Here’s everything that happened at Donald Trump’s inauguration
“A tide of change is sweeping the country,” Donald Trump declared in his inaugural speech kicking off the start of his second presidency, in what marked a stunning political comeback.
Trump, the convicted felon who survived two assassination attempts and threatened to upend Canada’s economy with a trade war, pledged to be a “peacemaker” and to unleash a new era of economic prosperity in the United States.
#CTVNews.ca streamed “The Inauguration of Donald J. Trump” hosted by Chief #News Anchor and Senior Editor Omar Sachedina and Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos in our video player above.
Here’s what happened on the day of the inauguration as reported by our journalists and political analyst Eric Ham.
2:04 p.m. EST: Trump cements outsider status
Political analyst Eric Ham says if we thought Trump was done going after his political enemies, we need to think again. “
He’s railing against political opponents, even commenting on Hillary Clinton today. This after saying he wanted to be known as a unifier.”
Ham added: “None of the former presidents elected to participate in the inauguration lunch, making clear that even as a two-term member of the nation’s most exclusive club of ex-presidents, Trump is still very much an outsider.”
2:02 p.m. EST: Andrew Jackson portrait is back
A portrait of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the U.S., is back up on the wall in the West Wing of the White House, reports CBS News.
The previous Biden administration removed the portrait of Jackson and replaced him with Benjamin Franklin.
Jackson has been criticized for participating in the slave trade -- having been a slave owner himself -- and for signing the Indian Removal Act of 1830 that forced Native Americans off their land.
2 p.m. EST: Trump says ‘they tried’ to rig election
Trump repeated false claims that he won the 2020 election, saying he got “nine million more (votes) than anyone else had ever gotten,” he said during a speech to supporters. “And they said we lost.”
This election, by contrast, was “too big to rig,” he said. Adding “they tried.”
1:51 p.m. EST: After measured address, Trump goes off the cuff
After delivering a relatively staid inaugural address reading from a teleprompter, Trump is now unleashing during a freewheeling, off-the-cuff second speech at the Capitol Visitor Center.
Trump is angrily railing against his enemies, promising action on what he calls the “J6 hostages,” calling former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney “a crying lunatic,” and bashing what he calls the “unselect committee of political thugs” that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
He’s also criticizing the pardons Joe Biden issued right before Trump was sworn in and in recent weeks.
1:30 p.m. EST: The Bidens make one last wheels up
Joe Biden is boarding a helicopter that will carry him into his post-presidency life — but the aircraft carrying him is no longer known as Marine One.
Since Biden is now a former president, he and his wife Jill boarded a chopper technically known as “Nighthawk 46″ despite still having the presidential seal.
The Bidens were flying to a farewell ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, then flying to California.
The California flight will be Special Air Mission 46.
Trump, who hadn’t yet taken office then, flew on Saturday from Florida to Washington aboard a plane with presidential markings that was known as Special Air Mission 47.
1:26 p.m. EST: Trump closes app for migrants
Trump has shut down a U.S. government app that enabled migrants to schedule appointments to enter at American ports of entry. The website to the CBP One Mobile Application now reads the app that “previously allowed undocumented aliens to submit advance information and schedule appointments at eight southwest border ports of entry is no longer availabe, and existing appointments have been cancelled.”
1:15 p.m. EST: Trump and Vance have departed
U.S. President Trump, VP Vance, and the first and Second Lady have departed.
Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris have also left.
The Trump family is waiting for the remaining former presidents to leave the platform before they are escorted out.
1:10 p.m. EST: What about Canada?
Political analyst Eric Ham say that Trump noticeably did not mention a trade war with Canada in his inaugural address; nor the 25 per cent tariffs that he’s been promising to levy against Canada. “At least not today.”
12:45 p.m. EST: Trump swore in with his hand at his side, not atop the Bible. Does it matter?
It’s traditional to use a Bible during the presidential oath of office, but it is not required. Only the oath is mandated by the Constitution.
Theodore Roosevelt didn’t use a Bible when he was sworn in following the assassination of William McKinley in 1901. John Quincy Adams used a law text for his 1825 inauguration.
And, sworn in aboard Air Force One after John Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson used a Catholic missal.
12:40 p.m. EST: Trump closes without mentioning Canada
After touching on a laundry list of presidential priorities, Trump closed his inaugural address without mentioning Canada.
