• Donald Trump has been sworn in as president once again.
• He announced a slew of executive orders in his inaugural speech.
• He's expected to sign many of them later on Monday.

A political comeback is complete: President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were both sworn into office in a ceremony beneath the Capitol Rotunda on Monday.

"The golden age of America begins right now," Trump said in an inaugural speech that lasted roughly 30 minutes. He announced a flurry of forthcoming executive orders, including declaring a national emergency at the southern border, establishing an External Revenue Service, and more.

A host of dignitaries — including lawmakers, foreign leaders, and members of Trump's incoming cabinet — were on hand. Tech leaders and CEOs in attendance included Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Shortly before the ceremony began, Biden issued pardons for several family members, including James Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John Owens, and Francis Biden. That's on top of a slew of pre-emptive pardons to Gen. Mark Milley, Anthony Fauci, and those involved in congressional investigations of Trump, fearing that among Trump's first acts could be reprisals against them.

After the speech, the former president boarded a helicopter and departed the Capitol.

Trump and Vance then walked down to Emancipation Hall, a large room beneath the Capitol, where a crowd of additional supporters who couldn't fit into the Rotunda were waiting. There, he delivered an apparently ad-libbed speech in which he aired grievances about January 6 and Biden's pardons. It lasted longer than his inaugural speech itself.

"Why are we trying to help Milley?" Trump asked. "Why are we helping Liz Cheney?"

Trump then went to Statuary Hall to dine with lawmakers and other dignitaries. He will later speak at Capitol One Arena, where he's expected to sign executive orders — possibly up to 100, according to the New York Times, including one that addresses the ownership of TikTok.

Here's what Trump has pledged to do on Day One.

Trade

25% tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian goods: Just before Thanksgiving, Trump said he would levy significant tariffs on the US neighbors due to illegal immigration.

• Context: Thanks to Congress, presidents can impose tariffs without legislative action. In his first term, Trump used a law that allows the president to impose due to national security emergencies. President Joe Biden even expanded some of those duties.

A 60% tariff on all Chinese goods: On the campaign trail, Trump discussed raising tariffs as high as 60% on all Chinese goods. He's also mused about other wide-ranging tariffs.

• Context: Trump has long complained that the US trade deficit with China is too large. The influx of deadly fentanyl, of which the Drug Enforcement Agency has said China is a major source, has only exacerbated those tensions.

The creation of an external revenue service: In his inaugural speech, Trump said that he would establish a new agency to collect tariffs and other foreign fees. "It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury coming from foreign sources," Trump said.

• Context: It's unclear exactly how this service will be set up. Customs and Border Protection is already responsible for collecting customs, and only Congress could set up a new agency. Regardless, it illustrates Trump and his advisors' view that the US should return to trade policy circa President William McKinley and the 1890s.

Crackdown on illegal immigration

The start of mass deportations: Immigration was one of Trump's signature issues in the 2024 campaign. He said numerous times that starting on his first day, he would take action to begin "the largest deportation operation" in the nation's history.

In his inaugural speech, he said he would declare a national emergency at the southern border and "begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came."

• Context: Trump has said his goal is to deport everyone who is in the US illegally. In December, he told NBC News that while the logistics of such an operation would be massive, "You have no choice." He said initial deportations would focus on criminal offenders, a long-held policy by US Immigration and Enforcement. Trump has also said he will declare a national emergency and use US troops to help manage deportations. There are legal limitations on how US troops can assist law enforcement, though Trump may invoke the Insurrection Act to get around those restrictions.

Repeal birthright citizenship: Trump has pledged to end birthright citizenship, a protection enshrined by the 14th Amendment.

• Context: No president has the power to overturn the Constitution unilaterally. Trump and his allies have argued that the amendment should not be interpreted to apply to the children of people living in the country illegally. Multiple groups have said they would challenge any such executive action in court, kicking off a legal fight that may eventually reach the Supreme Court.

Energy and Environment

Increase fracking and oil drilling: Trump said on Monday that he will declare a "national energy emergency" and the US will "drill, baby, drill."

• Context: Trump's Interior Department will have the power to offer new leases for drilling and natural gas extraction on federal lands, A last-minute Biden administration ban on deep offshore drilling will complicate those actions. The White House's bigger issue is that while it can speed up approval and auction off more leases, it's ultimately up to the energy industry to expand production. Trump also wants to revive canceled projects like the Keystone XL pipeline that companies have since dropped.

Government restructure

Remove civil service protections for federal workers: Trump has said he will return to his sweeping first-term policy that would have made it easier to fire tens of thousands of federal workers.

