Trump sworn in as 47th US president

Donald Trump has been sworn in as the United States’ 47th president.

The inauguration ceremony was held inside the Capitol Rotunda, for the first time in the past 40 years, TASS reports from Washington.

"I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God," he pronounced the presidential oath.

Trump has become the second US president after Grover Cleveland (the 22nd and 24th US president in 1885-1889 and 1893-1897), to take office with a four-year break.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by foreign leaders, Argentinian President Xavier Milei, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa. China was represented by Vice President Han Zheng, India – by Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Japan – by Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya. Russian officials did not take part.

Minutes before Trump’s oath, James David Vance, 40, was sworn in as vice president.

US President Donald Trump announced the intention to revamp the country’s trade system in his inauguration address.

"I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens," Trump stressed.

"For this purpose, we are establishing the external revenue service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury, coming from foreign sources," he added.

US President Donald Trump promised to fight inflation and ramp up production of energy resources in his inauguration address.

"I will direct all members of my Cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices," the president said. "The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency," Trump continued.

"We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top, and export American energy all over the world," he added.

US President Donald Trump signed off on his first executive orders as president, while still in Congress, to make appointments to his administration. He also signed an order that flags over government buildings never fly at half-staff during presidential inaugurations. It mean that flags will no longer be at half-staff on Monday.

The orders concerned, among other things, appointments of acting heads of various government agencies. According to the White House, Trump signed about half a dozen documents, as an aide explained to him what he was signing.

Also, Trump was asked about his meeting with former US leader Joe Biden on Monday morning at the White House, and the current president described it as very nice and a great tradition. Asked about his predecessor’s decision to pardon a slate of individuals, the new president declined to discuss the matter.

Earlier, Biden ordered that flags fly at half-staff over government buildings for 30 days in memory of former US President Jimmy Carter, who passed away on December 30 at the age of 100. House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged that flags over the Capitol will not be lowered on Inauguration Day.

US President-elect Donald Trump has instructed his aides to arrange a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin within few days after his inauguration, Sputnik Globe reported, citing informed sources.

According to the broadcaster, the topic of the conversation will be a possibility of a personal meeting between the politicians in the coming months with the goal of trying to end the war in Ukraine.

It is not yet clear whether a date for the conversation has been agreed upon, the channel added.

Earlier in January, Trump’s National Security Advisor Designate Mike Waltz said that US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin may hold a phone conversation in the coming days or weeks.

US President Donald Trump's new term is unlikely to cause dramatic changes in the country’s foreign policy, such as a normalization of relations with Russia, James Carden, a former adviser to the US State Department, told TASS.

Asked whether Trump during his second term will mimic policies from the first term or pivot Washington’s foreign policy in some new direction, he said, "I think most signs point to more of the same."

"Trump has unfortunately staffed his national security apparatus with some neoconservative retreads, who are instinctively, if not unabashedly, advocate of military intervention," the former official went on to say. "I sincerely hope my reading of the situation is wrong, and Mr. Trump is encouraged to follow his instincts as a peacemaker. Time will tell."

Trump, a Republican, took office as president for a second time on January 20, after winning the election in November. He defeated Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris, who was a US vice president at the time. Trump’s first term lasted from 2017-2021.

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