According to his inauguration speech, the “golden age” of America has begun.
Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20. In his inaugural address, he said his administration’s top priority will be to “create a nation that is proud, prosperous, free” and greater than ever before.
“From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world,” Trump said in his address. “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, I will very simply put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced.”
In his speech, Trump criticized the Biden administration for failing to protect its citizens while providing sanctuary for “dangerous criminals.” As he gave these remarks, former President Joe Biden sat in the audience alongside former vice president Kamala Harris and their spouses.
Chair of the History and Political Science Department at the University of Indianapolis and Presidential Historian Edward Frantz said this distancing between Trump and former presidents is unique, and in addition to criticizing the Biden administration, Trump also referred to generations of neglect from politicians in a negative, nonpartisan way.
As well as a handful of former presidents, several tech CEOs and billionaires including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk were seated in the front row for the inauguration. AP News described this as a “shift from tradition, especially for a president who has characterized himself as a champion of the working class.” Frantz said the presence of these billionaires is symbolic of the culture Trump is building for himself and his administration.
“Symbolism is always important with the presidency,” Frantz said. “And three things that just stood out is that it’s a very masculine culture, he wants to be perceived as being tech-friendly, and I think that probably merges exactly with also being friendly to big business, which, for the most part, are one in the same right now.”
Junior political science major and President of UIndy College Republicans Bryce Howard said the CEOs’ presence is proof of Trump’s commitment to the future of technology and innovation. He said it is a great thing that the Trump administration is on board with the growing role technology is playing in the U.S. and around the world.
“It sends a message that President Trump is aware that the tech and these billionaires are producing the future of this nation, and it’s best to hop on the train now,” Howard said.
In his farewell address, Biden warned against an oligarchy forming in the U.S. that is threatening citizens’ basic rights and freedoms. Senior political science and history major and former President of UIndy College Democrats Imelda Pozos said the billionaires in the front row of the inauguration was a jarring display of a growing oligarchy.
“It’s very scary to put into words, but realistically I think the rhetoric that has been going around online of that representing a future oligarchy is very real,” Pozos said. “I feel like never once in history have we ever had a bunch of CEOs and billionaires be that close to the presidential inauguration.”
Elon Musk, one of Trump’s closest supporters and one of the tech billionaires present at the inauguration, addressed a crowd in Washington D.C. following the inauguration, thanking the crowd for assuring the “future of civilization” by electing President Trump. Similarly, Trump said Jan. 20, 2025 would now be known as “Liberation Day” for American citizens. Frantz said it is important to consider what exactly liberation means in this sense and who is being liberated from whom. Frantz also highlighted the comparison Trump drew between himself and Martin Luther King Jr. in his speech.
“The inauguration was also on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and you saw the ways in which he tried to tap into the spirit of Dr. King, which, as somebody who teaches Civil Rights Movement class, also seemed disingenuous at best, and in many ways, in my opinion, a pretty fundamental misreading of a lot of that,” Frantz said. “I think most people won’t have the courage to say it now, but it takes a certain amount of self-assuredness on Dr. King Day to talk about dreams and to see your project of liberation as being similar to those that he might have stood for.”
Trump said he would be signing a series of historic executive orders that would be a “complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.” Within this “common sense” agenda, Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border, mentioned declaring a national energy emergency due to the rising cost of energy due to “the inflation crisis” and invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, according to his speech.
Trump began by reversing 78 executive orders signed by Biden, according to USA Today, and followed through on his promise to declare a national border emergency and extend the ban on TikTok for another 75 days. Howard said since there was a gap between Trump’s presidencies, he is now working harder and is more focused on his goals.
“He’s laid out that what he’s trying to do is pick up where he left off and undo the executive orders that shut down the things he had going when he left office in 2021,” Howard said.
Frantz said it is normal for presidents to push limits when they get into office, and Trump is signing executive orders to see when individuals or institutions will push back. He said Trump is also evoking a new level of spirituality by saying his life was saved from an assassination attempt, which adds a level of purpose behind the legislation he is putting into order.
“All presidents usually push to some degree,” Frantz said. “It’s based on their personalities and what they think the moment is. But given all those other things, we’re seeing the type of push that we haven’t really seen in quite some time, because he believes that the mandates are not just for his party, which has a majority in both the branches of Congress, but he believes it’s personal.”
In addition to declaring a national emergency at the southern border via executive order on Jan. 22, Trump also signed an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship within 30 days of when it was signed on Jan. 20, according to the White House website. The order states that the Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the U.S., and mandates that both the mother and father of a person must be lawful, permanent residents of the U.S. for them to be citizens. Attorney generals from 22 states have sued to block this order, which the White House said is “nothing more than an extension of the Left’s resistance,” according to AP.
Trump also directed the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Homeland Security to expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, according to a memorandum from the White House’s website. The memorandum indicates they will take all appropriate action to provide additional space for “high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States.” According to NBC News, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested close to 1,200 people on Jan. 26, with 52% accounting for “criminal arrests.”
Frantz also highlighted Trump’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion executive order as something that will affect people at both the state and federal level. According to a fact sheet from the White House, Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 22 ending “radical DEI preferencing” in all federal jobs. This executive order will restore the values of individual dignity, hard work and excellence which were not present in the Biden-Harris administration’s DEI policies, according to the fact sheet. Frantz said it is a disservice to frame DEI as anti-meritocracy because it begins to fall into the language of who is and is not deserving of jobs.
“That framing has become even clearer right now, that that’s part of a moment right now among people who’ve just gotten elected to office, to say that DEI was anti-merit and therefore what they’re doing is restoring merit to the workplace, whether that’s at the state level or the federal level,” Frantz said. “But what we’re certainly seeing right now is a framing that says if you support DEI, you’re opposed to meritocracy.”
Pozos said it is more important than ever for people to stay educated and up-to-date on national and state politics, especially as the Indiana General Assembly is in session. Similarly to Trump’s anti-DEI order, Indiana Senate Bill 235, which is currently going through committee readings, would place limitations on DEI initiatives in state institutions, according to the IGA website. Pozos said people need to be aware of the laws being passed because they affect everyone in one way or another.
“My hope would be that sometime during this next electoral cycle people on campus engage with the process a little bit more,” Frantz said. “Whether you love this moment or hate this moment, this is a point of inflection, and we’re better as a university, and we’re better as a country when more people are paying attention and being involved.”