Donald Trump pledged to rescue America from what he described as years of betrayal and decline in his inaugural address on Monday, prioritising a crackdown on illegal immigration and portraying himself as a national savior chosen by God.
"First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border," he said. "All illegal entry will be immediately halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came."

The speech echoed many of the themes he sounded at his first inauguration in 2017 when he spoke darkly of the "American carnage" of crime and job loss that he said had ravaged the country.

Trump, 78, took the oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend" the US Constitution inside the US Capitol, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts. His vice president, JD Vance, was sworn in just before him.

Trump will be the first felon to occupy the White House after a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to cover up hush money paid to a porn star.

Trump intends to sign a raft of executive actions in his first hours as president, incoming White House officials said on Monday, including 10 focused on border security and immigration, his top priority.

In addition to declaring an emergency, the president will send armed troops there and resume a policy forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their US court dates, officials told reporters.

He will also seek to end so-called birthright citizenship for US-born children whose parents lack legal status, a move some legal scholars have said would be unconstitutional.

The inauguration completes a triumphant comeback for a political disruptor who survived two impeachment trials, a felony conviction, two assassination attempts and an indictment for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss.

"The journey to reclaim our republic has not been an easy one, that I can tell you," Trump said, before referring to the assassin's bullet that grazed his ear in July. "I was saved by God to make America great again."

The ceremony was moved inside the Capitol due to the cold, four years after a mob of Trump supporters breached the building, a symbol of American democracy, in an unsuccessful effort to forestall Trump's loss to Democrat Joe Biden, 82.

Biden and outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November, were on hand inside the Capitol's Rotunda, along with former Presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016, arrived with her husband Bill, but Obama's wife, Michelle, chose not to attend.

Numerous tech executives who have sought to curry favor with the incoming administration - including the three richest men in the world, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg - had prominent seats on stage, next to cabinet nominees and members of Trump's family.

Trump, the first US president since the 19th century to win a second term after losing the White House, has said he would pardon "on Day One" many of the more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the January 6, 2021, attack. He skipped Biden's inauguration and has continued to claim falsely that the 2020 election he lost to Biden was rigged.

Biden, in one of his last official acts, pardoned several people whom Trump has targeted for retaliation, including former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci, former Republican US Representative Liz Cheney and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley.

Trump vows US 'taking back' Panama Canal
President Donald Trump vowed that the United States would be "taking back" the Panama Canal. Trump issued the threat, without explaining details, after weeks of refusing to rule out military action against Panama over the waterway, which the United States handed over at the end of 1999.

"Above all, China is operating the Panama Canal, and we didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we're taking it back," Trump said after being sworn in inside the US Capitol.

Trump said that the United States has been "treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made."

"The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, and that includes the United States Navy," he said.

'Only two genders, will end diversity programmes
Trump will issue a series of executive orders targeting diversity programs and gender identity policies Monday, using his inauguration speech to signal a definitive break with what he decries as "woke" culture.

In his inauguration speech at the US Capitol, Trump said "as of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female."

"I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life," Trump said in his inauguration speech, calling the new moves a "revolution of common sense."

US to withdraw from Paris Climate Deal
Trump's administration on Monday announced the United States' intention to withdraw from the Paris climate accord for a second time, a defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.

"President Trump will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord," the White House said in a statement shortly after the inaguration.

It would take a year to leave the agreement after submitting a formal notice to the United Nations framework that underpins global climate negotiations.