The men who held the nation’s highest office before President Trump have all remained mum on his taking the presidency on Monday. 

All four living former presidents – Bill Clinton, George Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden – attended the inauguration ceremony, and sat behind Trump as he gave a politically charged speech about his vision for the future of the country. 

None had any public well-wishes for the incoming president after the swearing-in ceremony. Asked whether they planned to put out a statement on it, none of their offices responded at press time. 

Biden only addressed his supporters and staffers in remarks before boarding a government helicopter to be whisked away from Washington, D.C. 

‘We’re leaving office, we’re not leaving the fight,’ he told them. 

Former first ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Jill Biden all attended the ceremony alongside their husbands. Michelle Obama did not attend.

Sources reportedly close to Michelle Obama told People magazine that the former first lady intended to skip Trump’s inauguration because she cannot contain her disdain for the Republican president-elect.

Hillary Clinton chuckled when Trump suggested renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Bill Clinton told CNN of his reaction to the speech: ‘I think you can figure it out for yourself.’ The Clintons did not stay for the inaugural luncheon. 

Trump and former first lady Melania Trump did not attend President Biden’s inauguration in 2021. At the late President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, Obama and Trump were seen chatting and laughing like old friends despite the history of political animosity between the former Democratic president and the returning Republican.

Trump, in his address, took shots at Biden without addressing him by name. 

‘My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal, and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed, their freedom,’ Trump said.

In a follow-up speech to supporters, Trump called out Biden’s last-minute moves as president. 

‘You’re going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages,’ he said. 

‘And I was going to talk about the things Joe did today with the pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes, like the UnSelect Committee of political thugs,’ he went on.

In an 11th hour move, Biden preemptively pardoned the members of the January 6th House Select Committee that investigated the role of Trump and his acolytes in the 2021 Capitol riot, along with Dr. Anthony Fauci and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley.

And just moments before leaving the White House, Biden preemptively shielded his siblings and their spouses from any prosecution.

Republican lawmakers are jubilant after President Trump was sworn in for a second term on Monday, followed by a speech promising massive policy changes in the U.S.

‘President Trump’s speech was a breath of fresh aid for Americans – he will bring down costs, close the southern border, deport illegal immigrants, bring back free speech, and unleash American energy dominance,’ House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., told Fox News Digital. ‘The Golden Age of America begins today.’

House GOP leaders, meanwhile, reaffirmed their promise to execute Trump’s policies as quickly as possible, with the commander in chief angling for an active first 100 days in office beginning with a sweeping set of executive orders.

‘This is America’s moment of redemption, and under President Trump’s leadership, our nation will usher in a new Golden Age,’ said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. ‘House Republicans are fully committed to making his America First vision a reality and are ready to hit the ground running on day one.’

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., meanwhile, hailed Trump’s address as ‘a powerful speech outlining his vision for an America that’s safe, strong, free, and full of opportunity.’

Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., chair of the House GOP Policy Committee, compared Trump’s inauguration to former President Ronald Reagan’s in 1985 – which was also held indoors. 

‘Like Reagan, who ushered in a renaissance of American greatness, President Trump’s inauguration marks the beginning of a new golden age in America. His vision and leadership will secure a brighter future for our nation. Today, we witness the dawn of a new era,’ Hern said.

Like Trump, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called for legislative action to begin without delay. He said, ‘Today is a day for celebration, but our work begins immediately. There is no room for excuses. Congress must work with the president to deliver fully, not partially. I stand ready and resolved.’

Meanwhile, Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, urged Congress to now work with Trump ‘to pass the Farm Bill, extend the Trump Tax Cuts, lock down our border, end the electric vehicle mandates, support our small businesses, and lower costs for our families and farmers.’

Several of those goals were also mentioned by Trump himself during his inaugural speech in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

‘I will direct all members of my Cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation, and rapidly bring down costs and prices. The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices. And that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill,’ Trump said.

‘With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal, and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers.’

