U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second nonconsecutive term yesterday, and soon after issued more than two dozen executive orders, the most ever by a U.S. president on their first day in office. He also rescinded 78 executive actions implemented by his predecessor, former President Joe Biden. (Washington Post)
Our Take
One might have expected Trump’s inauguration to be anticlimactic, given the steady stream of provocative pronouncements he has made since the election. But after taking the oath of office and delivering a relatively traditional speech, the proceedings took on all the aspects of one of his campaign rallies. A second speech he delivered at the Capitol was filled with inflammatory rhetoric and falsehoods, and he went on to sign his barrage of executive orders in front of an arena of cheering supporters, underscoring the resemblance.
Indeed, several of those orders seemed tailor-made for the occasion, including one that renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and another that bars censorship of U.S. citizens, which is already guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.