In his first public appearance from the Oval Office on Wednesday, Biden signed 15 executive orders and two other directives, underscoring his intention to take a more multilateral approach in foreign policy.
Among the actions were orders to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and end Trump’s travel ban on Muslim countries.
“I thought with the state of the nation today, there’s no time to waste. Get to work immediately,” Biden said. “There’s no time to start like today.”
The US president also canceled the construction of wall on the US-Mexican border by proclaiming the “immediate termination” of the national emergency declaration Trump used to fund it. He also rejoined the World Health Organization, which Trump abandoned in July.
Biden took the oath of office as the 46th president of the United States Wednesday morning in a ceremony that was unlike any other in the American history.
The ceremony was held at the Capitol under strict and heightened security in the wake of the violent and deadly breach of the Capitol by the supporters of Donald Trump.
He used his inaugural speech to send a message to the rest of the world about the US.
“The world is watching, watching all of us today,” Biden said during his inaugural address. “America has been tested, and we’ve come out stronger for it. We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again.”
The Democratic president also urged the Americans to “see each other not as adversaries but as neighbor” and pleaded with citizens and leaders to “join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature.”