He also repeated promises to crack down on crime at the border as well as target foreign nations with high tariffs as a means to bring down the deficit.

Trump later gave roughly half an hour’s worth of further remarks in the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall. 

The second speech, more freewheeling than his first, saw Trump criticize his predecessor, former President Biden, for issuing pardons to members of the former House Select Committee on Jan. 6 and others, like retired Gen. Mark Milley.

‘We’re going to turn our country around, and we’re going to turn it around fast. And I think it was a better speech than the one I made upstairs,’ Trump joked in those remarks.

The acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Paul Abbate, reportedly retired just minutes before Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president.

Former FBI Director Christopher Wray announced on Dec. 11 that he would step down from the bureau before Trump took office, and Wray’s resignation went into effect Sunday.

Abbate, who took the helm from Wray, stepped down from the bureau just a day later, the New York Times reported.

His departure took effect at noon ET Monday, around the same time Trump was slated to take his oath of office at the U.S. Capitol. It was not immediately clear who will replace Abbate as acting FBI director.

‘When the director asked me to stay on past my mandatory date for a brief time, I did so to help ensure continuity and the best transition for the F.B.I. Now, with new leadership inbound, after nearly four years in the deputy role, I am departing the F.B.I.,’ Abbate wrote in an internal email on Monday, according to the New York Times. ‘I have complete confidence in you and in your ability as a team to continue to carry out our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.’

Wray selected Abbate as deputy FBI director in 2021 and extended his length of service. At 57, Abbate is the mandatory retirement age for some FBI agents, according to the New York Times.

Trump appointed Wray to lead the bureau in 2017, but relations between the two soured amid repeated federal investigations into the 45th and now-47th president. The FBI raided Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, in August 2022. 

Trump decried the ‘weaponization’ of the Justice Department during his 2024 presidential campaign, and he has since tapped Kash Patel to lead the FBI. Patel’s Senate confirmation hearing has not yet been scheduled.

‘The scales of justice will be rebalanced,’ Trump said in his inauguration speech. ‘The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.’

President Donald Trump left Washington four years ago a beaten man.

He lost a bitter election battle. Faced recriminations over the Capitol riot. That’s to say nothing of a host of criminal charges.

F. Scott Fitzgerald famously pronounced ‘there are no second acts in American lives.’

But he may not have been writing about sports or politics. In athletics, Rocky Bleier, Tommy John and even Michael Jordan come to mind.

Politics is replete with comebacks – Richard Nixon, Winston Churchill and Vladimir Lenin make the cut.

And so does President Donald Trump.

He’s now only the second American President to return to office. President Grover Cleveland served his first term from 1885 to 1889. But Cleveland lost the presidency in 1888. Cleveland won the popular vote – but lost the Electoral College to President Benjamin Harrison. However, Cleveland rallied to vanquish Harrison in 1892, returning to the White House.

So this is a second act for Mr. Trump. At least in the presidency.

For him, the president enjoys unprecedented public support. He commanded 77 million votes – but failed to reach 50 percent. But, the president did score a robust 312 electoral votes.

And so, Mr. Trump, like Cleveland, is into his second act. What’s ahead?

The expectations are astronomical.

‘America issued a verdict on November 5th. They spoke loud and clear,’ said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., on Fox.

Republicans promised a makeover.

‘When I see peace starting to break out again around the world. They’re going to be like, ‘this is the stability that we were asking for,’’ said Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., on Fox. ‘Daddy’s back.’

Crackdowns are coming.

‘When you have a wide open border, you don’t have safety, security or even sovereignty,’ said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on NBC.

The president returns to power with more GOP unity than he had in 2016. Congressional Republicans were far from standing foursquare behind him. House Republicans had 241 seats then. His most ardent supporters on Capitol Hill were people who no longer serve. Former Reps. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., and Duncan Hunter Jr., R-Calif., were his first supporters in the House. Both were convicted on unrelated criminal matters and left Congress. Mr. Trump then pardoned them. His biggest advocate in the Senate was former Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. Sessions left the Senate to serve as Mr. Trump’s first Attorney General. He lasted less than two years, stepping down at the president’s request.

