Washington, Jan 20 (UNI) Donald Trump officially became the 47th President of the United States at noon on Monday, saying in his inaugural address that "the golden age of America begins right now."
Members of US Congress, Supreme Court justices, Trump's family, members of his future Cabinet and tech CEOs were on hand for the inauguration ceremony, which took place inside the Capitol for the first time in 40 years, CBS News reported.
Trump is expected to issue a flurry of executive actions soon after taking office, rolling back Democratic policies on immigration, energy, trade, the federal workforce and more.
"From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world," he said.
"We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer."
Trump said the "vicious," "violent" and "unfair weaponization" of the Justice Department will end.
The president said "there is nothing we cannot do and no dream we cannot achieve" if Americans work together, in a portion of his speech that struck a notably positive tone.
"Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback, but as you see today, here I am," Trump said. "The American people have spoken."
Trump said he stands "before you now as proof that you should never believe that something is impossible to do," adding that "in America, the impossible is what we do best."
"I am with you, I will fight for you, and I will win for you," Trump said.
The 47th US President said his November victory is a "mandate" to completely reverse what he called a horrible "betrayal" of the American people. Trump said he hopes to give people back their faith, wealth, democracy and freedom.
"From this moment on, America's decline is over," Trump declared.
Trump outlined that his "proudest legacy" will be as a "peacemaker and unifier," saying that's what he wants to be. He celebrated the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the return of the hostages that began Sunday.
With Elon Musk looking on, Trump said U.S. astronauts will travel to Mars and plant the American flag on the surface. Specifically, he said he wants to pursue "manifest destiny" by "planting the stars and stripes on the planet Mars.
Trump confirmed he will seek to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America," something he's suggested before and which some of his allies in Congress plan to push as well. The president also said he will revert the name of Denali in Alaska to Mt. McKinley, the name it had before President
Barack Obama renamed it.
The US president turned to his desire to reassert U.S. control over the strategically important Panama Canal.
"China is operating the Panama Canal. We didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama," he said. "And we're taking it back."
The US fully ceded control of the canal to Panama in 1999. Panama's president has said "there is absolutely no Chinese interference nor involvement in anything to do with the Panama Canal."
The new US president said he would reinstate service members who were "unjustly expelled" from the military for refusing vaccine requirements with "full back pay."
President Trump pivoted to his gender and race policies.
"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," Trump said.
The president said the US will "forget a society that is color-blind and merit-based."
The official policy of the U.S. government, he said, will be that there are only "two genders."
UNI RN