Prior to today, Trump has repeatedly said he would unleash sweeping tariffs against Canada. The threat had dominated headlines and meeting agendas in Canada’s highest government offices for weeks. While dignitaries and billionaires crowded in Washington this morning, Canadian cabinet officials huddled into a Quebec war room to unleash retaliatory tariffs if required.
Trump did say his government would enforce tariffs generally – which will be managed by a brand-new External Revenue Service – to “enrich” the American people, without mentioning Canada.
The Washington Post reported this morning Trump asked his financial representative to examine trade between Canada and the U.S.
12:39 p.m. EST: ‘America First’
Political analyst Eric Ham calls Trump’s inauguration speech a “cornucopia of America First policies” that includes rollbacks of EV mandates, attacks on wokeism, and combating COVID-19 era policies. It’s a “full-throated erasure of the Biden Administration policies. He wants to be known as a peacemaker and unifier,” says Ham.
12:33 p.m. EST: Trump administration priorities
The new Trump administration has posted its top priorities on the White House website. These include: 1) Ending inflation and lowering costs 2) Tax cuts for workers 3) Securing American borders 4) Restoring peace “through strength” and keeping the U.S. out of “unnecessary foreign wars” 5) Encouraging domestic energy production and 6) Restoring law and order to make sure “Americans feel safe” in their neighbourhoods again.
12:25 p.m. EST: Trump will be ‘peacemaker and unifier’
Trump says he hopes he will be viewed as a “peacemaker and unifier” while in office.
He is in the middle of his inauguration speech, touching on a wide range of topics.
He vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” to “tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” to cut affirmative action initiatives, end the Green New Deal, and said “there are only two genders: male and female.”
12:20 p.m. EST: Trudeau congratulates Trump
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Donald Trump on his presidency.
“Canada and the U.S. have the world’s most successful economic partnership. We have the chance to work together again — to create more jobs and prosperity for both our nations,” Trudeau posted on X.
12:14 p.m. EST: ‘I was saved by God to make America great again’
Trump is delivering a scathing review of his predecessors, referencing the financing of foreign wars and the horrors of widespread wildfires in California.
“From this moment on, America’s decline is over,” he said.
Then, he turned to the first of two recent attempts on his life.
“An assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear,” he said. “My life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.”
11:42 EST: Trump, JD Vance prepare to swear in
President-elect Donald Trump and vice-president-elect JD Vance prepare to swear in as they are both escorted to the podium. Members of the audience are chanting “U.S.A.”
11:41 a.m. EST: Biden, Harris join the crowd
Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden has joined the crowd flanking the podium. Biden is with outgoing Vice-President Kamala Harris standing by his side.
11:31 a.m. EST: Family, billionaires sit behind podium
Donald Trump’s family, including children Ivanka, Donald Trump Jr., Eric, Tiffany and Barron, sits in the first row behind the podium.
Tech billionaires Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos sitting right behind.
10:01 a.m. EST: Electric vehiclesTrump will sign an executive order that will effectively put an end to the electric vehicle mandate in U.S., reports the Wall Street Journal, citing incoming White House Officials. The order will also reverse federal efforts to curtail consumer choice on home appliances like dishwashers and stoves.
9:58 a.m. EST: Biden greets Trump
Donald Trump has arrived at the White House, where he and his wife Melania were greeted by the Bidens.
It was unclear what the four said to each other. Trump placed an arm on Jill Biden’s arm, and the group briefly posed for a photo. They quickly turned to head inside to drink tea together, as per tradition. They did not take questions.
9:47 a.m. EST: VP Vance arrivesVice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff greeted Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance when they arrived at the White House moments ago.
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#Putin, Central African Republic leader to discuss security cooperation
The Russian leader noted that Russia attaches great importance to cooperation with the CAR on the global arena, including within the #UN framework.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Central African Republic (CAR) counterpart Faustin-Archange Touadera will discuss security cooperation during their upcoming meeting, the Russian leader said, opening the talks.
"I would like to emphasize our security cooperation. We are determined to continue our previous policies in this domain," Putin said.
"We are going to discuss these [cooperation] prospects with the expanded circle of delegates and, subsequently, during our one-on-one meeting," the Russian leader added.
He went on to say that Russia attaches great importance to cooperation with the CAR on the global arena, including within the UN framework.
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Children executed and women raped in front of their families as M23 militia unleashes fresh terror on #DRC.
They were looking for new ways to kill, ways to send fresh terror across North Kivu.
