In defiant speech,Trump vows to end 'American carnage'

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington. Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington. Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP

Published Jan 20, 2017

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Washington - Donald Trump took power as

the 45th president of the United States on Friday and pledged to

end "American carnage" of social and economic woes in an

inaugural address that was a populist and nationalist rallying

cry.

Sketching a bleak vision of a country he said was ravaged by

rusted-out factories, crime, gangs and drugs, Trump indirectly

blamed his predecessors in the White House for policies that

helped Washington at the expense of struggling families.

"From this moment on, it's going to be America First," the

Republican told thousands of people gathered on the grounds of

the National Mall as he took over the presidency from Democrat

Barack Obama.

Crowds looked much smaller than those for Obama's two

inaugurations. Scattered street protests erupted against Trump

elsewhere in Washington.

"Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on

foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and

American families," Trump said. "This American carnage stops

right here and stops right now," he said.

Trump, 70, takes over a country divided after a savage

election campaign.

The dark vision of America he often paints is belied by

statistics showing low levels of unemployment and crime

nationally, although Trump won many votes in parts of the nation

where manufacturing industry has all but disappeared.

A wealthy New York businessman and former reality TV star

who has never held public office, Trump will set the country on

a new, uncertain path at home and abroad.

His address revisited the themes of the campaign speeches

that carried him to an improbable victory on Nov. 8 over

Democrat Hillary Clinton, who attended the ceremony with her

husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Obama headed to a vacation in Palm Springs, California,

after the ceremony. Before sitting down to lunch in the

Capitol's Statuary Hall, Trump shook hands with both Clintons.

Under pressure to unite the country after the bitterly

fought campaign, Trump said that through allegiance to the

United States, "we will rediscover our loyalty to each other"

and called for a "new national pride" that would help heal

divisions.

Abroad, Trump signaled the possibility of a more aggressive

approach to Islamic State militants.

"We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones, and unite

the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we

will eradicate completely from the face of the earth," he said.

After repeating the 35-word oath of office, Trump stretched

his arms wide and hugged his wife, Melania, and other members of

his family. Ceremonial cannon blasts fired.

The transition from a Democratic president to a Republican

took place before a crowd of former presidents, dignitaries and

hundreds of thousands of people on the grounds of the National

Mall. The crowd stretched westward on a cool day of occasional

light rain.

Away from the Capitol, masked activists ran through the

streets smashing windows with hammers at a McDonald's

restaurant, a Starbucks coffee shop and a steakhouse several

blocks from the White House.

They carried black anarchist flags and signs that said,

"Join the resistance, fight back now." Police used pepper spray

and chased them down a major avenue.

In another location not far from the White House, protesters

also scuffled with police, at one point throwing aluminum chairs

at them at outdoor café.

Former presidents George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter were

present at the inauguration with their wives. Bush's father,

former President George H.W. Bush, 92, watched the ceremony on

television in Houston where he was recovering from pneumonia.

Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence, began the day with

a prayer service at St. John's Episcopal Church near the White

House.

Trump took office with work to do to bolster his image.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll this week found only 40

percent of Americans viewed him favorably, the lowest rating for

an incoming president since Democrat Carter in 1977, and the

same percentage approved of how he has handled the transition.

(http://abcn.ws/2jU9w63)

During a testy transition period since his election win,

Trump has repeatedly engaged in Twitter attacks against his

critics, so much so that one fellow Republican, Senator John

McCain, told CNN that Trump seemed to want to "engage with every

windmill that he can find."

Trump's agenda

His ascension to the White House, while welcomed by

Republicans tired of Obama's eight years in office, raises a

host of questions for the United States.

Trump campaigned on a pledge to take the country on a more

isolationist, protectionist path and has vowed to impose a 35

percent tariff on goods on imports from U.S. companies that went

abroad.

His desire for warmer ties with Russian President Vladimir

Putin and threats to cut funding for NATO nations has allies

from Britain to the Baltics worried that the traditional U.S.

security umbrella will be diminished.

In the Middle East, Trump has said he wants to move the U.S.

Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, at the risk of

angering Arabs and stirring international concern. He has yet to

sketch out how he plans to carry out a campaign pledge to "knock

the hell out of" Islamic State.

More than 60 Democratic lawmakers stayed away from the

proceedings to protest Trump, spurred on after he derided U.S.

Representative John Lewis of Georgia, a hero of the civil rights

movement, for calling him an illegitimate president.

Many demonstrators are to participate in a "Women's March on

Washington" on Saturday. Protests are also planned in other

cities in the United States and abroad.

Quick action

Trump's to-do list has given Republicans hope that, since

they also control the U.S. Congress, they can quickly repeal and

replace Obama's signature healthcare law, approve sweeping tax

reform and roll back many federal regulations they say are

stifling the U.S. economy.

"He's going to inject a shock to the system here almost

immediately," Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox

News.

Democrats, in search of firm political footing after the

unexpected defeat of Hillary Clinton, are planning to fight him

at every turn. They deeply oppose Trump's anti-immigrant

rhetoric from the campaign trail and plans to build a wall along

the southern U.S. border with Mexico.

Trump's critics have been emboldened to attack his

legitimacy because his win came in the Electoral College, which

gives smaller states more clout in the outcome. He lost the

popular vote to Clinton by about 2.9 million.

Trump's critics also point to the conclusion of US intelligence agencies that Russia used hacking and other methods

during the campaign to try to tilt the election in the

Republican's favor. Trump has acknowledged the finding - denied

by Moscow - that Russia was behind the hacking but said it did

not affect the outcome of the election.

Reuters

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