WASHINGTON — Harkening back to the “American carnage” of his first inaugural address, President Donald Trump on Monday laid out a vision of an America fallen into disrepair and beset by foes on all sides – and his plans to restore the vigor and vitality of the nation.
“For American citizens, Jan. 20, 2025, is liberation day,” Trump said to applause from supporters and Republican members of Congress gathered in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.
In a 30-minute speech, Trump charted the course of his return to power – including the attempt on his life during a July rally in Pennsylvania – and laid out his priorities for his second administration. He repeatedly decried what he described as a loss of respect abroad and a capitulation to forces, both within and without the country, that have sought to sap the inherent pioneering spirit of America. He promised a new golden age in America, and said he’d been through hell in his quest to deliver it.
“Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and, indeed, to take my life,” Trump said. “Just a few months ago in a beautiful Pennsylvania field an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.”
READ MORE | Full transcript of President Trump’s 2025 inaugural address
Trump’s priorities list was long, and includes promises of day one actions on immigration and the military and the creation of at least two new government agencies: the Department of Government Efficiency, to be helmed by billionaire Elon Musk, and the External Revenue Service. He said the latter would collect tariffs, duties and revenues he intends to extract from foreign trade partners. Tariffs, which are paid by U.S. importers and typically passed onto consumers in the form of higher prices, are already collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Nevertheless Trump, who favored tariffs as an economic cudgel during his first term and has described them as “the greatest thing ever invented,” promised Monday they help usher in a new wave of prosperity for the country.
“It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury coming from foreign sources,” Trump said. “The American dream will soon be back and thriving like never before.”
Much of Trump’s economic vision for America revolved around what he described as a revitalization of the country’s manufacturing and oil and gas industries. He pinned rising inflation on government overspending and increased energy costs, and promised to direct his cabinet to “marshal the vast powers at their disposal” to bring consumer prices down. Among other national emergencies relating to the southern border he promised, he said he would announce a national energy emergency.
“We will drill, baby, drill!” Trump promised.
Trump also made a list of specific actions he promised to take in the first weeks of his presidency, ranging from delivering on culture war promises to his base to more personal goals, like reclaiming the Panama Canal. Those actions included:
- Declaring a national emergency on the southern border, designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and Invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to mobilize federal and state law enforcement against foreign gangs in the U.S.
- Reinstating service members who were expelled from the military over objections to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
- Reversing former President Barack Obama’s decision to rename what was formerly known as Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America, to Denali and renaming it after former President William McKinley.
- Declaring the official government position that there are only two genders: male and female.
- Renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
- Repealing emission rules finalized under the Biden administration which would require two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be zero emission by 2032, which Trump has described as an “electric vehicle mandate.”
The through-line of Trump’s speech was a promise to restore America to global dominance with a return to the early nation’s pioneering spirit. Without mentioning another long-stated goal of his – the purchase of Greenland from Denmark – Trump suggested under his administration the United States would seek to expand its borders.
“The United States will once again consider ourselves a growing nation – one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons,” Trump said. “And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars – launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.”
Notably absent from his speech was any mention of another day one promise from his campaign: pardons or clemency for the more than 1,500 defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. As recently as his victory rally on Sunday, Trump promised to take action on what he described as the “J6 hostages.” He was widely expected to sign an executive order pardoning at least some of those defendants on Monday, although the exact details of that order had not yet been made public.