Donald Trump has been sworn in as US President for a second term in Washington, D.C.
Trump used his inaugural address to reiterate his grievances against his political opponents, saying he would “liberate” the country from a “radical and corrupt establishment.”
Declaring that the government was facing a “crisis of confidence,” Trump promised a brighter future under his administration in his inaugural address. “Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our security will be restored. The scales of justice will be balanced,” he said.
Trump claimed “a mandate to completely and utterly reverse a terrible fraud,” promising to “give back to the people their faith, their wealth, their democracy, and indeed their freedom.”
“From this moment on,” he added, “America’s decline is over.”
Trump also unveiled a series of administrative actions that he plans to take in rapid succession after his inauguration. The executive orders are the first steps in what Trump is calling a “total restoration of America and a revolution of reason.”
The cold weather rewrote the day’s festivities. Trump’s inauguration was moved indoors to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda — the first time in 40 years — and the inaugural parade was replaced by a ceremony on a city square.
The large crowds of Trump supporters who had descended on the city to watch the inauguration outside the U.S. Capitol were left to find other places to watch the festivities.
At the U.S. Capitol, Vice President J.D. Vance was the first to take the oath, on a Bible given to him by his great-grandmother. Trump took the oath moments later, just after 17:00 Eastern Time (17:00 GMT), using both the family Bible and the one used by the late President Abraham Lincoln in 1861.
A cadre of billionaires and tech titans — including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook and Sanders Pichai — were given prominent positions in the Capitol Rotunda, mingling with Trump’s incoming team before the ceremony began.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, was also in attendance, as he is expected to lead the effort to cut spending and federal employees as an adviser to Trump.