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Trump sworn in as 45th president

He delivered a brief but forceful speech and promised to put 'America first.'

Donald J. Trump on Friday was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, ushering in an era of uncertainty for a nation still divided by a bruising election. In his address, Trump promised to take care of "forgotten" Americans and pledged to make "America first."

Minutes after reciting the Oath of Office on Friday afternoon, Trump delivered a brief, forceful and unconventional inaugural address. After thanking now-former President Barack Obama for his help during the transition, he proceeded to paint a dark view of the state of the country, describing it as descending into poverty and danger at home and flashing weakness on the foreign stage.

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The people suffered, Trump said, while "elites" in Washington prospered. “Their victories have not been your victories,” he said. “Their triumphs have not been your triumphs and while they celebrated in our nation’s capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land. That all changes starting right here and right now because this moment is your moment. It belongs to you.” He also made a promise: "This American carnage stops right here and stops right now."

Trump pledged to improve the nation by putting America and its people first. “From this day forward,” he said, “it’s going to be only America first.” The address was a return to the language of his presidential campaign, promising America will "win again."

Without offering specific plans details, he pledges his administration will bring back jobs, borders, dreams and wealth. He promised new infrastructure and to get Americans off of welfare. “I will fight for you with every breath in my body, and I will never, ever let you down,” he said. “America will start winning again. Winning like never before.”

Follow along with live analysis and highlights of his address.


Obama departed from the Capitol following Trump's address.

His tenure in the White House ended, former President Barack Obama made his way down the steps of the Capitol’s east front, accompanied by his wife and his successor, President Donald Trump, to a waiting helicopter that would carry him to Joint Base Andrews.

The Obamas and Trump, who was also accompanied by his wife, first said goodbye to former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, who entered a limousine and drove away. The Bidens will take the former vice president’s preferred mode of transportation, Amtrak, home to Delaware later Friday. The Bidens were also seen off by their successors, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence.

The president then walked the Obamas to their waiting helicopter and exchanged from final words before the former first family boarded. The Trumps returned to the steps of the Capitol, where they stood and waved as the Obamas’ helicopter took off.

Once airborne, the Obamas’ helicopter turned West, seemingly making one more pass past the White House before turning towards Andrews Air Force Base, where the former president would participate in a farewell ceremony before boarding a plane to Palm Spring, California, where he will enjoy a vacation.

Trump, Vice President-elect Mike Pence and their families took their places on the inauguration stage, alongside Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and their families.

Trump and Pence were greeted with loud cheers from the crowd, which also chanted Trump’s name as after Obama’s entrance and as he shook hands with former presidents and other dignitaries on stage.

Sen. Roy Blount (R-Mo.), the chairman of the Joint Inaugural Committee, offered introductory remarks, quoting former Presidents Ronald Reagan, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.

The three living former presidents who are in attendance at Friday's swearing-in made their way onto the inaugural stage as Obama and Trump arrived at the Capitol.

The moment made for particularly compelling split-screen viewing, as former President Bill Clinton and his wife, 2016 Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton arrived in the Capitol Crypt at the same time that Obama and Trump entered their limousine.

Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush were also in attendance at Friday’s inauguration. Only former President George H.W. Bush, who is currently hospitalized in Texas along with his wife, is absent from the festivities.

Clinton, wearing white to the inauguration, wrote on Twitter that “I'm here today to honor our democracy & its enduring values. I will never stop believing in our country & its future. #Inauguration”

Obama left the White House for the last time at 10:50 am, emerging from the traditional pre-inaugural tea at the White House with the Trumps.

Their conversation wasn’t exactly intimate: in addition to the vice presidents and their wives, top Congressional leaders from both parties (and their spouses) also attended, bringing the party attendance up to 20. But Obama did offer a more private message to Trump, in keeping with tradition: a note in the Oval Office.

The current and future president took their seats in the Beast and headed toward the Capitol.

