Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, completing perhaps the most remarkable political comeback in American history.
The Republican, the first convicted felon ever to become commander-in-chief, announced a range of policies in his inaugural address – some of them bound to cause controversy.
Proclaiming that a “golden age begins right now”, Mr Trump said he would rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and take back the Panama Canal.
“I’m going to put America first… The scales of justice will be rebalanced,” he added. “From this moment on, America’s decline is over.”
In the speech, he promised to “declare a national emergency” at the southern border with Mexico as well as a “national energy emergency”.
He pledged to “bring law and order back to our cities” and bring in “a society that is colourblind and merit-based”, adding “there are only two genders – male and female”.
He also promised to tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich American citizens.
Turning to America’s military and foreign wars, Mr Trump said: “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier.”
He promised to reinstate any armed services members who were expelled for objecting to the COVID vaccine mandate – on full back pay.
“Like in 2017, we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen.”
Mr Trump also turned his attention to a topic that has become a recent feature of his rally speeches: the Panama Canal.
“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.”
The president did not say exactly what measures he would take to retake control of the crucial waterway.
Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino responded shortly after, saying the canal “is and will continue to be Panamanian”.
Mr Trump has also spent recent weeks talking about taking control of Greenland and making Canada a US state, but these claims did not feature in his inaugural address.
He did, however, include his promise to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”.
Speaking about his journey back from defeat in 2020, Mr Trump said “the journey to reclaim our republic has not been an easy one”.
He touched on the assassination attempt in which he was shot: “I was saved by God to make America great again.”
“It is my hope that our recent presidential election will be remembered as the greatest and most consequential election in the history of our country.
“As our victory showed, the entire nation is rapidly unifying behind our agenda with dramatic increases in support from virtually every element of our society,” he said. (Sky News)