President Donald Trump, within minutes of being sworn in for a second term in office, pledged today to declare a "national energy emergency" and sign executive orders to expand drilling, block electric vehicle regulations and end the climate policies of his predecessor.
In his second inaugural address delivered inside the rotunda of the US Capitol, Trump vowed to put "America first" and make the US "greater, stronger and far more exceptional than ever before".
Trump said he will sign a raft of executive orders to restore "common sense" in US policy, including a directive for his administration to "defeat" inflation by increasing drilling and rolling back climate-related policies.
"The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency," Trump said. "We will drill, baby, drill."
It remains unclear if Trump will take action soon on his plan to pursue across-the-board import tariffs, or a threatened 25pc tariff against Canada that oil industry officials have said could disrupt the nearly 4mn b/d of crude the US imports from Canada. Trump said today he would immediately begin an "overhaul" of the US trade system to protect domestic workers and to start to "tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens".
In an often-dark, bellicose address reminiscent of his "American carnage" speech eight years ago, the 47th president of the US promised to "reverse the horrible betrayal" and "give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and, indeed ,their freedom.
"From this moment on, America's decline is over," Trump declared.
In foreign policy, Trump said the US would "reclaim its rightful place" as the most powerful country in the world and reiterated plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Trump also promised still-unspecified actions to take control of the US-built Panama Canal in response to what he says has been unfair treatment of US ships, a threat that president Jose Raul Mulino has rejected.
"We gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back," Trump said.
Trump's declaration of an "energy emergency" could bolster the legal rationale for some of energy policies and plans to expedite permitting. US interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum, at a confirmation hearing last week, said emergency action was needed because of a looming "crisis" with the electric grid that he said could result in higher prices and slowing the growth of artificial intelligence data centers.
Trump is expected to take action soon to restart licensing of US LNG export terminals and support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Trump said he wanted the US to take advantage of its vast oil and gas reserves, which he said would reduce energy prices, increase energy exports and refill the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which now holds 394mn bl of crude and is at 55pc of its capacity, "right to the top".
Trump also said he plans to end the "Green New Deal" — a reference to climate programs enacted under former president Joe Biden — and revoke a federal "electric vehicle mandate" he said is threatening the US auto manufacturing sector. Trump has yet to specify which parts of Biden's climate legislation he will overturn, but the White House said the administration intends to consider rescinding all federal regulations that impose "undue burdens" on energy production, end leasing of federal land to wind farms and roll back energy efficiency standards for consumer goods. The White House also said Trump will once again pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement.
During his campaign, Trump promised he would cut the price of energy by 50pc within 12 months of taking office. But with regular grade gasoline averaging close to $3/USG and Henry Hub natural gas prices less $4/mmBtu this month, such a dramatic cut in prices would be difficult to achieve without causing major disruptions to industry. Environmentalists and Democratic-led states are also preparing to file lawsuits challenging Trump's deregulatory actions, a strategy they used during his first term with mixed success.
Trump was sworn in in a relatively small ceremony inside the US Capitol, after calling off a more traditional, outdoor inauguration because of temperatures that were hovering around 23° F.
Among those in attendance was Telsa chief executive Elon Musk, who spent more than $250mn to help elect Trump and is chairing a cost-cutting advisory panel, and other tech industry billionaires. Florida governor Ron Desantis (R). Indiana governor Mike Braun (R) and other top Republicans watched the inauguration remotely.
Former president Joe Biden today issued pardons to former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff retired Gen. Mark Milley, key medical adviser during the Covid-19 pandemic Anthony Fauci, leaders of the committee that investigated Trump's actions leading up to the 6 January 2020 attack on the US Capitol, and members of his own family. Biden said those he pardoned did nothing wrong but worried they could face "baseless and politically motivated investigations".
