WASHINGTON, January 22. /TASS/. Donald Trump has taken office as a far more powerful US president than he was in 2016, when he was first elected to the nation’s highest post, retired Colonel Richard Black, former state senator in the Virginia state legislature, told TASS.
"President Trump's inaugural address was not filled with lofty rhetoric; instead, it was a powerful call to action," the expert said, adding that Trump "knows what must be done and how to achieve it." "Democrats leave office leaderless and in complete disarray. They have lost the support of every demographic group in the nation," Black pointed out.
According to him, "Trump assumes office as a far more powerful president than he was in 2016." "He has strong support from the US Supreme Court; he controls the US Senate; he retains a majority in the House of Representatives; and he has the legal tools necessary to emasculate the federal bureaucracy," the analyst specified. "His term of office is limited to four years, but he has hit the ground running. When his term is up, he will leave America a far different place," Black emphasized.
In his opinion, despite opponents’ attempts to prevent Trump from running for re-election in 2024, he "was re-elected overwhelmingly by the American people." "His triumph sent shivers through the ranks of Democrat political operatives. So dramatic was his comeback that [former US President Joe] Biden used his final days in office to issue pardons to his family members for any crimes they may have committed," the expert said.
On Monday, Trump took the oath of office as the 47th president of the United States. He and his Vice President James David Vance were sworn in not in front of the Congress building, but - for the first time in 40 years - in its central hall, the Rotunda, which is capable of accommodating about 1,000 people.