President Trump declares 'America is back' as he begins blitz of executive orders

Donald Trump declared “America is back” as he signed a slew of executive orders to kickstart his presidency, including a crackdown on illegal immigration and plans to "drill, baby, drill".

The President said that he was “saved by God to make America great again” as he returned to the White House on Monday, capping an astonishing political comeback.

He is the first president in more than a century to win a second term after losing the White House and the first felon to occupy the White House.

At a rally in front of his supporters gathered at Washington's Capital One Arena on Monday evening, Mr Trump signed a series of sweeping executive orders to curb immigration, boost fossil fuel production and roll back environmental regulations.

He said he would declare a national emergency at the southern border with Mexico, dispatch troops there and resume a policy forcing asylum-seeking migrants to wait in Mexico for their US court hearings.

The moves are a prelude to what he described as an unprecedented operation to deport millions of immigrants.

Other executive orders included:

- An order to force federal workers to return to the office five days a week

- An executive order that Mr Trump said was aimed at "restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship”

- A directive to every department and agency to address the cost of living crisis

- Withdrawal from the Paris climate treaty

Mr Trump also announced he would pardon people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot, calling them "hostages" while flanked by the families of people taken hostage by Hamas as militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

He also said he would issue orders to scrap federal diversity programs and require the government to recognise only genders assigned at birth.

Mr Trump’s inauguration ceremony was moved indoors due to the extreme cold gripping much of the country.

With his predecessor Joe Biden sitting just metres away, Mr Trump delivered a stinging judgment of the Democrat’s policies from immigration to foreign affairs.

"We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders, but refuses to defend American borders, or more importantly, its own people," he said.