Sawt Falasteen - Trump promises new US 'golden age' with blitz of presidential orders

In a nationalistic and often divisive inaugural address after taking the oath in the US Capitol, the 47th president promised a slew of measures on everything from the Mexican border, to defining gender, and ending US participation in the fight to stop global warming.

The Republican then reached out to core supporters by signing an order pardoning supporters convicted for attacking the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an attempt to overturn his election loss to Joe Biden.

"The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world," Trump said in the Capitol, where the inauguration was held indoors for the first time in decades, due to freezing weather.

Trump harshly denounced what he called outgoing president Biden's "radical and corrupt establishment" and said that "America's decline is over."

After the pomp and ceremony at the Capitol, it was the showman Trump who was on display later in the day.

In front of a cheering crowd at a Washington sports arena, the 78-year-old billionaire signed the first of what he said were around 100 executive orders.

"Could you imagine Biden doing this? I don't think so," said Trump as he threw supporters the pens that he had used to sign order including one pulling the United States out of the Paris climate treaty.

- 'Only two genders' -

Trump then returned to the White House, four years after he left in disgrace, completing the most remarkable comeback in US political history.

Trump says he will also sign orders declaring a national emergency at the Mexican border and deploy US troops to tackle illegal immigration -- a key campaign issue that drove his election victory over Kamala Harris.

He also said his government would recognize "only two genders, male and female," ending the current practice of providing a third gender option in some settings, and scrap government diversity programs.

Trump also vowed to "drill, baby, drill" for oil, and scrap rules aimed at persuading motorists to buy electric vehicles.

The returning president struck a nationalistic tone, pledging to impose trade tariffs, rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, and take "back" the Panama Canal, which has been controled by the Central American country since 1999.

Finally he vowed to "plant the Stars and Stripes" on the planet Mars.

In contrast to his ousting four years ago, Trump was surrounded by America's wealthy and powerful for the inauguration.

Elon Musk, the world's richest man, plus Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai all had prime seats in the Capitol alongside Trump's family and cabinet members.

Former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton all attended the ceremony with their spouses -- except for ex-first lady Michelle Obama who pointedly stayed away.

"I feel on cloud 10," Gregg Donovan, a 65-year-old from Hollywood wearing a top hat with a photo of Trump tucked into the brim, said outside the Capitol after Trump was sworn in.

- 'Not leaving the fight' -

Biden, 82, watched stony-faced during the inauguration ceremony as his political nemesis read the last rites over his single term in office.

Then as he prepared to board a final flight to California, an emotional Biden told staff that "we're leaving the office but we're not leaving the fight."

Biden's extraordinary last acts in office showed his own disdain for Trump, whom he faced in the 2024 election before concerns about his age forced him to drop out.

He preemptively pardoned former officials and his own siblings to shield them from "baseless and politically motivated investigations" under Trump.

Yet Biden also tried to restore a sense of tradition to the inauguration after Trump skipped his in 2021, inviting Trump and Melania to the White House for tea.

Trump is making history -- as both oldest president ever to take office and as the first felon, after a conviction related to paying a porn star hush money during his first presidential run.

He is also just the second president in US history to return to power after being voted out, after Grover Cleveland in 1893.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump and said Monday he was open to talks on the Ukraine conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also congratulated Trump -- whose team helped broker a Gaza ceasefire deal.

Y.AlMasri--SF-PST