Full text of the new US president's inauguration speech

Source: Sino-US Scholars Think Tank

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States in the Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, the capital of the United States.

The following is the full text of his speech:

Donald Trump:

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Vice President Vance, Speaker Johnson, Senator Thune, Chief Justice Roberts, Supreme Court Justices of the United States, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and my fellow citizens. America's Golden Age begins now.

From this day on, our country will prosper and be respected by the world again. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will no longer allow ourselves to be taken advantage of. Every day of the Trump Administration, I will, quite simply, put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our security will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The weaponization of evil, violence, and injustice by the Department of Justice and our government will end. Our first priority will be to build a nation that is proud, prosperous, and free.

America will soon be greater, stronger, and more exceptional than ever before. I return to the presidency with the confidence and optimism that we are at the beginning of an exciting new era of national success, that a wave of change is sweeping across the nation, that the sun is shining across the world, and that America has an opportunity to seize this unprecedented opportunity.

But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face. While those challenges are many, they will be overcome before the world’s eyes by the great strength of the United States of America.

As we gather today, our government faces a crisis of confidence. For too many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society have fractured and appear to be in total disrepair.

We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time being mired in a series of catastrophic events abroad. It has failed to protect our great, law-abiding American citizens, and instead has provided shelter and protection to dangerous criminals, many of whom come from prisons and mental institutions, who illegally enter our country from all over the world.

Our government provides unlimited funding for the defense of foreign borders, but refuses to defend America’s borders, and more importantly, refuses to defend its own people. Our country can no longer provide basic services in emergencies, as recently shown by the good people of North Carolina, who were treated so poorly, and other states are still suffering from hurricanes that occurred just a few months ago.

Or recently in Los Angeles, where we saw fires from weeks ago that are still tragically burning without even a hint of defense.

They are raging through homes and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in our country, some of whom are sitting right here right now. They no longer have homes. It's been interesting, but we can't let this happen again. There's nothing anyone can do about it. This is going to change.

Our public health system didn't work when the disaster happened, but it spends more on it than any other country in the world. Our education system teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves, and in many cases, to hate our country despite our desperate efforts to offer them love. Starting today, all of this will change, and it will change very quickly.

My recent election is authorized to completely and utterly reverse a terrible betrayal, and all of those that have occurred, and give back to the people their faith, their wealth, their democracy, and even their freedom.

From this moment on, America's decline is over. Our freedom and the glorious destiny of our country will no longer be denied, and we will immediately restore the integrity, competence, and loyalty of the American government. Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our nation's 250-year history, and I have learned a great deal. I can tell you that rebuilding our republic has not been easy.

Those who wanted to stop our cause tried to take my freedom, and even my life. Just a few months ago, in beautiful Pennsylvania, an assassin's bullet pierced my ear. But I felt then, and believe even more now, that my life was saved for a reason. God saved me to make America great again. Thank you. Thank you.

That is why, under the stewardship of our American patriots, we will work every day to meet every crisis with dignity, power, and strength. We will act with purpose and speed to bring back hope, prosperity, security, and peace to our citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed. For the citizens of the United States, January 20, 2025, is Emancipation Day.

I hope that our recent presidential election will be remembered as the greatest and most important in our nation's history.

As our victory demonstrates, the entire country is rapidly rallying behind our agenda, with overwhelming support from nearly every component of our society, young and old, men and women, African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, urban, suburban, rural. Very importantly, we won big in all seven swing states, and we won the votes of millions of people.

To the Black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous love and trust you have shown me through your votes. We set a record that I will not forget. I heard your voices on the campaign trail, and I look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead. Today is Martin Luther King Day and in his honor, it will be a great honor, but in his honor, we will work together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream a reality. Thank you. Thank you.

America is restoring national unity, and confidence and pride are at an all-time high. In everything we do. My administration will be inspired by the pursuit of excellence and relentless success. We will not forget our country. We will not forget our Constitution, nor our God. We can't.

Today, I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions, we will begin a radical renewal of America and a revolution of common sense. It's all common sense.

First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will be stopped immediately, and we will begin to return millions of criminal aliens back to whence they came.

We will restore my Remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release. I will send the military to the southern border to repel this devastating invasion of our nation.

Under the orders I am signing today, we will also designate the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. By invoking the Foreign Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and vast powers of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate all foreign gangs and criminal networks that bring devastating crime to the American homeland, including our cities and towns. As Commander in Chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our nation from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I will do. We are going to do it at a level never before seen.

Next, I will direct all members of my Cabinet to focus the tremendous forces at their disposal to defeat record inflation and rapidly reduce costs and prices.

The inflation crisis is caused by massive overspending and rising energy prices, which is why today I will also declare a National Energy Emergency. We are going to pump the oil, babies, we are going to pump the oil.

America is going to be a manufacturing nation again, and we have something no other manufacturing nation will ever have, the largest reserves of oil and natural gas on earth, and we will use it, and they will use it. We will drive down prices, fill our strategic reserves to their peak once again, and export American energy around the world.

We are going to be a wealthy nation again, and the liquid gold beneath our feet will help make it happen.

