Pretoria - United States President Donald Trump delivered his inaugural address promising, as he did throughout his campaign, to put "America first”.
Trump's populist speech on Friday took square aim at a political establishment his candidacy was built to upend.
He spoke in broad terms about an America in decline, suffering from lecherous politicians and a focus on helping the world before securing its own citizens' welfare.
"This American carnage stops right here and right now," he said.
The inaugural address lasted about 15 minutes and was delivered to tens of thousands of onlookers filling one end of the National Mall.
President Trump pledged his presidency would return power to the people in that crowd and across the country who voted him into office.
"We are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people. For too long a small group in our nation's capital has reaped the rewards of government while people have borne the cost. Washington flourished, but people did not share in the wealth. Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs."
"That all changes starting right here and right now," Trump said. "Because this moment is your moment. It belongs to you."
Speaking to the rest of the world, President Trump promised to seek "friendship" but cautioned all decisions and all relations would continue to be judged by what is best for Americans, regardless of consequence.
"We've defended other nations' borders while refusing to defend our own and spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.
“We've made other countries rich, while [our] wealth, strength and confidence has dissipated over the horizon," President Trump said. "From this day forward a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward it's going to be only American first, America first."
Trump, was sworn in as the 45th US President on Friday amid protests across the US.
Over one million people on Saturday took to the streets and staged rallies across the US to protest against him.
President Trump on the other hand spent his first full day on Saturday as the President with hundreds of staff of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters in Virginia.
He told the staff to get rid of the Islamic State (IS), the terror group based in the Middle East that has launched terror attacks against Western countries in the past years.
"We have to get rid of IS, we have no choice," he told the audience. - SAnews.gov.za-UPI