• Context: Biden repealed Trump's Schedule F order amid court challenges and before its full implementation. Russ Vought, Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, testified to lawmakers last week that reviving the policy is a "day one thing." Federal unions challenged Trump's initial 2020 executive order and have said they would do so again. The Biden administration sought to create new obstacles to a similar order, but, likely, those may only temporarily hold Trump back.

Create the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE): Elon Musk has already begun hiring staffers to help the outside organization Trump created to advise on ways to cut federal spending.

When Trump said that he would take official action to establish DOGE on Monday, the crowd in the Rotunda erupted into applause.

• Context: It remains to be seen how Trump will organize DOGE. Only Congress can create a new cabinet department. Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, DOGE's co-leaders, have also said they will remain outside government. There is a law concerning outside advisory panels, which legal experts previously told Business Insider will apply to DOGE. Shortly after noon on Monday, several organizations filed lawsuits in a bid to get DOGE to comply with that law. In the meantime, congressional Republicans have eagerly welcomed Musk's efforts and have set up ways to coordinate with DOGE.

Move federal agencies out of DC: As president-elect, Trump said his administration would go to court to force federal workers to return to offices. His allies want to move 100,000 jobs outside of the nation's capital.

• Context: During his first term, Trump's efforts to move even a small number of employees ran into many obstacles. Some workers just quit or switched agencies to avoid being forced to move — a similar struggle on a much larger scale could begin as soon as today.

Crime and Justice

Pardons for January 6 protesters: Trump has repeatedly said he would pardon supporters who were convicted of offenses related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot that briefly delayed the certification of Biden's victory.

He didn't mention it in his inaugural address, but he told the Emancipation Hall crowd that "you're going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages."

• Context: Trump has sent conflicting messages about the extent of offenses he pardoned. Vice President-elect JD Vance recently told NBC News that if someone committed violence on January 6, "obviously you shouldn't be pardoned." Roughly 900 people received misdemeanor charges related to their actions during the riot, according to Politico. About 500 January 6-related cases are still pending in federal court. Since Trump's 2024 win, the FBI has continued to arrest people on January 6-related charges, as recently as last week.

Culture War

Ban minors from receiving gender-affirming care: In January 2023, Trump pledged a series of actions to restrict minors from receiving certain types of healthcare.

• Context: Trump has laid out some ways he would restrict transgender rights. One of those ways concerns the ability of minors to receive medical and mental health services. A handful of Republican-led states have already imposed similar restrictions. In June, the Supreme Court said it would hear a case about the constitutionality of state-level bans.

Ban transgender people from military service: In December, Trump told conservative activists that he would take several actions to "stop the transgender lunacy," including restoring his first-term ban on transgender people openly serving in the US armed forces.

"As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female," Trump said.

• Context: There are an estimated 15,000 transgender troops. Trump's policy to restore his ban could lead to an immediate medical discharge for those people. Just as they did in 2017, Service members and activist groups will likely challenge the policy. The US Supreme Court ultimately allowed the first ban to go into effect. President Biden revoked the ban five days after taking office.

Withdraw funds from schools that teach "critical race theory": In October, Trump said he would sign an executive order that would revoke federal funding for schools "pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content."

• Context: No president has the power to cut funding to schools immediately. Instead, Trump will likely turn to his Education Department to open civil rights investigations. Like other campaign promises, he'll also need some help from Congress.

Prohibit funds from going to schools with vaccine mandates: In August, Trump said, "not one penny" would go to schools that require mandatory vaccinations.

• Context: There is no federal law requiring vaccines. Rather, each state has its own policies — meaning, it's unclear how Trump could impose such a prohibition. At the federal level, the Centers for Disease Control has a panel that advises vaccine schedules. Trump has also selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic, to lead his Health and Human Services Department. Efforts to undermine or outright repeal vaccine mandates exploded in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Revive a presidential commission focused on patriotic education: Trump has said he would reinstate his 1776 Commission, created in the wake of The New York Times' publication of an essay project dubbed "The 1619 Project," which sought to reframe the story of the US' creation around slavery.

• Context: Trump has the power to create advisory panels. Two days before he left office in 2021, his initial 1776 panel released a report. President Biden dissolved the panel on January 21, 2021. Trump's previous order creating the power reiterated restrictions on the federal government creating a national school curriculum.

Correction: January 20, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misstated Jeff Bezos' current position at Amazon. He is the founder and executive chairman, not the CEO.