Donald Trump boasted his second term in office marks the beginning of “a golden age” for the United States and declared that God had saved him from an assassin’s bullet “to make America great again”.
In a characteristically bombastic speech from the Capitol in Washington DC, the 47th president of the United States laid out a radical right-wing domestic and foreign agenda.
Surrounded by members of Congress, former presidents and Supreme Court justices, he pledged: “Every single day ... I will very simply put America first.”
He vowed to strip out diversity measures and federal protections for minorities, adding that his government would “only recognise two genders”.
And he scrapped net zero policies in favour of stockpiling American oil, urging energy giants to “drill baby, drill!” for what he called “liquid gold”.
It followed his official swearing-in – an event brought inside because of the bitterly cold temperatures – that contained the usual dignity and pageantry of the inauguration. But his speech, more suited to a campaign rally, quickly turned against many of those listening in the room.
Present were not only America’s political elite, but also politicians from around the world including populist allies Nigel Farage and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, as well as former Tory prime minister Boris Johnson.
Leaders of America’s new tech industry also came to pay homage, including Elon Musk who helped him win the election and who cheered when Mr Trump promised to plant the stars and stripes on Mars, a project championed by the X/Twitter owner.
Sitting in the front row were Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, forced to watch as Mr Trump publicly berated their record and tore their agenda apart before their eyes.
Mr Trump accused them of being a “radical and corrupt establishment that has extracted power and wealth from our citizens”. Referring to his own legal challenges over the last four years he vowed to end the “weaponisation of the law”.
In watch parties in the US capital and around the US, Maga Republican supporters loudly cheered every sentence as Mr Trump voted to restore respect for America around the world.
But the address contained a huge threat to other countries and will have Sir Keir Starmer’s government in the UK among others worried as Mr Trump vowed to impose tariffs to boost American prosperity.
“Americans have been paying taxes to enrich other countries – that’s going to stop,” he said, promising tariffs to “enrich Americans”.
Mr Trump declared the US would be an “international peacemaker” and “end wars”, while also repeating his intention to “take back the Panama Canal”.
Accusing Panama of breaking the treaty by giving “China control of the canal”, he added: “It should never have been given away.”
The president did not specifically mention Ukraine with many in Europe holding their breath over what he might do to curtail that war. But he indicated that the US would be ending its involvement in international conflicts.
The UK government is also likely to be told that its attempts to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius will be opposed by the Trump administration because of the US-UK Diego Garcia base.
However, the newly sworn-in president’s top priority was to tackle the migrant crisis, declaring a national emergency with immediate effect on the southern border with Mexico.
He revived a law from 1798 – the Alien Enemies Act – to tackle cartels and foreign criminal gangs “operating in America’s inner cities”.
He said he would be deporting “millions” of illegal aliens in an uncompromising speech delivered not to the audience around him but to his devoted supporters around America.
Mr Trump vowed to restore American greatness with “a patriotic administration” and “make it greater than ever before”.
He also put his weight behind Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which promises to slash the size of the state.
Mr Farage and other populists hoping to seize power in Western democracies will be watching to see if the 47th president can succeed in his agenda. Meanwhile, liberal and progressive governments such as Sir Keir’s in the UK are bracing for a backlash from the Trump administration.
Sources close to the incoming president have warned he intends to “humiliate” Sir Keir over his controversial choice of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US.
He also intends to have a bellicose attitude towards the EU and will double down on efforts to force Nato allies to massively increase their defence spending.
Sir Keir issued a statement welcoming the new president into office with clouds hanging over the UK-US relationship which allies of Trump have warned “is not special” with the Labour government in place.
But with Mr Trump vowing that “America’s decline ends today”, his protectionist nationalism is set to change the international order.
Addressing a crowd of his supporters later, President Trump joked about his wife’s large hat, saying that she nearly blew away earlier when the two stepped outside to see Mr Biden off. “She was being elevated off the ground,” he joked.
Meanwhile, Mr Biden and his wife, Jill, boarded a military helicopter on the grounds of the Capitol and headed to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for a farewell ceremony with staff.
He was later due to fly to Santa Ynez, California, to unwind with his family.
