Donald Trump charts aggressive new course for US in inaugural address as he says he was 'saved by God'

Under the gaze of a founding father and with the claim of divine intervention, Donald Trump yesterday set course for a new “golden era” of American exceptionalism as he promised to expand US territory and “annihilate” challenges.

In a pugnacious speech in the US Capitol that drew heavily on nationalist rhetoric and berated his political adversaries, Mr Trump insisted that his life had been spared by God following an assassination attempt so that he could restore the US to its former glories.

Only four years ago, the Capitol’s interiors were desecrated in Mr Trump’s name, as rioters broke doors and windows and daubed graffiti as they raged against the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. But on Monday, what was once a crime scene was bedecked in American standards and myriad other baubles of a 235 year-old ritual designed to recognise the peaceful transfer of power.

President Donald Trump takes the oath of office next to wife Melania Trump and daughter Ivanka Trump. Credit: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/AFP via Getty Images | AFP via Getty Images

With the mercury plummeting in Washington DC, the ceremony was held in the grand, domed room of the Capitol Rotunda, a space ripe with allegory and symbolism. Some 180 feet above, the figure of George Washington, flanked by Liberty and Victory, looked down from a grand fresco as US Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath at 5.01pm.

As in 2017, Mr Trump used two Bibles during his swearing-in ceremony; the first was the historic velvet-bound Lincoln Bible first used in 1861, the second was a revised standard version given to Mr Trump in 1955 by his mother, Lewis-born Mary Anne MacLeod, after he graduated from Sunday school.

God undoubtedly had his place in this ceremony, but as with nearly everyone else in the room, he was framed by Mr Trump as his facilitator. One of the most startling moments in his speech came when he referenced the attempt on his life in Pennsylvania last July. “I felt then and believe even more so now that my life was saved for a reason,” Mr Trump said. “I was saved by God to make America great again.”

The sincerity of Mr Trump’s religious orientation has long been the subject of debate, but there can be little doubt that he sees himself as a saviour. He cut an emboldened figure as he gave his inauguration speech, speaking quietly yet purposefully, with few deviations and no verbal gaffes.

Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address. Picture: Fabrizio Bensch-Pool/Getty Images | Getty Images

It was a far more confident performance than the one he gave in 2017. The tone of that speech infamously cast a long and bleak shadow, as he seethed and scowled, decrying “American carnage” and reverting to populist tub-thumping to depict a nation ravaged by crime, disorder, and penury.

This time around, we were promised something different. The briefings beforehand told of a speech that would be more optimistic, espousing a theme of “restoring confidence” in the US. If that is the case, no one told Mr Trump.

For swathes of his 20 minute long speech, he repeatedly railed against the nation he now leads, castigating the Biden administration and making sweeping claims with scant factual basis. He condemned an education system that taught children to be “ashamed of themselves,” and warned of the “sanctuary” and “protection” afforded to “dangerous criminals” who had illegally entered the country.

He hit out at a “radical and corrupt establishment” that had “extracted power and wealth” from the state, and did little to disguise his thirst for retribution when returning to well-worn grievances, vowing to end the “vicious, violent and unfair weaponisation” of the US justice department.

Elon Musk was among those at the inauguration ceremony where Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th US president. Picture: Kenny Holston/The New York Times / 11276477p/AFP via Getty Images | 11276477p/AFP via Getty Images

Time and again, Mr Trump’s American exceptionalism called on self-serving nostalgia. He spoke of factory workers and coal miners, of railroads and skyscrapers. Crucially however, he was not rambling, but presenting a picture of a bygone era he believes he can restore.

The meat of the speech was given over to exactly how he intends to do so, with one staccato announcement of an executive order followed by another. Some, such as declaring a national emergency at the US-Mexico border, and mandating a large-scale expansion of fossil fuel drilling, had been signposted well in advance of the inauguration.

What stood out most was the aggression with which Mr Trump sought to project force and strength on what he declared as America’s “liberation” day. He promised to “take back” the Panama Canal, rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, and “expand” the territory of the US territory. This was not the address of a man seeking to bind the wounds of a divided nation. It was the vision of someone with an insatiable appetite for power.

The changes, Mr Trump said, would happen “very quickly” and usher in a new “golden age” as part of what he described as a “revolution of common sense”. Some commentators may seize upon the latter part of that slogan as evidence of Mr Trump seeking to blunt his harder edges. Others, however, will wonder warily what exactly is meant by revolution.

The ceremony took place in the US Capitol Rotunda, a building ripe with symbolism. Picture: Andrew Harnik/Pool/AFP/Getty | POOL/AFP via Getty Images

In the Rotunda, at least, there were repeated cheers for nearly every utterance, as Mr Trump preached to the converted. In the two months since his astonishing election triumph, the 78 year-old has given the impression that he is forming a court around him instead of a cabinet. The sight of those invited to witness his inauguration did little to counter that, with the concentration of private wealth and power forming a billionaire’s row that left no room for several Republican governors.

Indeed, the guest list was a who’s who of Mr Trump’s cheerleaders. They came from Silicon Valley and Wall Street. The tech titans and the venture capitalists, the crypto bros and the conservative talk show hosts. And Boris Johnson, of course. All under the MAGA banner, all subservient before their white knight. It was, in many ways, the apogee of Trumpism, a curiosity that became a cult, before morphing into one of the 21st century’s most dominant political forces.

The culmination of one of the most remarkable political resurrections in modern history carries its own distinctions. Mr Trump has become only the second president to commence a second, non-consecutive term, and perhaps more pertinently, the first convicted criminal to enter the hallowed Oval Office.

But that is only the start of the disruption. No one knows exactly what comes next. Many constitutional observers have long argued that the office of the presidency bestows its incumbents with extraordinary powers that are unchecked and unbalanced, and the next four years will provide an unprecedented stress test of America’s democratic norms.

The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, was among the tech leaders in the room. Picture: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool/AFP/Getty | POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Mr Trump has already promised sweeping cuts to the federal government workforce and a bonfire of regulations. Time will tell how far, and how hard, Mr Trump will go in pursuit of his red-blooded agenda, but there is a sense of determination and momentum that was absent after his shock victory in 2016, and the speed at which he intends to translate his rhetoric into reality is not in doubt.

By 7.15pm, Trump was already wielding his sharpie pen to put his name to the first raft of as many as 200 executive orders designed to dismantle the Biden administration’s legacy, and signal the direction of travel the US will take under his watch.

With no concession to irony, the urgency of that work demanded that the signing of directives began not in the White House, but in the Capitol’s president’s room - an ornate and ceremonial space off the Senate chamber that was used as an office by Chief Justice Roberts during Mr Trump’s first impeachment trial. The 47th president was right about one thing. Things can change, and change very quickly.