Trump vows ‘golden age’ and Southport killer pleads guilty
The inauguration of Donald Trump and the beginning of his second term as US president leads many of the papers. The Metro carries a picture of Trump hugging his family with the paper saying “now the world waits to see what happens next…”.
The i says Trump has been “unleashed” and has begun his term by pledging a boost in fossil fuel production, promising a crackdown on illegal migration and signing an executive order proclaiming that the US government will officially recognise “only two genders”.
Trump is quoted by the Times vowing that the “golden age of America begins right now”. The paper notes that his return follows the 2020 election defeat, four criminal prosecutions and a near-miss assassination attempt, describing it as a “remarkable comeback”.
The Financial Times says Trump has pledged to “deliver quickly on the populist and nationalist platform that swept him to victory in last year’s presidential race”. It says he has repeated vows to take back control of the Panama Canal and withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord, though it adds that he has so far stopped short of announcing new import tariffs pledged before the election.
Trump said the US would “flourish and be respected again all over the world”, according to the Guardian. “We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer,” it quotes him as saying.
The Daily Star, in typically irreverent fashion, says that a “giant orange manbaby” has become the 47th US president. Paraphrasing the oath taken by presidents as part of the inauguration ceremony, it adds: “So help us God”.
A number of papers carry pictures of the inauguration but lead with the guilty plea entered by Axel Rudakubana on the first day of his trial for the Southport attacks. The 18-year-old admitted to killing three girls – aged six, seven, and nine – at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July. The Daily Express says Rudakubana had previous contact with the police and was referred to the Prevent anti-terror scheme three times between the ages of 13 and 14.
The Sun describes the fact Rudakubana was able to carry out the killings as a “massive failure by the state” and asks: “Why did no-one stop him?”
Rudakubana plotted to carry out an attack on his old school just a week before the attacks in Southport, according to the Daily Mail. The paper describes it as the “last in a string of missed opportunities” to prevent the killings.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who has announced a public inquiry into the killing, is quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying there are “grave questions to answer as to how the state failed to protect these girls”.
The Daily Telegraph says the government faces questions about why the public were initially told the attack was not being treated as terrorism. It quotes Reform UK leader Nigel Farage alleging that “there has been a gigantic cover-up from day one” and shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick saying public suspicion that information was being withheld “contributed to the anger which spilt” into the subsequent riots.
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