Good morning. Donald Trump is officially back in the Oval Office – more on that below, along with the destruction in Gaza and the rise of billionaires’ wealth. But first:

• A former Canadian health research head calls for an independent probe into mysterious brain symptoms in New Brunswick
• Trump’s executive orders on immigration could prompt a rise in asylum claims in Canada, experts say
• Liberal leadership hopefuls are faced with security challenges during the campaign

In the early hours of Nov. 6, once it seemed clear the U.S. election had gone his way, Donald Trump took the stage in West Palm Beach, Fla., to promise that “this will truly be a golden age in America.” He returned to that language yesterday afternoon, moments after being sworn in as the 47th President. “My fellow citizens,” Trump said from a dais in the Capitol Rotunda, “the golden age of America begins right now.”

Then things took a darker turn. It wasn’t precisely the “American carnage” of his first inaugural address, but Trump’s 29-minute speech repeatedly depicted a country on its knees – under attack from “years of a radical and corrupt establishment,” from “millions and millions of criminal aliens,” from “illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression,” from “radical political theories and social experiments.” Trump told the crowd of past presidents, Supreme Court justices and tech billionaires that “my election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse all of these many betrayals … From this moment on, America’s decline is over.”

Trump didn’t just claim an electoral mandate, though: He positioned his victory as divinely ordained. Recalling that summer rally in Butler, Penn., when “an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear,” Trump said “I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.”

How might he go about it? Trump’s address – languidly delivered, despite the ominous rhetoric – emphasized his anti-immigration agenda, pledging to speed up deportations, deploy troops along the southern border and designate cartel organizations as “global terrorists.” That night, he signed several executive orders on immigration that declared a national border emergency, suspended refugee resettlement and revoked a task force created to reunite families separated at the border. He also ordered an end to birthright citizenship, a move that exceeds the scope of executive authority. At the same time, his administration shut down a government app that lets migrants make appointments at a legal port of entry, usually to lodge asylum claims. Existing appointments for 30,000 people were abruptly cancelled.

Tariff may be, in Trump’s estimation, “the most beautiful word in the dictionary,” but it got short shrift in his inaugural speech, mentioned only fleetingly. He waited until last night, in the Oval Office, to unveil his plan: 25-per-cent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico could start Feb. 1.

Instead, Trump used his inaugural address to take aim at diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, declaring it official U.S. policy that “there are only two genders: male and female” and accusing his predecessor of “trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.” He promised to seize the Panama Canal, restore president William McKinley’s name to the mountain now called Denali, and rebrand the “Gulf of Mexico” as “the Gulf of America.” That last claim prompted a rueful laugh from Hillary Clinton, on the dais to Trump’s left; departing president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris remained impassive, as they did for much of the speech, sitting on their hands or staring at the floor.

Still, Biden gave Trump what Trump tried to deny him: a peaceful transfer of power, held in the same hall ransacked by the Jan. 6 mob four years ago. Speaking to supporters in the inauguration overflow room, Trump vowed to pardon those offenders (which he did later that night). Then he expressed frustration that Biden, in his last official act, had issued preemptive pardons for members of the Jan. 6 committee – and members of his own family. “It’s unfortunate,” Trump said on the first day of his second term, before returning to a familiar grievance: the results of the 2020 contest. “That election was totally rigged.”

More from The Globe

Shannon Proudfoot writes that Trump’s return to the White House is a return to his ways.

David Shribman analyzes an inaugural address that favoured the specific over the grandiose.

Debra Thompson says that Trump’s inauguration spectacle augurs poorly for America.

J. Kelly Nestruck sees images of capitulation fill the screen during Trump’s address.

And: Experiencing political anxiety? You’re not alone. Here are four ways to cope.

On the second day of the ceasefire, rescue workers in Gaza searched for thousands of Palestinians believed to be buried under the rubble. Read more about their efforts here.