Donald Trump promises 'new golden age'

President Donald Trump declared Monday that the "golden age of America begins right now" and vowed that the nation's challenges would be "annihilated" by his MAGA movement in a bare-knuckled inaugural address that echoed the themes and grievances of his trademark rally speeches.

Trump, in a relatively sedate and focused style, spoke for nearly 40 minutes in the Capitol Rotunda after being sworn in as America's 47th president.

Trump joined Grover Cleveland as the only men to lose the presidency and then reclaim it. He took the oath of office and delivered his inaugural address indoors because of sub-freezing temperatures in Washington.

Trump spoke from the perspective of a man on a mission of destiny after surviving a would-be assassin's bullet this summer at a Pennsylvania rally.

“I was saved by God to make America great again,” Trump said, adding that he wants to be a “peacemaker and unifier.”

After four years in office, and four years seeking a comeback, his aides say Trump has a much better feel for the levers of power than he did when he was first inaugurated in 2017.

Paired with a sweeping set of executive orders he planned to issue Monday, the first remarks of Trump’s second presidency signaled that he intends to test the limits of presidential power in aggressively pursuing his agenda. But Trump also set a high bar in piling up promises that may be hard to fulfill.

"I will declare a national emergency at our southern border," Trump said. "All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came."

Monday's program ran a little late, and former Ohio Sen. JD Vance was sworn in as vice president by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at noon, the time appointed for the president to take the oath. Vance raised his right hand with his wife, Usha Vance, standing by his side and holding their young daughter — until the little girl decided it was time to return to the ground. One of their sons held the Bible on which Vance placed his left hand.