USA Donald Trump is back in power
Donald Trump is back in power. The Republican was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States in a solemn ceremony in Washington. The 78-year-old took the oath of office in the domed hall of the US Capitol in Washington. The USA and the world must now prepare for four turbulent and chaotic years of government under Trump.
20.01.2025, 18:21
20.01.2025, 18:22
SDA
An inauguration of a special kind
Due to the icy cold in the US capital, the inauguration was moved inside the parliament building at short notice. US presidents are usually sworn in outside on the west side of the Capitol - in front of an impressive backdrop and cheered on by large crowds on the adjacent promenade, the National Mall.
The last time the swearing-in ceremony was held indoors due to freezing temperatures was 40 years ago: at the second inauguration of Republican Ronald Reagan in 1985. The traditional presidential parade after Trump's swearing-in, which usually leads from the Capitol to the White House, was also moved indoors: to a sports arena in the center of Washington.
Republican J.D. Vance took the oath of office as Vice President before Trump. Trump had first attended a church service with his wife Melania in the morning and was then welcomed to the White House for tea by his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden and his wife Jill. That is tradition. Trump himself had moved away from such protocol customs and did not attend Biden's inauguration in 2021, when he was outgoing president.
A radical agenda for round two
Trump's first term in office from 2017 to 2021 was characterized by chaos and scandal. He broke with countless political conventions, called decades-old alliances into question and caused various international upheavals. The Republican also pursued a radical domestic agenda, for example in migration policy or with an isolationist "America First" course. Trump's second term in office also promises a policy of extremes in both domestic and foreign policy.
He is planning the "biggest deportation operation in American history" to chase migrants out of the country on a grand scale. He has announced that he will pardon criminals from the Capitol attack, clean up the state apparatus and take revenge on political opponents. During the election campaign, the Republican flirted with the idea that he only wanted to be "dictator" on the first day of a second term, and the USA could indeed take on autocratic traits under him. He has frequently threatened opponents, journalists and media houses with retaliation and has even spoken out in favor of using the military against "enemies within".
For this reason, Biden issued preventive pardons at the last minute before leaving the White House - including for several high-ranking Democrats who had dealt with the storming of the US Capitol and Trump's role in it in parliament. Biden's move protected them in advance from possible prosecution by the Trump administration.
Internationally, Trump has threatened, among other things, to impose punitive tariffs on goods from various other countries, to dramatically reduce or completely stop the huge US military aid for Ukraine and to refuse military assistance to other NATO states in the event of an attack if they do not significantly increase their defense spending.
Trump, the history maker
In the US, someone can be president for two terms, whether they are consecutive or not. There has only been one president in US history before Trump who was elected back to the White House a second time after an interruption: Grover Cleveland - in the 19th century.
Trump's return to power - despite countless scandals, scandals and taboos - is unique. Trump is the first time in US history that a convicted felon has ascended to the highest office in the land. He was the first ex-president of the USA to be charged in several criminal proceedings - and convicted in one.
Trump had already secured an entry in the history books during his first term in office: as the first US president against whom two impeachment proceedings were initiated in Congress during his time in office.
Shadows of the past
The Republican also made history in a dark way by never conceding defeat to Biden in the 2020 presidential election, but instead tried by all means to reverse the election result and avert his departure from the White House. His campaign against the outcome of the election culminated in an unprecedented attack on US democracy when Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and, among other things, forced their way into the domed hall of the Congress building - the very place where Trump was now sworn in. The brutal attack, which resulted in the deaths of several people, still has repercussions today.