Congressional Republicans were skeptical of Trump back then. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., led the charge to unwind Obamacare. After the GOP had to pull the bill in the House, Republicans finally cobbled together the votes to kill it a month later. The bill stumbled in the Senate after the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., voted no. But the House failure on the first try told you everything you need to know about where the party stood and how much influence Mr. Trump wielded.

But lawmakers did muscle through the vaunted Trump tax cuts later in the year.

The unity is different among Republicans this time around. And the administration and lawmakers start with an agenda of slashing taxes and cleaving the deficit.

‘Right now there’s a discussion about whether we’ll have one bill or two bills up here. The process doesn’t matter to us. We just know that we’ve got to accomplish this for the American people,’ said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., on Fox. ‘He’s way ahead of where he was eight years ago.’

But one GOP senator has a warning for his colleagues.

‘I think the number one priority for the Republican party should be to secure that border,’ said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on CBS. ‘Get the tax cuts and spending reductions put together later.’

It will be about the math. Despite their ambitious legislative ambitions to approve tranches of money for the border – but simultaneously slash spending and cut taxes. And Republicans have a miniscule majority in the House. With the resignation of former Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., to become National Security Advisor, House Republicans will be down to 218 votes. That majority dwindles to 217 when Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., resigns to become Ambassador to the United Nations – presuming she receives Senate confirmation.

So, advancing anything through the House is going to be challenging despite the goals.

Frankly, they may need help from Democrats on some issues – like avoiding a government shutdown or lifting the debt ceiling.

‘Even though my colleagues have been talking about that the president got a mandate and he did electorally, that mandate does not exist in the House,’ said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., on Fox. ‘They barely have a majority. And so if they want to work with us, I think they’re going to find a willing partner.’

Confirmation votes are coming soon on Trump cabinet picks.

‘He needs a team that can be disruptive,’ said Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Penn., on Fox. ‘They want disrupters. They want outside the box thinking.’

But some picks could be too disruptive.

Think Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard and the selection of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for Health and Human Services Secretary. Senate committees have not yet scheduled hearings for either of them. Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth likely has the votes for confirmation. But the Senate may need to take a procedural vote to break a Democratic filibuster to muscle through Hegseth to confirmation.

Still, Democrats are recalibrating their approach for Trump 2.0.

‘I think Democrats last time around just resisted the president on everything. It was just constant outrage. And I think this time they need to shift to a different strategy of selective resistance,’ said Moskowitz.

So Trump’s second act is on. The issues that Grover Cleveland grappled with? Tariffs and silver policy. Mr. Trump won’t need to wrestle with the latter subject (we presume). But you know about the pending battle about tariffs and issues with China, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere.

The new president has about two years to implement his policies and get his legislative agenda through Congress. But people are expecting results.

And that’s the thing about second acts. In sports. And in politics. Only in the theatre is there a third.

High-profile Democrats and former President Biden, himself, warned about blanket, preemptive pardons before Biden ultimately granted passes to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of his family in the 11th hour of his administration.

‘The precedent of giving blanket pardons, preemptive blanket pardons on the way out of an administration, I think, is a precedent we don’t want to set,’ now-Sen. Adam Schiff warned on ABC’s ‘This Week’ in December. 

Biden ended his term in the Oval Office on Monday, when President Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. But hours before the inauguration, the White House announced pardons for both Fauci and Milley and those involved in the January 6 select committee investigation – though those individuals were not identified by name. 

And just 22 minutes before leaving office, Biden also pardoned his family, including his brother James B. Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens, brother-in-law John T. Owens, and brother Francis W. Biden. The former president had previously issued a blanket pardon to his adult son, Hunter Biden, after he was convicted in two separate federal cases last year.  

‘My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me – the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,’ Biden said in a statement pardoning his family. 

