Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, returning to office amid pomp and ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda.
Trump was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, shortly after JD Vance took the oath as vice president.
“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said in his inaugural address. He quickly vowed to end the “vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of our Justice Department” and take on a “radical and corrupt establishment.”
Trump said he had been “tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history.” He drew considerable applause when he alluded to the attempt on his life in Butler, Pa., saying “an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear.”
“I felt then, and I believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason,” he said. “I was saved by God to make America great again.”
Trump outlined the steps he will take as president, vowing to send troops to the southern border to “repel the disastrous invasion of our country.” He also pledged to eliminate the presence of “foreign gangs and criminal networks” under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
Trump was flanked by First Lady Melania Trump and his children as he took the oath. Upon conclusion, he shook hands with outgoing President Joe Biden and others on the dais.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Rev. Franklin Graham offered invocations before the ceremony. “Look what God has done,” Graham said, to applause from the crowd, and then alluded to the assassination attempt. “Father, when Donald Trump’s enemies thought he was down and out, you and you alone saved his life and raised him up with strength and power by your mighty hand.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic chair of the inaugural committee, paid tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and to democracy in calling the ceremony to order. She also quoted Bob Dylan, saying it was critical to “ensure that our nation’s democracy is our shelter from the storm.”
Earlier in the day, outgoing Biden and First Lady Jill Biden greeted Trump and his wife to the White House.
“Welcome home,” Biden said.
Biden issued a flurry of pardons in his final hours in office, including granting pardons to the members of the Jan. 6 Committee, which investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Biden also pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci.
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