Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States.
In his inaugural address, Mr. Trump appeared to herald the end of a 70-year American experiment to shape a world eager to follow its lead. In keeping with his insurgent campaign, Mr. Trump dispensed with appeals to unity or attempts to build bridges to his opponents.
Trump’s inaugural address described an “American carnage” that he promised to fix.
The 45th president delivered a fiery nationalist manifesto in which he pledged fealty to all Americans, but made little overt attempt to soothe a nation still wounded from arguably the ugliest election season of modern times. He also signaled that he intends to govern as if waging a permanent political campaign. The president put everyone in power on notice, Republicans and Democrats alike, and said he’ll speak for forgotten Americans. He began his presidency as he ran his campaign — with blunt, searing talk about a crippled nation in dire need of bold, immediate action. This, he made clear in case anyone had not yet gotten it, will be a very different presidency.
Light crowds, gloomy weather and protests welcome the new president to the White House
- The White House ordered an immediate freeze of pending regulations on Friday night until they can be reviewed by the Trump administration.
The order, which directs federal agencies to minimize the health-care law’s “economic and regulatory burdens,” appears to give room for the government to stop enforcing the penalty for people who fail to carry the insurance required of most Americans.