What Trump said in his inauguration speech : NPR

For updates, context and analysis of Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, check out NPR’s live blog throughout the day Monday.

President Donald Trump’s second inaugural address gave clues about what he will focus on — and how he sees the country.

“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said. “From this day forward, our country will flourish.”

He said the country will be the “envy of the world,” and that it would “not be taken advantage of.”

Trump promised during the campaign to push for tariffs on foreign goods, to expand drilling and deport immigrants without legal status in the country.

In his inaugural address, he said he would sign a “series of executive orders” that focus on immigration and the economy. Trump said he would declare a “national emergency at our southern border,” halting immigration and deporting “criminal immigrants.”

“We will do it at a level nobody has ever seen before,” Trump promised.

Trump also said he would declare a “national energy emergency,” would rescind the Green New Deal and the electric vehicle mandate and create an “External Revenue Service” to level tariffs against other countries’ goods.

Trump argues those measures would help build American “prosperity,” though he said post-election that it would be “hard” to lower prices. Prices and inflation were consistently shown to be many Americans’ top concerns.

“My top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free,” Trump said in his address.

Culture issues and immigration were always the fuel to Trump’s political rise. Immigration has been a key priority of his base. In the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll4 in 10 Republicans were in favor of mass deportations and more than half said they strongly support it.

Trump said he would make it U.S. policy that there are only two genders — “male and female.” LGBTQ+ rights were a flashpoint in the 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump has also promised political retribution, though it’s unclear how far or if he will follow through on that.

“The scales of justice will be rebalanced,” Trump vowed in his address, adding that the “weaponization” will end. Trump was charged in four different criminal cases, two federal and two in the states — New York and Georgia. Only one made it to trial before the election. Trump was convicted in New York of business fraud, stemming from hush money payments made to cover up for an alleged affair with an adult film actress.

Two other cases were related to Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election being stolen — his inspiration for the Jan. 6 siege at the U.S. Capitol, his phone call to Georgia election officials asking them to “find” votes to overturn the results of the election. The other federal case was about classified documents Trump took from the White House. All three faced delays and prosecutorial setbacks.

Trump nodded to his improvements in the election with Black and Latino voters, particularly men.

“To the Black and Hispanic communities, thank you for the trust and love you gave to me,” Trump said, adding, “We set records, and I will not forget it.”

Trump did win a record percentage of Latinos for a Republican — 46%, according to exit polls. He only won 11% of Black voters, but did see improvement with Black men.

Trump then noted that his inauguration was taking place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and vowed, “We will strive to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true.” President Biden, seated behind Trump, could be seen with a slight smirk.

Trump also promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, Mt. Denali in Alaska back to Mt. McKinley and that the country would wrest control of the Panama Canal.

When Trump said he would be renaming the Gulf of Mexico, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated in 2016 for president, was seen shaking her head and laughing.

“My legacy will be as a peacemaker and unifier,” Trump said. “That’s what I want to be — a peacemaker and a unifier.”

Of course, many of the things Trump is calling for are not supported by all Americans. The latest NPR poll, for example, found Americans split evenly on deportations and think tariffs will hurt the economy more than help it and would overwhelmingly be against pardoning people convicted of attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, if Trump follows through with his promise to do that.

Trump did not talk about those potential pardons during the speech, but he did in a speech later in the Capitol before a luncheon.

“I was going to talk about the J6 ‘hostages,'” Trump said, “but it’s action not words that count. And you’re going to see a lot of action.”

During his inaugural address, Trump talked about the assassination attempt he survived during the campaign and said he believes he was “saved by God” for a purpose.

“They tried to take my freedom and, indeed, to take my life,” Trump said. “I felt my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.