47th President Donald Trump was sworn into the White House for his second term on Monday, January 20, with former president Joseph (Joe) Biden and Trump’s running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, stepping down. Trump is now joined by J.D. Vance as his Vice President.
Trump initially ran in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, winning the election, and then later lost the election in 2020 to Biden. Trump then claimed the election was rigged, and the election was “stolen,” according to PBS, which lead to the storming of the Capital, now referred to simply as “January 6th.” With Donald Trump elected, the feelings of Americans are ever so mixed, leaving our nation politically divided.
Trump earlier selected his cabinet and staff to work by his side, appointing billionaire Elon Musk to lead DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), with Musk even taking to the stage during Trump’s inauguration. On Monday, January 20th at the event, Musk gave a speech leaving millions speechless after saluting what many are claiming to mimic a Nazi Salute. This left many Americans and non-Americans alike irate, seen as this type of action or salute is illegal in Germany after the devastation of Adolf Hitler.
Social Media users, doing what they do best, pulled up tweets from Musk, quoting remarks like “Bet you did nazi that coming” and “His pronouns would be He/Himmler,” which were originally posted on Musk’s platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Many believe having a billionaire helping run the country is anything but beneficial, while some think it has a positive impact on our nation.
According to Baltimore news outlet WBAL-11, In just 24 hours, Trump signed 26 executive orders which was the record for the number of executive orders signed in 24 hours since 1937. Some of the most impactful executive orders President Trump signed was an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement. Because of this, the U.S. is no longer taking part in it. Many are irate with Trump, due to Trump pardoning Jan 6 rioters, (1,500 of them), according to the New York Times. In addition, Trump cut funding from diversity, equity and inclusion programs (DEI), including federal agencies, making Federal workers fear of losing their jobs.
Trump has claimed one of his main goals is to deport all illegal immigrants. Trump acted by assigning ICE (Immigration and Customer Enforcements) to round up immigrants, starting in large cities. On Monday, January 27th, Selena Gomez posted a video of herself on her professional Instagram account crying over ICE raids. Selena told fans the immigrants and “her people” that she is sorry, with Selena also saying, “All my people are being attacked.” Selena later took the video down, receiving backlash from internet users and the media.
In just a couple of days, it seems our nation is divided by either a “for” or “against” mentality of President Donald Trump. The future of the United States of America is unknown and there is certainly more to come. People who fall under the DEI act categories now fear losing their jobs. Even the LGBTQ+ community feels endangered, which was not addressed in this article.