Speculation had mounted that Biden would issue blanket pardons and preemptive pardons to those viewed as Trump’s political foes, such as former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, as well as Milley and Fauci and members of the Biden family. 

Democrats stretching from former President Bill Clinton to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., warned Biden against issuing such pardons in the waning days of his administration. 

‘If President Biden wanted to talk to me about that, I would talk to him about it. But I don’t think I should be giving public advice on the pardon power. I think it’s too – it’s a very personal thing, but it is – I hope he won’t do that,’ Clinton said of preemptive pardons on ‘The View.’

Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin also warned against such pardons in an interview on CNN last month, remarking, ‘when we talk about a preemptive pardon, where does it start and where does it stop?’

Klobuchar echoed that sentiment in the same month. 

‘I am not a fan of these [preemptive pardons],’ she said. ‘I didn’t like the pardon of the president’s son. I didn’t think that that was prudent. But I also am very concerned about this idea of preemptive pardons.’

Biden, too, had warned against preemptive pardons before he took office in 2020, at a time when speculation swirled that Trump would pardon his children and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. 

‘It concerns me in terms of what kind of precedent it sets and how the rest of the world looks (at) us as a nation of laws and justice,’ Biden said in an interview with CNN in December 2020. 

Trump ultimately did not pardon his adult children or the former mayor of New York City. 

Following the 11th hour pardons for Milley, Fauci and staff of the Jan. 6 Select Committee and family, political leaders and lawmakers slammed the decision, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

‘One of Biden’s greatest abuses of power was the forcing of mRNA shots by executive fiat (which Florida successfully blocked). Now, on his way out the door, Biden pardons the chief henchman of that and so many other abuses. The swamp protects its own,’ said DeSantis, a Republican, on Monday. 

Fauci was the national spokesman for the nation’s pandemic response, including advising then-President Trump in 2020 on how to handle COVID-19 as it swept across communities.

But his favor with the president waned over time, with Trump slamming him and fellow pandemic task force adviser Dr. Deborah Birx as ‘two self-promoters trying to reinvent history to cover for their bad instincts and faulty recommendations.’

Fauci said Monday he appreciates his pardon, though he stressed he has ‘committed no crime.’ 

‘I really truly appreciate the action President Biden has taken today on my behalf,’ Fauci told ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl.

‘Let me be perfectly clear, Jon, I have committed no crime, you know that, and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me,’ he continued.

Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also has a contentious relationship with Trump and his supporters. He had called Trump a ‘fascist’ and ‘the most dangerous person to this country’ just ahead of the November election. 

Trump has repeatedly slammed Milley since leaving office, including after the United States’ botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, when he called Milley a ‘loser who shamed us in Afghanistan and elsewhere!’

After the election, Milley appeared to walk back his characterization of Trump as a ‘fascist,’ saying ​​America will ‘be OK’ under Trump’s second administration.

Liz Cheney, the Republican former congresswoman from Wyoming, and Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Jan. 6 House Select Committee chair, were also targets of Trump’s ire. Biden did not mention Cheney or Thompson by name in his statement, instead pardoning ‘staff who served on the Select Committee.’

‘The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,’ Biden said in a White House statement. ‘Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.’ 

Congressional Democrats are balancing efforts to stand tough against President Trump while also pledging to work with him where possible after the Republican commander in chief took office.

It comes as moderate Democrats and Democrats in vulnerable seats have made overtures toward Republicans in areas like border security and transgender youth after the GOP’s commanding victories in the 2024 elections – which the right has widely interpreted as a mandate for a more conservative America.

‘My job is to fight to make life better for Texas families, and I will work with anyone, Democrat or Republican, who is interested in lowering costs, securing our border, and keeping our communities safe,’ freshman Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Texas, who attended the inauguration, said in a statement. 

‘But make no mistake, I will always stand up to President Trump, his administration, division, and far-right extremism when any of those individuals or entities threaten our way of life.’

