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Donald Trump inauguration: parade and protesters take to streets of DC – as it happened

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Summary

With the inaugural balls well underway, we’re going to close our rolling coverage of the inauguration of the 45th president of the United States with a summary of the day’s events.

  • Donald Trump was sworn in by chief justice John Roberts as the 45th president of the United States, as Barack Obama handed over White House to the businessman, who has never held office or served in the military and who rose to prominence among conservatives by questioning the legitimacy of the 44th president.
  • In his inaugural address, Trump painted a bleak picture of “American carnage” across the country, speaking about inequality, abandoned factories “like tombstones” and the crime and the gangs and the drugs.” He promised: “we will make America strong again, wealthy again, proud again, safe again and, yes, together we will make America great again.”
  • Trump pledged an “America first” policy in all things, using a phrase that has been denounced by the Anti-Defamation League for its roots with 1940s Nazi sympathizers. “We’ve defended other nations’ borders while refusing to defend our own,” Trump said. “But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future.”
  • The speech at times veered away from reality in its tour through an America supposedly riven with “disrepair and decay”. He also urged unification, saying he hoped to “unlock the mysteries of space” and “heal our divisions”. “It’s time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots.”
  • The new president signed an executive order to “ease the burden” of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Republicans have promised to quickly dismantle the law, possibly leaving more than 20 million Americans without healthcare and threatening to balloon deficits around the country. Trump’s order appears to anticipate those financial risks, yet urges “prompt repeal”.
  • Thousands of protesters filled the streets of Washington DC, in mostly peaceful demonstrations that contrasted sharply with the thin crowds watching the inaugural parade. More than 200 people were arrested after sporadic violence broke out, when some protesters threw bricks and bottles at police and officers fired pepper spray and stinging projectiles in return. There was also some vandalism, including a limousine set on fire.
  • Washington braced for far larger protests planned for Saturday, including a Women’s March that expects more than 200,000 people. Initial analysis of crowd size, meanwhile, suggested that far more people attended Obama’s 2009 inauguration than Trump’s 2017 inauguration.
  • Trump’s White House immediately put his priorities on the new site: policing and the military, manufacturing, trade and oil drilling, and “America first”. Immigrants around the US, with and without papers, braced for life under the new administration. Americans almost immediately petitioned Trump to release his taxes and divest from his businesses.
  • The Senate confirmed two retired generals to Trump’s cabinet, James Mattis and John Kelly, to head the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security, respectively. Both men have broken with Trump on several key positions, including the US attitude toward Russian and building a wall along teh border with Mexico.
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At one of the inaugural balls, there is riverdancing. Michael Flattery, the self-proclaimed “Lord of the Dance” is one of the inaugural performers, but the actual company called Riverdance is not.

Trump is supposed to attend three balls this evening. He is late to the first.

Feet Photograph: Screengrab

President Donald Trump has already redecorated the Oval Office, the White House pool reports.

A bust of Winston Churchill has returned to the room – it spent Barack Obama’s presidency in the Treaty Room, much to some conservative’s chagrin. A bust of Martin Luther King Jr placed in the Oval office by Obama remains in the president’s office. Trump has also changed the drapes from crimson to gold.

Winston's back. pic.twitter.com/5ZEnMshcRY

— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) January 21, 2017

Trump has three inaugural balls to attend this evening; my colleague David Smith is at the Native Nations Inaugural Ball at the Smithsonian National Museum.

At Native Nations Inaugural Ball at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington. pic.twitter.com/ynFozzOULn

— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) January 21, 2017

White House releases orders

The White House has released the text of two orders, one sent by chief of staff Reince Priebus and the second signed by president Donald Trump.

One directs federal agencies to “send no regulation” to the office of the federal register without approval; withdraw regulations that have been sent to the office but not published; postpone the implementation of rule, wherever possible, that have been published but have not yet taken effect, until further review. In short, a freeze on any new regulation wherever possible.

The second order acknowledges that repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement – and likely with one – will strain the budgets of states around the US.The order directs agencies to waiver, defer, and grant exemptions from the healthcare act wherever possible, so that it “minimizes the economic burden” of repeal.

Trump EO on Obamacare now out pic.twitter.com/SIhPpQWwyW

— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 21, 2017

Secretary of defense James Mattis has issued his first statement to the Pentagon:

“It’s good to be back and I’m grateful to serve alongside you as secretary of defense.

Together with the Intelligence Community we are the sentinels and guardians of our nation. We need only look to you, the uniformed and civilian members of the deparment and your families, to see the fundamental unity of our country. You represent an America committed to the common good; an America that is never complacent about defending its freedoms; and an America that remains a steady beacon of hope for all mankind.

Every action we take will be designed to ensure our military is ready to fight today and in the future. Recognizing that no nation is secure without friends, we will work with the State Department to strengtehn our alliances. Further we are devoted gaining full value from every taxpayer dollar spent on defense, thereby earning the trust of Congress and the American people.

I am confident you will do your part. I pledge to you I’ll do my best as your secretary.

Trump signs two executive orders

White House press secretary Sean Spicer has tweeted a photo of the president signing two executive orders in the Oval Office.

One is a freeze on all new regulation by federal agencies.. The second pertains to the Affordable Care Act, but Trump’s team has given no details of what it actually means except that it intends to “ease the burdens” of the healthcare law.

.@potus signs documents to allow Mattis and Kelly to be sworn in & exec order on #Obamacare pic.twitter.com/CdGcGlyfbI

— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) January 21, 2017
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At an impromptu press conference, White House press secretary Sean Spicer has told reporters that the president will order a government-wide freeze on all new regulations, as well as a second, more vague order regarding healthcare.

