Four years after that exhortation to his supporters in front of the White House to “raise hell” which ended with the assault on Capitol Hill and one of the darkest days of American democracy Donald Trump has been officially certified by Congress as the 47th president of the United States along with JD Vance as his deputy.
Under a snowstorm, in a deserted but still armored capital not only because the memory of the insurrection of January 6, 2021 is still alive but also for the recent attack in New Orleans and the Tesla explosion in Las Vegas, it was It was Vice President Kamala Harris who declared Trump and Vance, who was present on Capitol Hill, elected. A mockery for the Democrat, defeated by the tycoon in Novemberwho had to read his and his opponent’s votes at the joint session of Congress, thus retracing a painful moment in his political career. «My victory is a great moment in history», exulted The Donald on his social media Truth, quoting his first buddy, Elon Musk, according to whom «if Trump had not won the elections, civilization would have been lost». This year’s ceremony took place without hitches or incidents, in an almost surreal atmosphere, in a muffled silence in stark contrast to the noise of the violence unleashed by thousands of rioters four years ago. The president-elect has guaranteed pardons to them, the over 1,500 indicted by the Justice Department, as soon as he takes office again in the White House in two weeks.
For now, Trump has to think about his legal troubles, that sentencing in the Stormy Daniels case that could ruin his party on January 10th. The tycoon’s lawyers challenged Judge Juan Merchan’s decision and asked for a postponement until a higher court rules again invoking presidential immunity. Meanwhile, Joe Biden wanted to remember that unfortunate day when the tycoon’s supporters tried to block his victory both in an editorial in the Washington Post and by speaking to journalists at the White House. «What happened is a real threat to democracy. We must commit to remembering January 6, 2021 every year. A day when our democracy was tested and prevailed,” warned the president who traveled to New Orleans with First Lady Jill to meet the families of the victims of the attack. The commander-in-chief also announced that he had declared protected areas, therefore prohibited for drilling, over 253 million hectares of coasts, almost all of those of the United States. A final challenge to his successor who during the election campaign promised a full resumption of hydrocarbon extraction with the now famous slogan, “drill baby, drill!”. The president-elect immediately reacted by attacking the decision as “shameful political revenge” and accusing Biden of making the transition “as difficult as possible with these executive orders.” «The American people – underlined their spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt – have given President Trump the mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices. Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail and we will drill, baby, we will drill.” And The Donald has ensured that he will cancel all measures taken by his predecessor.