All the living former presidents were there and the outgoing president amicably greeted his successor, who gave a speech about the country鈥檚 bright future and who left to the blare of a brass band.
At first glance, President seemed like a continuation of the country鈥檚 nearly 250-year-long tradition of peaceful transfers of power, essential to its democracy. And there was much to celebrate: Trump won a free and fair election last fall, and his supporters hope he will be able to fix problems at the border, end the war in Ukraine and get inflation under control.
Still, on Monday, the warning signs were clear.
Due to frigid temperatures, Trump鈥檚 swearing-in was held in the Capitol Rotunda, where rioters seeking to keep him in power the last time roamed during the Trump walked into the space from the hall leading to the building鈥檚 west front tunnel, where some of the worst between Trump supporters and police occurred that day.
After giving a speech pledging that 鈥渘ever again鈥� would the government 鈥減ersecute political opponents,鈥� Trump then gave a second, impromptu address to a crowd of supporters. The president lamented that his inaugural address had been sanitized, said he would shortly pardon the Jan. 6 rioters and fumed at last-minute issued by outgoing President to the members of the congressional committee that
鈥淚 did have a couple of things to say that were extremely controversial,鈥� Trump told the crowd in the Capitol鈥檚 Emancipation Hall. It was the same space that had filled with rows of National Guard troops sleeping on the hard floors for weeks in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack.
Hours later, Trump followed through on a campaign promise to 鈥� some 1,500 of his supporters, including ones who had assaulted police officers. That came after an extraordinary pardon issued by Biden 鈥� announced by the White House as he greeted Trump at the inaugural ceremony 鈥� for several members of The 11th hour Biden pardons were a response to Trump's continual threats to carry out a against his political opponents.
The head-spinning developments of Trump's first day back in power suggested there will be no lack of controversy during his second term.
Even after regaining the highest office in the land, Trump continued to about his . He didn鈥檛 mention it in his formal address, but in his impromptu, second speech, Trump it was only due to voter fraud and that if votes were counted accurately he would win California, a state he lost by more than 3.2 million votes.
The celebration of the peaceful transfer of power kicked off just before noon Monday with both Trump and Biden present. That was a stark difference from last time, when Trump didn鈥檛 attend the event to hand over power to Biden.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar kicked off the speeches because she chairs the joint congressional inaugural committee. She pronounced that the theme was 鈥渙ur enduring democracy.鈥� It was a fairly anodyne line and in other circumstances would be a fairly routine speech, but had a stark implication given the setting.
Klobuchar spoke about how 鈥渋n other countries鈥� the festivities might be in a presidential palace, but the United States holds them at 鈥渢he people鈥檚 house,鈥� the Capitol complex. She concluded by recognizing the firefighters battling blazes in Southern California.
鈥淥ur democracy鈥檚 strength and grit must match theirs,鈥� Klobuchar said.
The day began with a reminder of the unprecedented dynamic that Trump鈥檚 return has created. Biden preemptively pardoned 鈥� a vocal Trump critic whom the new president has suggested should be executed 鈥� and the congressional members, staff and officers who provided them testimony.
Among them was former Rep. Liz Cheney, one of the few Republicans to challenge Trump and who had been by her former Republican colleagues in the U.S. House. During his second speech, Trump again dug at Cheney, calling her 鈥渁 crying lunatic.鈥�
鈥淭hese are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,鈥� Biden said about his blanket pardons. 鈥淓ven when individuals have done nothing wrong 鈥� and in fact have done the right thing 鈥� and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.鈥�
Former , who lost consciousness and suffered a heart attack after a rioter , was one of the officers who received a last-minute Biden pardon because he testified before the Jan. 6 committee.
Fanone said he learned about the pardon from a Washington Post reporter who called him Monday morning.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 digested it,鈥� he later told The Associated Press. 鈥淚 just can鈥檛 believe that this is my country.鈥�
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Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Michael Kunzelman and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
Nicholas Riccardi, The Associated Press
