Inside Trump's Oval Office Version 2.0

Donald Trump and his top aides return to the White House and say they are ready to transform Washington—and the world

- Meridith Mcgraw

After delivering a sober inaugural address that called for a new "golden age in America," President Trump cannon-balled into an overflow room at the Capitol, where he shed the teleprompter and told the assembled crowd what was really on his mind.

"I had a couple of things to say that were extremely controversial, but between JD and Melania, and everybody else, they said, 'Please, sir. It's such a beautiful unifying speech. Please, sir, don't say these things,'" Trump said, referring to Vice President JD Vance and first lady Melania Trump.

"I think this was a better speech than the one I gave upstairs," Trump concluded after 30-plus minute remarks in which he signaled his plans to pardon those convicted of criminal offenses in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot and delivered an extended riff on his wife's sore feet. Later in the day, the president pardoned roughly 1,500 defendants involved in the Jan. 6 riot.

Four years after he left Washington, and less than two hours after he became president again, Trump made clear that he would govern on his own terms and had no interest in muting the persona that helped secure his return to the White House.

His first day in office showed that he will continue to ping-pong between the serious and the stunning, participating in official Washington rituals one minute and whipping up his devoted supporters the next. And while former President Joe Biden was tightly managed by his advisers, Trump has made clear that he will resist efforts by friends, allies and advisers to constrain him.

Unlike in 2017, when Trump arrived in Washington as an outsider with few political ties, this time he returns with greater knowledge about how to pull the levers of government, how to enact his agenda—and how to plow through those who might stand in his way.