It was early afternoon when the M23 militia raided the Congolese town of Rubaya. In a marketplace, gunmen found a giant wooden pestle and mortar for crushing grain. They began rounding up children, wedging them tight in the mortar. Isabel, 32, watched the rebels stove in their skulls. The mortar turned red, overflowing with blood.
Six children, said Isabel, were pummelled to death on 4 April 2024. “It was terrible.”
She fled with two friends. Among the rainforests of the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), armed men caught them. Isabel and a friend were raped. The other friend was executed.
Her account is among new testimony of fresh #M23 atrocities obtained by the Observer. They detail indiscriminate killing, torture and mass abductions; women raped at gunpoint in front of their children; others pinned down on main roads and attacked in broad daylight. Their collective testimony confirms an ongoing calamity that humanitarians hoped might never happen.
The DRC, long synonymous with supercharged levels of sexual violence, has entered a bleak new chapter. Rates of rape are far higher than ever recorded. But the M23 rebels largely responsible cannot be categorised alongside the scores of chaotic militia roaming North Kivu. Instead, the M23 is backed and armed by one of the west’s most cherished and increasingly indispensable allies on the continent.
“Rwanda has wooed the west, particularly the UK. They’re playing a dual narrative; reliable partner on one hand while facilitating conflict in the Congo,” said a senior diplomat.
As the M23, supported by thousands of Rwandan troops, pushes deeper into neighbouring DRC, UN intelligence sources confirm the west’s security services are “intimately aware” of the evolving incursion. “It’s shocking and frustrating that sanctions have not been forthcoming,” said a UN expert familiar with evidence of M23 war crimes sent to the UN security council.
The worst may be about to unfold. Another senior UN official admitted that a sinister masterplan might be under way. Kigali, they warn, might be planning to annex a chunk of DRC larger than Rwanda itself. “This is a long-term policy to get the broader Kivu area into the sphere of Rwandan influence and, later, under complete administrative control.”
The ongoing failure to rein in Rwanda risks broader repercussions, say analysts, exposing potentially fatal weaknesses in western liberal interventionism and conflict resolution. As the killings continue, as women are raped in extraordinary numbers, how long is the west prepared to look away?
Much of the horror unfolding in the rainforests of eastern Congo is traceable to the shocking events of 1994: the genocide of Rwanda’s minority Tutsis.
Largely low-tech – performed mostly by machetes wielded by ordinary Hutus – it remains among the fastest mass killings in history. At least 800,000 died in 100 days.
Shortly after the massacre, more than 1 million Hutus fled to DRC, including many responsible for the slaughter. Twice, Rwandans invaded their neighbour, ostensibly to hunt down the génocidaires. In turn, Hutu militias linked to the carnage started to regroup, plotting a return to Rwanda to seize power. To counter this threat, Rwanda began arming Tutsi militias – forerunners to the M23 – inside the DRC.
Other factors bolstered its decision. Eastern DRC holds huge, widely coveted reserves of precious minerals. “If groups like the M23 gain control of the minerals, it gives them – and Rwanda – significant international clout,” said a UN intelligence official.
The battle over billions of pounds worth of minerals, alongside the settling of old scores, has plunged eastern DRC into near continuous conflict since the genocide. More than 6 million are thought to have died and a similar number forced from a swathe of DRC, whose government has lost control in the east to a hierarchy of armed groups.
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"We are now in crisis mode. We need help, Mr President. Please help us," a West Coast activist has said in a passionate plea to President Cyril #Ramaphosa to help Cape Flats residents who are plagued by ongoing gang violence.
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#LGBTQ2S+ refugees languish as Kenyan government blocks Canadians from resettling them.
The Canadian Press travelled to #Kenya as part of an investigative series looking into a global backslide in LGBTQ2S+ rights and the consequences for Canada, including the mounting difficulties Canadians face in resettling refugees.
This week, that reporting revealed that the Kenyan government has nearly halted approvals of exit permits and refugee status for people claiming the need for asylum on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Kenyan government does not consider those legitimate grounds for seeking refugee status.
"It's stressful, when you don't know how long you'll be waiting," Anne told The Canadian Press.
Anne left Uganda years ago, and they now run Rainbow Family Support and Advocacy-Africa, an organization that helps LGBTQ2S+ refugee parents in Nairobi.
Its headquarters is a home that includes an office and workshop space, but also a playroom and bedrooms with bunk beds for families who have been evicted for being #LGBTQ2S+. Drawings of same-sex couples with children adorn the walls, and the staircase is painted with a rainbow flag.
