Donald Trump Claims Divine Mandate in Dark Inaugural Address

And so it begins.

Standing in the Capitol Rotunda, which his supporters stormed four years ago, Donald Trump took the oath of office Monday and ascended once again to the presidency. And in a characteristically dark address, he claimed a divine “mandate” to enact his agenda.

“I was saved by God to ‘Make America Great Again,’” Trump said, referring to his surviving an assassination attempt this summer. “America,” the 47th president said, “will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before.”

As he did in his first inaugural address, Trump painted a bleak picture of the country—and he cast himself as a conquering hero who will “immediately” rescue its citizens. His inauguration, Trump said, marks “liberation day.” Any challenges, he claimed, will be “annihilated by this great momentum” following his November victory over Kamala Harris. “We are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success.”

It was a surreal scene inside the Capitol, where proceedings were moved due to extreme cold, as Trump and JD Vance were sworn in feet away from Joe Biden, whose once-promising presidency now stands to be remembered mostly as a brief interlude between two terms of a man he has warned would be an “existential threat” to American democracy.

With Biden and first lady Jill Biden looking on, Trump railed against his predecessors as an inept administration presiding over a “betrayal” of the public: “From this moment on, America’s decline is over,” Trump said, touching on the themes of his campaign rallies—including his baseless claim that he was the victim of a “weaponized” political and legal system.

Trump outlined a flurry of executive orders he plans to issue in the opening hours of his presidency—including those related to a hardline immigration crackdown he made the centerpiece of his campaign. He railed against diversity initiatives and transgender Americans, even as he invoked Martin Luther King Jr. on the holiday commemorating the civil rights leader. He cast himself as a champion of “common sense,” “law and order,” and democracy. “Our golden age has just begun,” he told a crowd that included not only political allies like Tucker Carlson, but powerful corporate leaders who once spurned him but have now begun to cozy up to him.

The address was riddled with the usual falsehoods, lies, and exaggerations—as well as the kind of bluster that was his signature long before he entered politics. “With historic speed and strength,” he told a crowd at a victory rally in DC on the eve of his inauguration, he “will fix every single crisis facing our country.” On Monday, he echoed that: “We stand on the verge of the four greatest years of American history.”

Trump promised last month to focus his speech on “bringing our country together.” But what he delivered Monday was perhaps even darker than the “American carnage” address he gave eight years ago.

Back then, he was an outsider in a wary Washington, where his most nascent authoritarianism was held in check by albeit shaky guardrails. Now, he reenters office emboldened by victories in the electoral and popular votes, unified GOP control of the federal government, and a Democratic party that has little power right now to get in the way of his ambitions. “Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback,” Trump said Monday. “But as you can see today, here I am.”