Ronni ButtsPresident Donald Trump was officially sworn into office as the 47th president of the United States at 12:02 p.m. on Monday, making him only the second president to serve in two non-consecutive terms. His inauguration also historically fell on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, happening only on President Bill Clinton’s Inauguration Day.
“Today is Martin Luther King Day and his honor—this will be a great honor—but in his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make this dream come true,” Trump said.
For the first time in 40 years, the Inauguration was held indoors inside the U.S. Capitol Building Rotunda because of record low temperature forecasts. The Capitol One Arena in Washington D.C. was opened for those who wished to watch the inauguration’s live broadcast.
The event hosted performances by country star Carrie Underwood and opera singer Christopher Macchio, who sang “America the Beautiful!” and the “Star-Spangled Banner” respectively. Inauguration events later in the day featured performances from various artists ranging in genres, some of which faced online backlash for agreeing to perform, including Nelly, Billy Ray Cyrus, and the Liberty University Praise Choir.
During the swearing in, Trump was joined by his family, United States Supreme Court Justices, high ranking politicians and former presidents, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Most notable was the unprecedented presence of billionaires and technology company CEOs, including Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla and X), Tim Cook (Apple CEO), Shou Zi Chew (TikTok CEO), and Vivek Ramaswamy (Roivant Sciences founder). Trump has selected Ramaswamy and Musk to head up the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.).
Many college students reached eligible voting age for the first time for the 2024 presidential election. According to a poll conducted by the Campus Echo, out of the nearly 85% of N.C. Central University students that planned on voting in the general election, 92.2% of students planned to cast their vote for Vice President Harris and Gov. Tim Walz.
After an unconventional presidential race with Vice President Harris, who ran the shortest presidential campaign in history of just 107 days, and President Trump, who was found guilty of 34 indictments of falsifying business records earlier in the year, Trump won the election with a margin of 86 electoral votes, after winning every swing state.
Some students have expressed their apprehensions and hopes for change from the Trump-Vance administration.
“I’m still 19, so I’m not going to see as [many of] the problems as adults later in life [will]…they’re going to see the consequences. I won’t be as roughly affected as older people are,” Jaylin Lipscomb, first-year business student, said. “As long as my financial aid’s still smooth and gas prices go down and some of the inflation goes down, I’ll be happy.”
Alena Dockery, first-year political science student, is hopeful that the Department of Government Efficiency will make improvements for everyday citizens.
“Hopefully it will clear up some of the bureaucratic tangle in the government,” said Dockery, who referred to the services provided by Veterans Affairs.
According to the executive order proposing the agency’s implementation, D.O.G.E.’s purpose is to increase efficiency “by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”
In Trump’ s inauguration speech, he vowed to address what he called “horrible betrayals,” referring to the response in North Carolina to the devastation of Hurricane Helene and the struggle to fight the current mass wildfires in Los Angeles County.
Trump also said that he will make substantial changes including promoting drilling for oil in the United States, raising tariffs on imported goods, and “bring[ing] back free speech” by signing an executive order to “stop government censorship.”
In his conclusion, Trump optimistically proclaimed that “we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars.”
He has also pardoned and commuted the sentences of those involved with the Jan. 6 insurrection, amounting to roughly 1,500 people.
In his first day in office, Trump revoked 78 executive orders from the Biden Administration and has signed 26, including some that target immigration by declaring a border emergency and pushing for the removal of automatic birthright citizenship. Other actions include removing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization.
