Donald Trump sworn in as 45th US President

Washington, DC: Donald Trump became the 45th President of United States on Friday, ushering in a new political era that is cheered and feared in equal measure.

The 70-year-old Republican billionaire placed his left hand on a Bible used by Abraham Lincoln and recited the 35-word oath spoken since George Washington, and then launched into a much-anticipated inaugural address.

“We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people,” Trump told a crowd of hundreds of thousands massed on the National Mall.

“From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first.”

Earlier, an estimated 800,000 people crushed into the centre of Washington, DC for the US Presidential Inauguration, sheltering from the drizzle under raincoats and ponchos.

“Trump is going to ‘Make America Great Again’ and undo the wreckage of Obama,” said Joe Smith, 69, from Tampa, Florida.

“I believe that the enemies of this country have been allowed to fester for too long, and Donald Trump is going to change that,” said Nick Graham, 20, from Pasadena, Maryland.

Crammed in next to Trump’s supporters, Clinton voters looked on solemnly while protestors chanted. “We came today to show that we are not giving our consent for this presidency,” Erica West, 21, from Arlington, Virginia. “Donald Trump stands for hatred, racism and misogyny. That’s against everything that I stand for as a citizen of this country,” said Kevin Cannell, 31, from New Orleans.

With inputs from Agencies