Donald Trump became the 47th president of the United States on Monday, taking the oath of office at his second inauguration and vowing that a “golden age” for the country begins now. He got off to a quick start by signing a flurry of executive orders on Monday night, as well as pardoning rioters involved in the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump called Monday “liberation day” in an inaugural speech that largely focused on his conservative priorities.

“I stand before you now as proof that you should never believe that something is impossible to do in America,” Trump said.

Trump signs executive order to rename Gulf of Mexico ‘Gulf of America’

President Donald Trump officially renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” in an executive order signed Monday night.

The order, part of a host of executive orders he issued in the hours after taking office, directs the secretary of the Interior to change the name of the 1,100-mile-wide gulf on official U.S. government maps and documents.

Earlier this month, Trump promised he would change the name as retribution for what he calls Mexico’s failure to stem illegal immigration and drugs entering the U.S.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum jabbed back the next day, sarcastically proposing the U.S. should be called “Mexican America.”

–Cybele Mayes-Osterman

Leaders of Oath Keepers, Proud Boys with longest sentences expecting release

The two men who received the longest sentences in the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, as leaders of far-right militias – Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes – were each expecting reprieves Monday from President Donald Trump’s proclamation pardoning nearly all defendants and shortening the sentences of others.

Neither Tarrio, who headed the Proud Boys, nor Rhodes, who headed the Oath Keepers, entered the Capitol. But each were convicted of seditious conspiracy for organizing their groups at the riot. Tarrio got 22 years in prison and Rhodes got 18 years.

Rhodes was listed by name as receiving a commutation. His lawyer, Ed Tarpley, told USA TODAY he was expecting to be released Monday night.

“We’re excited about it,” Tarpley said. “This is an answered prayer and we’re all very happy.”

Nayib Hassan, a lawyer for Tarrio, said he wasn’t sure if Tarrio got a pardon or commutation, but was also expecting to be released.

–Bart Jansen and Will Carles

Trump pardons 1,500 defendants charged in Jan. 6  attack

President Donald Trump pardoned about 1,500 people Monday charged in the Capitol attack Jan. 6, 2021, fulfilling a campaign pledge critics said would “endorse attacks on democracy.”

That figure would represent almost all of the nearly 1,600 people who were charged in the riot by the fourth anniversary Jan. 6, according to the Justice Department.

About 1,270 people have been convicted from charges associated with the riot. More than 1,000 pleaded guilty and 260 were convicted at trials. The guilty pleas included 327 people admitting felonies and 682 people admitting misdemeanors.

“These are the hostages, approximately 1,500 for a pardon. Full pardon,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “We have about six commutations in there where we’re doing further research. This is a big one. We hope they come out tonight.”

–Sudiksha Kochi

Donald Trump issues executive order to halt TikTok ban – but is it legal?

As one of his first moves following his inauguration, President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday aiming to halt enforcement of a ban on TikTok in the U.S. for 75 days.

The order comes after TikTok abruptly shut down in the U.S. over the weekend, only to say it was working to restore service based on assurances from Trump. Service was swiftly restored to the popular short-form video app Sunday, although Apple and Google haven’t returned it to their app stores for downloading.

Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday that he would issue the order on his first day as a second-term president “so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.”

“The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order,” Trump promised.

Whether Trump’s executive order can truly halt the law temporarily isn’t clear. The law works by imposing a $5,000 fine on companies for each user who accesses TikTok through their services. That includes companies like Apple and Google that provide platforms to download and update apps and companies like Oracle that provide internet hosting services.

Federal employees required to return to work in-person

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing department heads to require federal employees to “return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis” immediately, with exemptions allowed.

The American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing about 800,000 federal workers, promptly filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure they comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

The lawsuit, AFGE along with watchdog groups Public Citizen and State Democracy Defenders Fund (SDDF), claim Trump and his Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) “do not represent the interests of everyday Americans… (they) will be considering cuts to government agencies and programs that protect health, benefits, consumer finance, and product safety.”

As Trump’s return-to-office mandate was expected to get major pushback from federal workers, the president is also threatening to take legal action against the latest AFGE contract which extended remote worker protections until 2029.

“AFGE will not stand idly by as a secretive group of ultra-wealthy individuals with major conflicts of interest attempt to deregulate themselves and give their own companies sweetheart government contracts while firing civil servants and dismantling the institutions designed to serve the American people,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “This fight is about fairness, accountability, and the integrity of our government. Federal employees are not the problem—they are the solution.”

– Terry Collins

• USA TODAY