On Monday Jan. 20, Russia’s Pres. Vladimir Putin heralded President Trump’s second inauguration with glowing praise. But later in the day, in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump didn’t return the favor. The 47th U.S. President ‘offered’ some of the most critical comments he’s ever made about Mr. Putin, declaring that the Russian leader is “destroying Russia” by waging a misguided war in Ukraine.
“He can’t be thrilled, he’s not doing so well,” Mr. Trump told reporters Monday evening, referring to Mr. Putin’s war. “Russia is bigger, they have more soldiers to lose, but that’s no way to run a country.”
The whiplash underscored why celebrations of Mr. Trump’s return to the White House have been muted in Russia in recent months: Russian officials know that Mr. Trump is unpredictable. Indeed, Mr. Trump has often spoken warmly about Mr. Putin, and in 2018 accepted the Russian leader’s word over his own intelligence agencies at a summit in Helsinki.
On the Israel-Hamas War, Pres. Trump pushed Netanyahu to agree to the Gaza Ceasefire.
On reinstatement of freedom of speech and democracy, political observers and analysts anticipate that Pres. Trump 2.0 may very well assert not only fellow Americans’ right to democratic rights but also empower several nations in Southeastern Europe to pursue their aspiration for national sovereignty and security under a Dome of Democracy.
It is hopeful that the Second Trump Administration will redefine the U.S. role in assisting endangered and fledgling states like Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, and other former Soviet republics to consolidate their existence as viable and promising sovereign states.
These former Soviet states along with Scandinavian and Baltic countries form the Democracy Ring that runs from Russian-threatened Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, First Lady Melania Trump’s birthplace Estonia, Poland, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia.
In his second inaugural address after he was sworn in for a second and final term Monday Jan. 20, President Trump promised that he’ll bring the United States into a “golden age.”
His inauguration day coincided with Martin Luther King Day. The President committed to reversing what he claimed was a “decline” ‘caused’ by his predecessor’s policies.
In his speech, the president invoked familiar themes from the campaign trail, including immigration and the economy, and repeated his attacks on the Justice Department and federal government.
“National unity is now returning to America and confidence and pride is soaring like never before,” Mr. Trump said. “In everything we do, my administration will be inspired by a strong pursuit of excellence and unrelenting success. We will not forget our country, we will not forget our Constitution, and we will not forget our God.”
Following the inauguration, the president signed an avalanche of executive actions.
The president kicked off his speech with a declaration that “the golden age of America begins right now.”
Mr. Trump said that he will work hard in empowering America to “flourish and be respected again” around the world through a turnaround from the prior four years.
The president lamented the state of the nation under his predecessor’s policies. Pres. Trump condemned the U.S. education and health systems, saying, “My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal, and all of these many betrayals that have taken place and to give the American people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom.”
Mr. Trump claimed that the U.S. government should be more proactive and efficient in fulfilling its fiduciary obligations to the people in times of national emergencies. The president also focused on the southern border: “From this moment on, America’s decline is over,” he said.
Pres. Trump spoke briefly about the attempted assassination against him that took place during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. The president declared that he believes his life was spared “for a reason.” Many Trump supporters firmly believe that his survival of the assassination is ‘Providential.’
“I was saved by God to make America great again,” he said.
He characterized the assassination as an attempt to stop him from returning to the White House.
“The journey to reclaim our republic has not been an easy one,” the president said. “Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take our freedom and indeed, to take my life.”
Later in the speech, Mr. Trump said that he defied expectations to return to the White House.
“Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback, but as you see today, here I am,” he said. “The American people have spoken.” Later he added that the Americans are best at making the impossible possible.
Trump laid out a series of executive actions that he plans to take now that he has been sworn into office.
On immigration, he said he would declare a national emergency at the southern border, a promise that earned him a standing ovation from those in the Rotunda.
He also promised that ՞All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my Remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release. And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country. Under the orders I sign today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.՞
“As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threat and invasions and that is exactly what I am going to do,” he said.
“We will drill, baby, drill,” he said, another promise met with a standing ovation.
The president reiterated his plans to impose tariffs and taxes on foreign nations to “enrich our citizens,” and he said he would issue an executive order aimed at stopping government censorship.
Mr. Trump stated: ՞The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have — the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on earth — and we are going to use it. We’ll use it. We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again right to the top, and export American energy all over the world. We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it.՞
Regarding the U.S. auto industry, he said: “With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal, and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers. In other words, you’ll be able to buy the car of your choice. We will build automobiles in America again at a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago. And thank you to the autoworkers of our nation for your inspiring vote of confidence. We did tremendously with their vote.”
In relation to the idea of creating an external revenue service, Pres. Trump underlined: “I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.”
Mr. Trump confirmed: “A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America — and we will restore the name of a great president, William Mckinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent — he was a natural businessman — and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did, including the Panama Canal, which has foolishly been given to the country of Panama after the United Spates — the United States — I mean, think of this — spent more money than ever spent on a project before and lost 38,000 lives in the building of the Panama Canal.
He added: “We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made, and Panama’s promise to us has been broken.”
Regarding the importance of securing U.S. presence on Mars, Pres. Trump said his administration would work to put U.S. astronauts on Mars.
“We will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars,” he said.
The declaration earned a thumbs-up from billionaire Elon Musk, who was seated on the platform along with the CEOs from other technology companies.
Recently, Elon Musk’s Starlink was granted a license to operate in Armenia. Musk’s Armenia-based STARLINK AM LLC’s is poised for an exploitation license to operate a public electronic communication network in Armenia and use radio frequencies for organizing a public electronic communication network via global satellite communication systems.