"The Golden Age of America begins right now," Donald Trump declared in his inaugural address for his second presidency. Billionaire and major Republican donor Elon Musk, who was in attendance, has emerged as one of the most powerful figures inside the Trump White House. From drastic cuts to federal agencies and workforces, ignoring court orders, to a flurry of executive orders signing that avenged his perceived political enemies, President Trump is moving at an unprecedented speed to reshape every aspect of America. With Republicans controlling the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, there are few forces stopping him.
Walking out of the Oval Office following President Trump, Elon Musk watches as the President walks to the press before he departs the White House en route to Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Friday, March 21, 2025.
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks to a staff next to a framed New York Post front page showing President Donald Trump’s mugshot as a Secret Service agent keeps a watchful eye on the press in the Oval Office at the White House on Friday, February 14, 2025. From March 11th-15th, Waltz accidentally added Jeff Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief at The Atlantic, to a Signal chat group with other national security personnel and discussed sensitive, imminent military operations in Yemen. Waltz is out as the National Security Advisor on May 1st, and now faces a potentially contentious confirmation hearing in Congress for his United Nations Ambassador nomination.
On "Liberation Day", a term dubbed by the White House, President Trump announced new tariffs, tossed "Make America Great Again" hats, and signed executive orders at the White House on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., right, seen as a potential swing vote on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for secretary of Health and Human Services, chats with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., at a Senate Finance Committee on voting to advance Kennedy’s nomination on Tuesday, February 4, 2025. On Capitol Hill, Republicans have largely fallen in line with President Trump's agenda and demands.
President Donald Trump signs a Covid vaccine-related executive order on schools and universities’ vaccine mandate in the Oval Office at the White House on Friday, February 14, 2025, with some of his cabinet members behind him.
Media Set up before President-elect Donald Trump holds a “Victory Rally” in the Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C., on Sunday, January 19, 2025. Since taking office, President Trump has made dramatic changes to the White House press corps. The Associated Press had been banned from covering Oval Office events and flying on Air Force One with the President, for not changing its editorial guidance from "Gulf of Mexico" to "Gulf of America". Wire reporters, including Reuters, Bloomberg, and The Associated Press, lost long-standing seats on the daily print press roaster and Air Force One. New Media, the majority of whom are online and right-wing leaning, Trump-friendly, have been brought into the White House's daily coverage.
Democrats, some wearing pink in protest, watch as President Donald Trump arrives to give an address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen from the Capitol on Tuesday, February 4, 2025. In a 9-0 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court honored the order for the Trump Administration to facilitate the return of a wrongfully deported Maryland man, Kilmar Ábrego García. To this day, García is still in El Salvador.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., talks on his flip phone in his office during a night of "Vote-a-rama" on Friday, February 21, 2025. With a Republican trifecta and intense pressure from the Democratic base to "do something", Leader Schumer has orchestrated marathon-style symbolic votes to put Senate Republicans on the record for federal agency cuts and President Trump's tariffs.
Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, does a TV interview with FOX News, as an anchor at ABC talks on the phone at the White House on Friday, March 21, 2025. Hegseth is one of the national security personnel who was involved in the "Signal Gate" and had posted sensitive imminent military operation details against the Houthis in Yemen.
A staff member gives a thumbs up as they prepare for a Senate Democrats press conference ahead of President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer hugs President Donald Trump as he arrives in Michigan, to deliver his first 100-day speech for his second term on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Whitmer faced backlash as she joined President Trump on camera in the Oval Office just less than a month ago.
Paula White, Senior Advisor at the White House Faith Office, is seen in her office in the West Wing at the White House on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. A photo hanging behind her depicts her in a white dress praying for President Donald Trump. Since taking office, President Trump established the White House Faith Office and a "Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias" at the Department of Justice with executive orders.
Aides carry boxes into Air Force One before President Donald Trump departs Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, en route to Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, to spend the weekend at Mar-a-lago on Friday, February 28, 2025. The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago on August 8, 2022, as part of the investigation into the mishandling of presidential documents after Donald Trump's first term. According to the White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, pictured first on the right, “The FBI is giving the President his property back that was taken during the unlawful and illegal raids. We are taking possession of the boxes today and loading them onto Air Force One.”
President Donald Trump, with a 50-dollar bill in his pocket and a visible bruise on the back of his right hand, departs Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, en route to Tuscaloosa National Airport, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to deliver a commencement speech at the University of Alabama on Thursday, May 1, 2025. The New York Times reported that President Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., and its allied nonprofit group have already amassed roughly $400 million since the 2024 election.