With my action today, we will end the Green New Deal, we will rescind the electric vehicle subsidy mandate, save our auto industry, and keep my sacred promise to our great American autoworkers.

In other words, you can buy the car you love. We will once again be making cars in America at a rate that no one could have imagined just a few years ago, thanks to your inspiring vote of confidence in our nation's autoworkers. We turned in their vote with flying colors.

I will immediately begin a comprehensive overhaul of our trading system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.

To this end, we are establishing the Foreign Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, taxes, and revenues. There will be a flood of money from abroad flowing into our national coffers. The American dream will soon be back and thriving like never before.

To restore confidence and the efficient administration of our federal government, my administration will establish an all-new Department of Government Efficiency.

After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional restrictions on free speech, I will also sign an executive order to immediately halt all government censorship and bring free speech back to America. Never again will the vast power of the state be used to persecute political opponents. Something I know, something about us, will not allow that to happen. It will never happen again.

Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal, and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law, and we will restore law and order to our cities.

This week, I will also end the administration's policy of attempting to pigeonhole race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will create a society that is color-blind and merit-based. From today on, it will be the official policy of the United States government to have only two genders, male and female.

This week, I will reinstate, with full back pay, all service members who have been unjustly discharged for opposing the COVID vaccine mandate. I will sign an order that prevents our warfighters from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. It will be over soon.

Our armed forces will be free to focus on their sole mission: defeating America’s enemies.

As we did in 2017, we will once again build the strongest military the world has ever seen. We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but by the wars we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never enter.

My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier, and that is what I want to be, a peacemaker and unifier. I am pleased to say that just yesterday, the day before I took office, hostages in the Middle East were returning home to their families.

Thank you. America will reclaim her rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring all the admiration of the entire world.

Soon from now, we will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and we will rename Mount McKinley after our great President William McKinley, where it should be. President McKinley made our country very wealthy through tariffs and his talent. He was a born businessman who financed many of the great things that Teddy Roosevelt did, including the Panama Canal, which we foolishly gave to Panama, I mean, think about the fact that the United States spent more money on the Panama Canal than it has ever spent on a single project, and 38,000 lives were lost in the construction of the Panama Canal.

We have been treated badly by this foolish gift, and Panama has reneged on its promises to us. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been completely violated. American ships are being grossly overcharged, charged, and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form.

Above all, my message to the American people today is that it is time for us to act once again with the courage, energy, and vitality of the greatest civilization in history. So when we liberate our nation, we will lead it to new heights of victory and success. We will not be intimidated.

Together, we will end the chronic disease epidemic and keep our children safe, healthy, and free from disease. America will once again think of itself as a growing nation, a nation that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations, and carries our flag to new and beautiful horizons.

We will pursue our Manifest Destiny. We will launch American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on Mars.

Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation, and right now, our nation is more ambitious than any other. There is no nation like ours. Americans are explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneers. The spirit of the frontier is written in our hearts. The call to the next great adventure resounds deep within our souls.

Our American ancestors transformed a small group of colonies on the edge of a continent into a powerful republic of the most extraordinary citizens on Earth. No one has come close. Americans have traveled thousands of miles across rugged wilderness.

They crossed deserts, climbed mountains, braved countless dangers, won the West, ended slavery, saved millions from tyranny, lifted billions out of poverty, harnessed electricity, split the atom, launched a man into space, and placed the universe of human knowledge within the palm of man's hand.

If we work together, there is nothing we cannot do, nothing we cannot realize. Many thought it impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback. But as you can see today, I am here, and the American people have spoken. I stand before you now to prove that you should never believe that something is impossible.

In America, the impossible is what we do best. From New York to Los Angeles, from Philadelphia to Phoenix, from Chicago to Miami, from Houston to Washington, our country was founded and built by generations of patriots who gave their all for our rights and our freedoms. They were farmers and soldiers, cowboys and factory workers, steelworkers and coal miners, policemen and pioneers who marched forward, pushed forward, and let no obstacle crush their spirit or their pride.

Together, they laid railroads, built skyscrapers, constructed highways, won two world wars, defeated fascism, and triumphed over every challenge they faced. After all we have been through together, we are about to embark on the greatest four years in American history. With your help, we will renew the promise of America, and we will rebuild the country we love.

We are one people, one family, and one glorious nation under God. So to every parent who dreams for their children and every child who dreams for their future, I am with you. I will fight for you and win for you. We will win like never before. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Our Nation has suffered greatly in recent years, but we will bring it back and make it great again, greater than ever before. We will be a nation like no other, filled with compassion, courage, and uniqueness. Our power will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of solidarity to a world that is filled with anger, violence, and utter unpredictability.

America will once again be respected and admired by people of all religions, beliefs, and good will. We will prosper. We will be proud. We will be strong, and we will win like never before. We will not be conquered. We will not be intimidated. We will not be broken, and we will not fail.

From this day forward, the United States of America will be a free, sovereign, and independent nation. We will stand up bravely. We will live proudly. We will dream boldly, and nothing will stop us, because we are Americans.

The future is ours, and our golden age has just begun. Thank you. God bless America. Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.