Trump sworn in as 47th US president: key highlights from his inauguration speech

Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, becoming only the second leader in American history to serve two non-consecutive terms.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office in the US Capitol Rotunda, with now-former President Joe Biden in attendance.

Vice President JD Vance also took the oath, administered by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Four years earlier, Trump had declined to attend Biden’s inauguration, following weeks of false claims that his 2020 election loss was due to widespread voter fraud.

Here are the key highlights from his inauguration speech:

‘My life was saved for a reason’

“From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer.”

“Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history, and I’ve learned a lot along the way.”

“Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom, and indeed to take my life.”

“My life was saved for a reason, I was saved by God to make America great again.”

Series of ‘historic executive orders’

“Today, I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense. It’s all about common sense.”

Trump also outlined his intent to declare a national emergency at the US southern border.

“I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,” he said. 

All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.

“We will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations,” the president said.

President Trump also said he would declare a national energy emergency and would “immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.”

Trump announces ‘national energy emergency,’ vows to lower prices

President Trump also declared a “national energy emergency” to fulfill one of his key campaign promises: lowering prices.

Trump asserted during his inaugural address:

We will drill, baby, drill

He attributed the ongoing inflation crisis to “massive overspending and escalating energy prices” and committed to directing his Cabinet to leverage “the vast powers at their disposal” to reduce the cost of goods.

Change the name of Gulf of Mexico

“America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth — inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world,” Trump said.

“A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.”

‘There are only two genders, male and female’

“This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is colorblind, and merit-based. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” he said.

Mars exploration

We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.

‘Peace maker and unifier’ while ‘building strongest military ever’

Like in 2017, we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen. We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end and perhaps, most importantly, the wars we never get into.

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