Donald Trump assumed the nation’s highest office Friday as the 45th president of the United States, vowing in his inaugural address to “bring back our jobs” and “our borders” – and “fight for you with every breath.”
The president addressed a packed crowd of cheering spectators stretching from the Capitol across the National Mall on a mild but overcast and at-times drizzly day, before he formally moves into the White House. Reprising themes from his 2016 campaign on trade, immigration and foreign affairs, he vowed to put American families before all else.
“The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action,” he said.
In blunt and unvarnished terms similar to the language used during his nomination acceptance address last summer, Trump lamented the jobs lost to foreign rivals and the crime in America’s cities.
“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” Trump said.
He cast his presidency as a return to power for the people and vowed never to let them down.
“From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first,” Trump said.
The address, coming after he took the oath of office at the West Front of the Capitol, completes Trump’s remarkable journey from political outsider written off by countless Beltway pundits to the most powerful man in the country. His campaign manager Kellyanne Conway noted in an earlier interview with Fox News that Trump is “making history” as a businessman with no prior political or military experience – someone successful in the private sector coming to Washington “owing nobody anything.”
As Barack and Michelle Obama depart the White House after eight years in office, Trump will immediately be confronted with the challenge of governing, as he attempts to apply his CEO experience to running the nation. His team has vowed a “robust” start to the Trump administration, which could include everything from rescinding controversial Obama actions to renegotiating trade deals to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.
In his speech, Trump vowed to strengthen border security and revive the economy and preside over a rediscovery of American patriotism, describing this as a salve for the country’s divisions.
“When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice,” he said.
Mike Pence, the former Indiana governor, also was sworn in as vice president.
An immediate task for the new administration will be to get Trump’s Cabinet nominees confirmed. His advisers have complained that Democrats are slowing the process, and resisting the kind of swift confirmation the Senate gave many of Obama’s nominees in 2009.
Before he spoke, throngs of protesters were causing disruptions on the edges of the security zone in Washington. Some blocked checkpoints and forced their temporary closure earlier Friday morning, while elsewhere demonstrators resorted to violence. One couple from Kansas told FoxNews.com they were attacked, while protesters elsewhere in the District smashed windows and, according to a police official, torched a car.
While dozens of House Democrats boycotted Friday’s ceremonies – a move that fueled disputes with Trump’s team over the weekend – other prominent Democrats and past presidents of both parties were in attendance for the transfer of power. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, whose loss to Trump marked one of the biggest upsets in modern political history, attended and tweeted shortly before Trump took the oath that she came to “honor our democracy & its enduring values.”
“I will never stop believing in our country & its future,” she wrote.
Donald and Melania Trump met with the Obamas earlier Friday morning after attending a church service in Washington. The new first family heads later to the parade along Pennsylvania Avenue, before an evening of inaugural balls and other festivities.
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Originally Posted by Gilrak
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