President Trump declares ‘golden age' and ‘revolution of common sense'

President Donald Trump vowed to put “America first” in one of the most goals-packed inauguration speeches in decades where he launched a “revolution of common sense.”

Trump peppered his inaugural address with headlines, from the immediate removal of illegal immigrant criminals, declaring cartels terrorists, changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, going to Mars, “taking back” the Panama Canal, giving anyone in the military fired for refusing the COVID vaccination their jobs back “with full pay.”

It was a speech where acting “with courage” was a central theme.

“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said. “From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer.”

He added, “During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first.”

His first act as the 47th president, he said, was to use the military to fix the Southern Border and begin to round up illegal migrant criminals, with sources telling the Herald this weekend that this will include raids in Boston and beyond in the Bay State — after ICE targets Chicago and then New York City.

“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,” he said.

“And by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil.”

The inauguration was moved indoors, due to the bitter cold, where Carrie Underwood was the first to respond to Trump's call for American “exceptionalism” by belting out “America the Beautiful” at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., a cappella after the audio system failed.

“You know the words — help me out here,” Underwood said as she sang.

It was the one awkward moment that she quickly solved.

Trump also spoke of the would-be assassin's bullet that almost took his life but didn't detour his road to redemption.

“Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom, and indeed, to take my life,” Trump said.

“Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear, but I felt then and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again,” he said.

“Our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer,” he added.

The day started with former President Joe Biden pardoning Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in an 11th-hour gambit that was quickly criticized by Trump as disgraceful.

Biden also made preemptive pardons for his family members. Biden has set the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued, according to the Associated Press. He also previously pardoned his son Hunter.

With Biden looking on at the inauguration, as Fox News reported, Trump said he will end “catch and release,” pause all offshore wind leases, terminate the electric vehicle mandate, abolish the Green New Deal, and withdraw from the Paris climate accord.

The president also said he would declare a national energy emergency: “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 will drill, baby, drill.”

Trump, 78, also said he would end inflation, overhaul the trade system — and launch an “External Revenue Service” to collect cash from foreign countries; set DOGE free with his “Department of Government Efficiency” looking for savings; bring “law and order back to our cities” and “forge a society that is color blind and merit-based.”

He also said “two genders” will be recognized — male and female — and build up the military to stay out of wars.

“If we work together there's noting we cannot do,” he said. “The impossible is what we do best.”

Herald wire services contributed.

US President Donald Trump speaks as former US President Joe Biden and former US Vice President Kamala Harris look on during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)