The Trumpauguration

Following a campaign unlike any other in American history, Donald John Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America on January 20 in Washington D.C.

Scores of people gathered at the steps of the capitol and around the national mall to observe the noontime inauguration ceremony. Members of the Trump family surrounded the new president behind the podium, along with several former presidents, including Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton accompanied her husband at the ceremony, whom Trump later acknowledged at a luncheon inside the capitol.

The ceremony started under an overcast sky with the introduction of members of Congress, the Supreme Court, former presidents, and Trump’s family. Performances from the U.S. Marine Band, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Missouri State University Chorale,  and former America’s Got Talent contestant Jackie Evancho were featured between speeches from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator and Inaugural Committee Chairman Roy Blunt, and prayers from several clergy members.

Trump used his inaugural address to cast the nation as one overcome with despair, vowing to fix “this American carnage”. The ideas he outlined over the course of the 16-minute speech bordered on an overt populism, in which American interests would be pursued above and even instead of the global activism which has defined America for decades.

“From this moment on, it’s going to be America first,” he declared.

While his unconventional policy proposals and lambastic persona ensure the upending of long-standing norms surrounding the executive office, Trump’s inauguration has made history in its own right. He assumes office as the first person in U.S. history ever elected to the post without having prior government or military experience. He is also the oldest person to ever be inaugurated, at 70 years and seven months.