There are still no details about how the order will “ease the burden” of Barack Obama’s healthcare reforms. Republicans in control of Congress have yet to propose a plan that would replace “Obamacare”; more than 20 million people stand to lose healthcare should they repeal it without one.

(AP) -- Spokesman: Trump signs executive order ordering federal agencies to ease burden of Affordable Care Act

— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) January 21, 2017

Richard Spencer, the so-called “alt-right” leader who celebrated Trump’s victory in November with Nazi salutes, was punched in the face earlier today. The incident was caught on camera.

Richard Spencer got punched in the face during the protests at Trump's #inauguration pic.twitter.com/oQAwtbtEeT

— Gender-Professecs (@MrTrunney) January 20, 2017

The vast majority of protests around Washington on Friday were and remain peaceful, but some protesters clashed violently with police, throwing bricks and bottles, or committed acts of vandalism, setting vehicles and garbage on fire. Police said they had arrested 217 people, and that they suspected many of the people arrested were not DC-area residents.

The Trump White House has released a statement on the confirmations of his choices for secretaries of defense and homeland security, the retired generals James Mattis and John Kelly. In the statement, Donald Trump urges the Senate to hurry.

I am pleased by the confirmation votes of Generals Mattis and Kelly. These uniquely qualified leaders will immediately begin the important work of rebuilding our military, defending our nation and securing our borders. I am proud to have these two American heroes join my administration.

“I call on members of the Senate to fulfill their constitutional obligation and swiftly confirm the remainder of my highly qualified cabinet nominees, so that we can get to work on behalf of the American people without further delay.”

Trump reportedly also has a pair of executive actions to be announced imminently.

The Senate has ended its first session under the Trump administration with a move to confirm Mike Pompeo, a member of the House and Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, with a vote of 88 to eight.

Pompeo is not officially confirmed yet; the Senate will resume on Monday to finalize the vote.

In his confirmation hearings, Pompeo distanced himself from a few of Trump’s extreme positions, for instance rejecting the idea that the spy agency would return to its use of torture. During the campaign, Trump insisted “torture works” and that he wanted to use methods “a hell of lot worse than waterboarding”. His choice to lead the Pentagon, retired general James Mattis, has rejected the idea that torture works, as has the Senate veteran John McCain, a former prisoner of war.

Pompeo also strongly defended the US’s intelligence agencies during his hearing, which took place the same week that Trump was denigrating the CIA for its conclusion that Vladimir Putin hacked into Democratic servers to help the Republican win the election. Trump later accused the intelligence agencies of behaving like Nazi Germany, a comparison that the outgoing CIA chief, John Brennan called “outrageous”.

The lawmaker said that as CIA chief he would not shy from investigations involving Russia or any other country. “I will continue to pursue foreign intelligence with vigor no matter where the facts lead,” Pompeo said.

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DC police say 217 arrested

A spokesperson for Washington DC’s police has said that 217 people were arrested on Friday in relation to protests around the city. Six officers were hurt with minor injuries, and police used pepper spray and stinging balls on protesters.

Police chief said his "sense" is that the protesters causing the violence are not from the DC area.

— Lauren Gambino (@LGamGam) January 20, 2017
Riot police watch the crowd. Photograph: Jose Luis Magana/AP

Senate confirms Trump's DHS pick

Retired general John Kelly, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, has been confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 88 to 11. Senator Jeff Sessions, himself a Trump appointment, has again abstained.

General John Kelly. Photograph: Molly Riley/AFP/Getty Images

Like Mattis, Kelly has broken with Trump on some of the president’s highest-profile promises. During his confirmation hearing, the former Marine Crops general said that a wall “in and of itself will not do the job” of border security, and said that he did not support a religious registry to account for Muslims, or anyone else, in America.

“I don’t think it’s ever appropriate to focus on something like religion as the only factor,” Kelly said.

He was urged by senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, to “speak truth to the commander-in-chief”.

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Senate confirms Trump's Pentagon pick

Retired general James “Mad Dog” Mattis has been confirmed as Donald Trump’s secretary of defense by the Senate, 98 in favor and one against.

Senator Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for attorney general, abstained from the vote, and Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand voted against Mattis, based on her conviction that the military should be overseen by a civilian administrator.

Mattis. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

Mattis has broken with Trump on several key foreign policy issues. The former general has said strongly supported the Nato alliance, urged caution and possible preservation of the Iran nuclear deal, and said that that Vladimir Putin’s Russia raises “grave concerns on several fronts”.

Trump in contrast has declared Nato “obsolete”, promised to take apart the Iran deal, and persistently said he wants “to get along” with Russia.

“I’m all for engagement but we also have to recognize reality, and what Russia is up to,” Mattis said during his confirmation hearing. “There are a decreasing number of areas where we can engage cooperatively, and an incerasing number of areas where we will have to confront Russia.”

The Senate will next vote on another Trump appointment: retired general John Kelly, his pick to head the Department of Homeland Security. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is also moving for a quick vote on Mike Pompeo to head the CIA, though Democrats are objecting in request for more time to debate.

James Mattis has been confirmed by the #Senate as Secretary of the @DeptofDefense, the first for @POTUS. #Inauguration

— Leader McConnell (@SenateMajLdr) January 20, 2017
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More on this story

More on this story

  • Donald Trump sworn in as 45th president of the United States

  • 'American carnage': Donald Trump's vision casts shadow over day of pageantry

  • What you need to know about Trump's first speech as president

  • Inauguration protests: more than 200 demonstrators arrested in Washington

  • 'He's already let America down': the reaction to Trump's first speech as president

  • In pledging to put 'America first', Trump holds the world at his mercy

  • Fact-checking the inaugural speech: the economy, crime and hiring American

  • Divisive, ungracious, unrepentant: this was Trump unbound

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