Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States of America, taking the reins of a nation starkly divided over his personal aptitude for the job and the sweeping changes he has promised.
President Trump gazed down at the sea of faces gathered in the rain on the National Mall, offered them a thumbs-up and then gave them what they came for: an inauguration speech shot through with the same economic populism and rhetoric that powered his improbable election victory.
As he did on the campaign trail, Mr Trump painted a bleak portrait of what he called “American carnage”: a country of “rusted factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape”, failed schools and inner cities blighted by “the crime and the gangs and the drugs”, where the national infrastructure has “fallen into disrepair and decay” and “the wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then distributed all over the world.”
He pledged to turn the country’s fortunes around by putting America first, always following, he pledged, “two simple rules: buy American and hire American”. He promised to secure America’s borders and wipe “radical Islamic terrorism . . . from the face of the earth”. And he urged his listeners to have no fear for the future because “we will be protected by God.”
He concluded: “We will make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And yes, together we will make America great again.”
Advertisement
All week speculation had swirled as to whether Mr Trump would follow the example of most new presidents before him and use the platform of the inaugural address to make a soaring, optimistic pitch for national unity, to appeal to what Abraham Lincoln famously called “the better angels of our nature” when he became the 16th president.
Instead Mr Trump excoriated the political leaders gathered around him in front of the US Capitol. Fresh from tea at the White House with the Obamas he despaired at the state of the country that he had taken leadership of.
Much of the blame he directed at Congress. Without distinguishing between the parties themselves he depicted the politicians on whom his ability to drive through his radical planned agenda will depend, as a venal cabal that has intentionally hoarded power and wealth away at the expense of ordinary people.
“For too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost,” he said.
The former New York property tycoon and former reality television star spoke moments after taking the oath of office at noon, facing a crowd of hundreds of thousands of jubilant supporters gathered despite the forecast rain on the National Mall.
Advertisement
Among the political figures in attendance were four of the five living former presidents (the fifth, George Bush Sr, is recovering from pneumonia in hospital in Houston).
Also present was Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump’s vanquished Democratic rival who won the popular vote by 2.8million but lost the electoral college because of the Republican’s stunning success among disillusioned blue collar white voters in the rust belt states of the midwest.
At 70 years of age, President Trump’s accession makes him the oldest new occupant of the White House as well as the first man to hold the post without experience of either elected or military office. He comes to the role after the bitterest US election campaign in living memory, a contest between two candidates that the majority of American people neither liked nor trusted.
Mr Trump begins his tenure saddled with the lowest approval ratings for any incoming president since records began: a consequence of festering resentment over his shock election victory in November, a string of controversial, still unconfirmed cabinet appointments and his own searing social media attacks against critics and the media at large that have continued unabated since his triumph.
He also takes control of the White House, however, with advantages that his outgoing predecessor Barack Obama lacked for most of his eight year tenure: a friendly Congress, an opposition party in disarray and a Supreme Court that is likely to be tilted in his favour by whoever he nominates to fill the vacant position left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last February.
Advertisement
Mr Trump awoke this morning in Blair House, the official guesthouse opposite the White House where every president-elect since Jimmy Carter has spent his final night before the inauguration.
True to form he was up early and in touch with the world via Twitter, writing at about 7.30 am: “It all begins today! I will see you at 11:00 A.M. for the swearing-in. THE MOVEMENT CONTINUES - THE WORK BEGINS!”
The incoming White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, arrived at the guest house just after 8am. Kellyanne Conway, Mr Trump’s former campaign manager, and Hope Hicks, his former communications aide, were also seen arriving.
At some point during the morning, or earlier, Mr Trump will have undergone a solemn rite of passage: the classified briefing given to every incoming president that explains how he can order a nuclear attack. The timing and location of the briefing was not confirmed but several past presidents have said that they received it at Blair House in the hours before their inauguration.
Mr Trump’s first engagement of the day was a morning prayer service at St John’s Episcopal Church, a block away. Mr Trump arrived dressed in a dark suit and red tie, accompanied by his wife Melania in a powder blue ensemble, and his family.
Advertisement
From there the couple were driven to the White House, arriving shortly before 9.45am local time, where they presented Barack and Michelle Obama with a large box in the distinctive robin’s egg blue packaging of the jeweller Tiffany & Co.
After about an hour the 44th president and his successor emerged in thick coats, deep in conversation and walking slowly towards ‘The Beast’, the armoured car in which they then travelled together through the streets of Washington to the Capitol, the home of Congress.
Ahead of them, the first lady, Michelle Obama, rode in a limousine with Mrs Trump, while Vice-President Biden was accompanied by the incoming deputy, Mike Pence.
The Obamas later left Washington by helicopter and are headed for Palm Springs in California.
The streets of the US capital were lined with military as the cavalcade made its way across the city, passing the Trump Hotel on its way.
Advertisement
Checkpoints around the National Mall had opened early to begin admitting guests, some of whom wore red Make America Great Again caps. Long umbrellas, selfie sticks and coolers for drinks were all banned.
Thousands of anti-Trump protesters have also descended on Washington, some of whom smashed windows, damaged buildings and fought with police and Trump supporters.
Huge crowds are expected for a ‘Women’s March on Washington’ tomorrow, with similar protests planned across the United States and around the world.
