20), having been administered the oath of office by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts at the Capitol in Washington.
Moments prior, his running mate and now Vice President J.D. Vance was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in a ceremony where past presidents and Big Tech CEOs figured among those present.
“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump declared at the outset of his inaugural address.
He continued: “From this day forward our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer.
“During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first.”
Congratulating his “dear friend” Trump on Monday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he looked forward to “working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries and to shape a better future for the world”.
Congratulations my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump on your historic inauguration as the 47th President of the United States! I look forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries, and to shape a better future for the world. Best wishes for a…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 20, 2025
Modi and Trump enjoyed generally warm relations during the latter’s first presidency between 2017 and 2021. During Modi’s 2019 visit to the US, the two appeared at a “Howdy, Modi!” event in Houston. Modi also hosted a rally for Trump called “Namaste Trump” in Ahmedabad when he visited India the next year.
The Indian prime minister was also among the first world leaders whose calls Trump took upon being declared the winner of the US presidential election last year.
In his inauguration speech Trump also said he would “declare a national emergency” at the southern border with Mexico and send troops there. He vowed to deport “millions and millions” of “criminal aliens”.
His administration would rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”, Trump said, also promising to “take back” the Panama Canal.
Normally held outside the Capitol, Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Monday was held indoors due to cold weather. The high temperature for Monday was pegged at -2 degrees Celsius.
Among the guests at the inauguration ceremony were former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush with their wives, as well as Barack Obama, who arrived unaccompanied.
Argentine President Javier Milei and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also attended, making Trump’s inauguration the first to be attended by foreign leaders.
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg were also in attendance, as was podcast host Joe Rogan.
Trump had arrived to the inauguration venue in the same limousine as outgoing President Joe Biden. It is tradition for the outgoing president to accompany the president-elect to the Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony.
The two did not ride together four years ago, when Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration and continued to claim that he was the real victor of the 2020 election.
In his final hours in office, Biden pardoned Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley and members of the US House committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Biden said in a statement that the officials “do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions”.