The group provides workshops to help its clients navigate bureaucracy, and the questions their children face at school.
Anne's children are often asked by Kenyan schoolmates why they left Uganda, a country that is not at war. Many Kenyans assume the only reason Ugandans would move to #Kenya is because they are gay.
"They would ask intimate questions to the kids, like 'Do you see your mom with a man or with a woman? Because you are Ugandan,'" said Anne.
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L'Égypte apporte son soutien à la souveraineté et l'intégrité de la #RDC
Pendant l'entretien, les deux hommes ont résolu ce qui suit :
- Le soutien sans faille à la souveraineté et à l'intégrité du territoire congolais réaffirmé par l'Égypte;
- La consolidation de la collaboration et du soutien apporté par l'Égypte pour le renforcement de la sécurité et de la stabilité de la République Démocratique du Congo;
- Le renforcement effectif de la diplomatie parlementaire entre l'Égypte et la RDC, notamment à travers l'échange d'expériences et l'accord des points de vue dans les instances interparlementaires;
- Le soutien que va désormais accorder l'Égypte à la République démocratique du Congo en matière de lutte contre le terrorisme, notamment dans sa partie Est;
- L'engagement de la Chambre des Représentants Égyptienne à soutenir la convocation en 2025 de la commission conjointe entre la RDC et l'Égypte au Caire;
- L'accroissement de la relation bilatérale entre les deux pays tournée vers de nouveaux horizons pour l'intérêt des peuples congolais et égyptiens.
En outre, le Parlement égyptien a salué également le soutien lui accordé par la République démocratique du Congo pour la signature de l'accord-cadre sur la coopération dans le bassin du fleuve Nil et sur la candidature égyptienne au poste de Directeur de l'UNESCO.
De ce fait, l'Égypte a réaffirmé sa volonté de continuer à aider la RDC à réaliser le maximum de développement à travers l'Agence Égyptienne de Coopération dont il est au premier plan des pays bénéficiaires de l'appui égyptien dans différents domaines.
De son côté, Vital Kamerhe a réitéré au Parlement égyptien l'engagement de l'Assemblée nationale à appuyer la demande du soutien de la #RDC à la candidature de l'Égypte au poste de Vice-Président de la Commission de l'Union africaine lors du sommet d'Addis-Abeba qui se tiendra en 2025 et l'adhésion de l'Égypte au Conseil des droits de l'homme pour la période 2026-2028, lors des travaux de l'Assemblée Générale à New-York attendus l'année prochaine.
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#Namibia votes and could have its first female leader. But election upsets have shaken the region.
#WINDHOEK, Namibia -A woman who joined Namibia's underground independence movement in the 1970s is a strong contender to become its first female leader as the country voted Wednesday in a presidential election.
#Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, is the current vice president and the ruling SWAPO party's candidate for president. She's already in the lead after special voting among citizens overseas and the armed forces.
But #SWAPO, which has governed the southern African country and held the presidency for 34 years since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990, faces growing frustration caused by high unemployment and economic hardship, especially among young people.
That is a common theme that has led to momentous election upsets in other countries in the region this year. Voters elsewhere in southern Africa have rejected parties that liberated their nations from colonial or white minority rule in favor of era-ending change to address new problems.
In neighboring South Africa(opens in a new tab), the African National Congress that ruled for three decades since the end of the racist system of apartheid lost its majority in a landmark election result in June. Botswana's ruling party lost in a landslide last month after 58 years in power since independence from Britain, and Mauritius delivered a surprising heavy defeat for its incumbent party this month.
Mozambique's long-ruling Frelimo party was declared the winner of an election in October, prompting claims of vote rigging and sparking ongoing violent protests against the party.
About 1.4 million people — approximately half the Namibian population — are registered to vote to decide the president and the makeup of Parliament for a five-year term. The country on the southwestern coast of Africa is a former German colony that came under South African control after World War I and its Black majority was later subjected to some of South Africa's apartheid policies. SWAPO was at the forefront of the battle for independence.
While Namibia's population is 85% Black, its colonial history is illustrated by large white and biracial communities, and English, German and South Africa's Afrikaans language are all spoken.
Nandi-Ndaitwah voted at an elementary school in the capital, Windhoek. She told reporters that one of her party’s key focuses to fight poverty was attracting more foreign investment to a country with diamond and uranium resources, and untapped oil and gas off its coast that is being explored by international energy companies.
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