Donald Trump is already wielding his presidential power, and this time he's more prepared to use it

In 2021, Donald Trump left Washington after being voted out of office, and the United States was still in the shadow of the January 6th attack. At the time, few could have predicted the scene we would witness four years later.

This was an inauguration unlike any other, marking the culmination of a historic political comeback. Trump, who had promised to move quickly on his first day of his second term, began dismantling the work of his predecessor and pushing forward at a dizzying pace.

Within hours of being sworn in, he was back in the Oval Office, dramatically signing a stack of executive orders with his signature black marker. The returning president spent over 45 minutes explaining his decisions and taking questions from reporters in a way that Joe Biden never had.

At one point, he was asked if the now former president had left him a letter, as is tradition. “He may have,” he responded, before opening a drawer of the Resolute Desk and pulling out an envelope with “47” scrawled on the front. “Maybe we should read it together,” he joked. “Maybe I’ll read it first, and then make a decision.”

Trump had campaigned and won on a promise to completely reverse Biden’s vision for America. In his inaugural address, he argued he had been given a mandate to “completely and totally reverse the terrible betrayal,” adding that his return would usher in a new “golden age” for the country. But the scope of some of the actions taken on day one still surprised some.

For example, it had been expected that any pardons for those convicted over January 6th might be limited to those who had not attacked police officers. Instead, almost all were pardoned. Those Trump had called the “J6 hostages” were out of prison. The president's early actions thrilled his supporters, many of whom had flocked to the usually very left-leaning city.

Washington’s harsh winter forced the swearing-in ceremony indoors and prevented crowds from watching on the National Mall. But they still lined up in the rain, snow and sub-zero temperatures, and thousands got the chance to see Trump in person at two events at an indoor arena downtown. “I’ve been fighting for him for eight years,” one woman told me. “We need him to fix our country.”

Despite the large displays of bright red “MAGA” merchandise in the capital this week, America remains as politically divided as ever. Trump’s critics may not have experienced the shock and disbelief they felt the first time, but still more than 75 million Americans voted for Kamala Harris. Democratic-led states and cities have vowed to fight back against some of Trump’s plans, particularly when it comes to mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

Advocates have already launched a legal challenge to an executive order that revoked automatic citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants born in the US. And while the Republican governor of Florida has decided to begin calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, Trump’s promise to change the name may not be as straightforward as it seems.

How many obstacles Trump might face as he tries to implement his second term agenda remains to be seen. But the president relishes a political fight, and he is far more prepared for his second term than he was for his first. He has nominated loyalists to his cabinet and has attracted the support of some of the world’s richest tech leaders.

The pared-down guest list at the inauguration included not only Trump’s billionaire backer Elon Musk but also the heads of Meta, Amazon, Apple and Google. Republicans control both the House and the Senate, albeit with slim majorities. Trump has been emboldened by his electoral victory, the adoration of his supporters, and what he referred to as divine intervention. “My life was saved for a reason,” he said in his inaugural address, referring to an assassination attempt against him at a campaign rally last year. “I was saved by God to make America great again.”

Trump has already made it clear that he will not hesitate to seek to make full use of the power that has just been handed back to him. “Promises made, promises kept,” read an email from his transition team. “President Donald J. Trump is just getting started.” After a turbulent election cycle, and a president who has spent years defying all norms, to say the next four years will be huge feels like an understatement.