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., who ran tight races in 2016 and 2022 and is expected to do so again in 2028, said in a statement, ‘I look forward to working with the incoming administration to lower prices, create jobs, and keep our communities safe. But make no mistake, if President Trump uses his position to hurt hardworking Nevadans, I will always stand strong to protect them.’

Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., took a similar conciliatory tone.

‘There is progress to be made on housing, environmental stewardship, public safety, immigration reform, national security, and more. I will work with anybody and any administration to pursue areas of agreement and aggressively deliver for the people I serve,’ he said.

‘I also firmly believe that our diversity is our strength and our unity is the power to endure and succeed no matter the many challenges that we face. Law-abiding immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, women, and families recovering from devastating natural disasters are understandably worried by the rhetoric from the campaign trail and potential policies from the Trump Administration.’

Other Democrats were more guarded in their statements, like Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., who said on X, ‘Today, and always, I root hard for this country of ours, and I wish [President Trump] well as he takes on the responsibility of leading America.’

Progressive Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., however, made clear that she would take a more hard-line approach against Trump.

‘Day 1 under Trump. We must face these challenges and attacks with courage and clarity. I’m ready for the work ahead to defend our Constitution and will be working tirelessly to address the urgent needs of Vermonters and working people across America,’ she wrote on X.

Trump was sworn into office for his second term in an inauguration ceremony inside the U.S. Capitol.

Former President Biden issued a preemptive pardon to Gen. Mark Milley on Monday, capping off a presidency marred by the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021.

Milley accepted the pardon, saying in a statement he does not want to spend the remainder of his life fighting ‘retribution.’ 

But critics of the withdrawal in Congress say they aren’t done with him. 

‘Mark Milley might be pardoned, but we will continue to explore ways to hold him accountable,’ said Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., an Afghanistan veteran.

Post-withdrawal assessments largely question why the military pulled out of the region before civilian evacuations were complete. 

Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has admitted the withdrawal where 13 U.S. troops lost their lives was a ‘strategic failure.’ 

During a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in 2024, Milley blamed the State Department for delaying a Noncombatant Evacuation Operations (NEO), or an order to withdraw U.S. civilians working in the country, but praised the military’s actions.

That order did not come until mid-August 2021, just two weeks before the deadline Biden had set to leave the country. 

‘I think that was too slow and too late. And that then caused a series of events that resulted in the very last couple of days. There’s a lot of other mistakes that [were] made along the way… [but] I think that was the key.’ 

‘The U.S. military is responsible for supporting the State Department in a non-combatant evacuation operation, however, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from a combat theater as it relates to an act of war is the responsibility of the Department of Defense, and at the end of the day, we did not leave a residual force behind,’ Alex Pritsas, a former counterterrorism official at the Defense Department, told Fox News Digital. 

Milley said in congressional testimony in June 2021 that the U.S. would not see scenes reminiscent of the fall of Saigon in Vietnam, where U.S. personnel were being airlifted from rooftops.

‘I don’t see Saigon 1975 in Afghanistan. The Taliban just aren’t the North Vietnamese Army.’

Milley’s pardon was part of a group of preemptive pardons that included Anthony Fauci and members of the January 6th Committee. 

‘My family and I are deeply grateful for the President’s action today,’  Milley said in reaction to the pardon. 

He went on: ‘After 43 years of faithful service in uniform to our nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights. I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety.’

Jerry Dunleavy, former top investigator on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Afghanistan probe, told Fox News Digital of the pardon: ‘Milley wrongly dismissed the obviously correct comparison between the fall of Saigon and the impending fall of Kabul, massively inflated size of the Afghan forces, woefully underestimated the speed and scope of Taliban district control, then pushed fiction that Afghanistan fell in only 11 days.

‘After a disaster where 13 troops were murdered at Abbey Gate and the Taliban regained power, Milley then wrongly predicted Ukraine would fall to the Russians in just three days,’ he added, referring to remarks Milley made in a closed-door briefing with lawmakers.