DUANE SHERRILLEditor

Donald J. Trump was sworn as the 47^th President of the United States Monday in a ceremony inside the Capitol rotunda. The event was held inside due to extreme cold for the first time since the oath was given to Ronald Reagan in 1985.

Vowing sweeping changes including the securing of the border, the retaking of the Panama Canal, the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and reversing the Barack Obama renaming of Mt. McKinley to Denali, Trump laid out plans to bring about a “golden age” for the United States.

Trump signed 26 executive orders and 12 memorandums and four proclamations in his busy first day as President. His first action after arriving at the White House was to pardon about 1,500 defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6 incident at the Capitol, one of those a Coffee County resident. He also commuted sentences of another 14.

The incoming President noted during his speech that the government faces a crisis of trust and that the government has weaponized the system for political gains.

“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said in his inaugural address. “From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer during every single day of the Trump administration.”

Trump is the second president to return to office after losing a bid for reelection. That last time it happened was 1893 when Grover Cleveland was elected to a non-consecutive term of office.

“From this moment on, America’s decline is over,” Trump said after taking his oath, noting he will see that the power of government is not used to persecute its people.

“Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents ‒ something I know something about,” Trump said. “We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again under my leadership.”

He concluded his speech by saying America will be great again. “We will not be conquered. “We will not be intimidated, we will not be broken, and we will not fail. From this day on, the United States of America will be a free, sovereign and independent nation. We will stand bravely, we will live proudly. We will dream boldly, and nothing will stand in our way because we are Americans.”