Donald Trump sworn in for a historic second term as US president (Photos)

Donald Trump sworn in for a historic second term as US president (Photos)

Donald Trump was sworn in for a historic second term as president on Monday, pledging a blitz of immediate orders on immigration and the United States

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Donald Trump was sworn in for a historic second term as president on Monday, pledging a blitz of immediate orders on immigration and the United States culture wars as he caps his extraordinary comeback.

With one hand raised in the air and the other on a Bible given to him by his mother, the 47th US president solemnly took the oath of office beneath the huge Rotunda of the US Capitol.

Republican Trump and outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden had earlier traveled by motorcade together to the Capitol, where the ceremony was being held indoors — and with a much smaller crowd — for the first time in decades due to frigid weather.

Earlier, they and their spouses met for a traditional tea at the White House.

78 year old Trump was a political outsider at his first inauguration in 2017 as the 45th president, but this time around he is surrounded by America’s wealthy and powerful.

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai all had prime seats in the Capitol alongside Trump’s family and cabinet members.

While Trump refused to attend Biden’s 2021 inauguration after falsely claiming electoral fraud by the Democrat, this time Biden has been keen to restore the sense of tradition.

Biden joined former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at the Capitol.

Former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush were there but ex-first lady Michelle Obama pointedly stayed away.

Unusually for an inauguration where foreign leaders are normally not invited, Argentina’s hard-right president Javier Milei attended along with Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The bitter cold weather forced Trump’s inauguration indoors for the first time since Ronald Reagan’s in 1985, missing out on the customary massive crowds along the National Mall.

Behind the pomp and ceremony, the billionaire is kickstarting his nationalist, right-wing agenda with a barrage of around 100 executive orders undoing Biden’s legacy.

Trump has pledged to start immediate deportations of undocumented migrants.

He will also sign an order for the US government to recognize only two biological sexes and seek to eliminate federal government diversity programs as he takes office.

Trump made history by replacing Biden as the oldest president to be sworn in. He is also just the second president in US history to return to power after being voted out, after Grover Cleveland in 1893.

Another first is Trump’s criminal record, related to paying a porn star hush money during his first presidential run — and a string of far more serious criminal probes that were dropped once he won the election in November.

For the rest of the world, Trump’s return means expecting the unexpected.

From promising sweeping tariffs, to making territorial threats to Greenland and Panama and calling US aid for Ukraine into question, Trump looks set to rattle the global order once again.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump ahead of the inauguration and said Monday he was open to talks on the Ukraine conflict, adding he hoped any settlement would ensure lasting peace.

Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, George Bush Jr, Mrs Bush

US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (2nd R) administers the presidential oath to Donald Trump (2nd L) as the 47th US President 

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President 

SpaceX, Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk (R) and Google CEO Sundar Pichai attend the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump

Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk

J.D. Vance is sworn in as US Vice President as his wife Usha Vance looks on