Donald Trump sworn in as 47th US President

Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th President of the United States of America at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Monday.

The day began with Trump and the First Lady, Melania attending services at St. John’s Church, marking the start of the official inauguration activities.

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.

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 was attending, along with Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The bitter cold weather has 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.

In his inauguration speech, President Donald Trump recalled when an assassin attempted to take his life over the summer.

"Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom, and indeed, take my life," he said.

"An assassin's bullet ripped through my ear, but I felt then, and now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again."