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Sticking to the teleprompter, and speaking in a more measured tone than he deploys in his rallies, Donald Trump began his inaugural speech by predicting that “the golden age of America begins now” and vowing to the US ” grow and be respected again by all. world”.

But the 78-year-old’s speech, which was the longest by an incoming American president in nearly a century, soon turned to attacks on his predecessor Joe Biden, and threatened to undo much of his legacy. in a string of executive orders. .

Here are some of the key passages:

It was one of many lines lifted almost word-for-word from Trump’s first, and notoriously dark, inaugural address eight years ago.

Trump He also renewed his criticism of the “establishment”, which he said “takes power and wealth from our citizens while the pillars of our society are broken and seem to be in complete ruin”. Four of the five richest people in the world and several company bosses were among the VIPs watching in seats a few feet away.

Although Trump’s rhetoric isn’t nearly as bad as his 2017 “American carnage” inauguration speech, the president has taken several chances to attack Biden’s record.

“We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home while at the same time stumbling upon a continuous catalog of catastrophic events abroad,” he said.

He also criticized “a government that provides unlimited funding to defend foreign borders”, in a thinly veiled reference to US aid for Ukraine.

Trump campaigned hard for the White House last year, claiming that immigrants crossing the southern border turned the US into a “conquered nation”. He again focused on the theme of his inauguration speech.

Trump claimed that the immigration policies of the Biden administration provided “sanctuary and protection” for criminals, including “many from prisons and mental institutions who illegally entered our country from all over the world”.

The new president promised to “begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to their places of origin”. He said he would send troops to the southern border to repel an “invasion”.

Some of Trump’s comments pointed to specific policies designed to please different factions within his broad coalition.

He earned loud applause for saying he would sign executive orders to expand U.S. oil and gas exploration — tapping America’s “liquid gold” — a move he said would reduce the energy prices and beat inflation. As he spoke the White House said he would also withdraw the US from Paris climate pact.

Trump also said he would keep his “sacred promise to our great American auto workers” by scrapping the electric vehicle mandate — even though the US has no law forcing people to buy one. of EVs – and promised to impose tariffs on other countries “to improve our citizens” .

The president also endorsed a plan touted by his biggest financial backer, Elon Musk, to colonize Mars – a mission the US government considers a distraction from revisiting the planet. Moon.

In the middle of the speech, Trump repeated a list of eccentric promises. He said the US would rename the Gulf of Mexico “to the Gulf of America” ​​and rename North America’s highest peak, Alaska’s Denali, to Mount McKinley, in honor of the former president. “made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent.”

He said that the US will “take back” the Panama Canal, which Washington gave to the central American country in 1978.

“The intent of our agreement and the spirit of our agreement has been completely violated,” Trump said. “American ships are grossly exaggerated and unfairly treated in any way, shape or form,” he added, before falsely claiming – in front of the Chinese vice-president, who was in attendance – that Beijing “operates the Panama Canal”.

A sense of messianic destiny and a touch of vindication were prominent features of Trump’s lengthy speech.

“Those who want to stop our cause are trying to take my freedom and, in fact, take my life,” Trump said. He referred to the July rally in Pennsylvania when “an assassin’s bullet went through my ear”. “I felt then and believe even more now that my life was spared for a reason.”

The first convicted felon to hold the presidency has also been hit with various criminal charges filed against him over the past few years, swearing that “the cruel, violent, and unfair weapon of the Justice Department and our government ends”.

While he did not repeat his false claim that he won the 2020 election, Trump said that his victory in November was “an order to completely and totally reverse a terrible betrayal”.

Trump’s inaugural address in full

Read the President’s speech in full