The Trumps brought a gift for the first family: a blue box with a white ribbon in the style of high-end jeweler Tiffany.

“Mr. President-elect, how are you?” Obama said. Melania Trump followed her husband out of the car, greeting the president and the Michelle Obama. The future first lady reached out a robin’s egg blue-gloved hand to Michelle Obama, but the latter pulled her into a double-air-kiss.

The gift caused a brief moment of confusion as the president and First Lady Michelle Obama greeted the incoming first family beneath the north portico of the White House. The four greeted one another warmly and Obama turned to quickly drop the gift off inside the White House before returning so that all four could pose briefly for press cameras.

The Trumps were preceded in their arrival by Vice President-elect Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, who were greeted by Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden.




White House residence staff presented the Obamas with the American flags that flew above the White House on the first and final days of their occupancy there.

Presenting the outgoing president with the two flags that bookend his administration is a relatively new tradition, according to The Washington Post. It began in 1989 when Gary Walters, then the chief usher at the White House, presented the two flags to outgoing President Ronald Reagan.

Valerie Jarrett, a longtime confidante of both Obamas and one of the president’s most senior advisers, chronicled the family’s final rituals at the White House on Friday, posting on Twitter a photo of the first couple receiving their flags and other last moments.

She and Michelle Obama’s chief of staff, Tina Tchen, posed for shot together shortly before leaving.

Trump began his day by attending a church service at St. John’s Episcopal Church, located just across Lafayette Square from the White House.

He was joined at the service by Melania as well as his children and grandchildren. Pence and his wife were in attendance as well, as were Pence’s two children. Absent from the ceremony, according to a press pool report, was Trump’s 10-year-old son Barron, who was also not in attendance at Thursday evening’s inaugural concert.

Pool reporters following Trump noted that members of his cabinet, both confirmed and designates, attended the service, along with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a longtime supporter of Trump’s, and several of his senior aides.

He marked the day, as he has so many others, with a tweet. Obama followed suit.

“It all begins today! I will see you at 11:00 A.M. for the swearing-in. THE MOVEMENT CONTINUES - THE WORK BEGINS!” Trump wrote on Twitter just after 7:30 a.m. Friday morning. The tweet was sent via a phone using the Android operating system, the type known to be used by Trump himself. The New York Times reported this week that Trump had been forced to exchange his personal phone for an encrypted, secure one.

Trump wasn't the only one tweeting: President Barack Obama sent perhaps his final messages to his followers via the @POTUS Twitter account Friday morning before it is turned over to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

“It's been the honor of my life to serve you. You made me a better leader and a better man,” a post to the account read, although it was not signed “-bo,” the typical indicator that the president himself had personally written the message.

“I won't stop; I'll be right there with you as a citizen, inspired by your voices of truth and justice, good humor, and love,” he continued in a subsequent post, encouraging followers to visit Obama.org to “share your thoughts” because “as we look forward, I want our first steps to reflect what matters most to you.”

“I'm still asking you to believe - not in my ability to bring about change, but in yours. I believe in change because I believe in you,” Obama wrote in the last of his four-post flurry.

Shortly after those messages appeared online, Obama could be seen by pool reporters in the Oval Office, presumably leaving the traditional note from the outgoing president to the incoming one on the desk. He then walked along the White House colonnade for a brief pool spray, where he was asked if he was feeling nostalgic. Obama replied “of course” and was then asked if he had a message for the American people, to which the president said “thank you.”

Alongside thousands of Trump fans in “Make America Great Again” apparel, clusters of protesters dotted the edges of the National Mall amid a steady, light rain.

Some demonstrators launched chants urging action on climate change, others for Black Lives Matter, with a vocal contingent decrying racism and what they said were pro-Trump white nationalists. Dozens of vendors hawked memorabilia to the crowds headed for Trump’s inaugural ceremony, from T-shirts to flags to fake money with the new president’s face printed on it.

Sarah Wheaton contributed reporting.