Donald Trump is sworn in as 47th US president

Trump, 78, 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. (Photo/Reuters)

Donald Trump was sworn in for a historic second term as president, pledging a blitz of immediate orders 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 on Monday beneath the huge Rotunda of the US Capitol.

Republican Trump and outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden had earlier travelled 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.

"Welcome home," Biden said to Trump as he and First Lady Jill Biden greeted their successors at the front door of the presidential residence.

Trump, 78, 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.

Musk, who bankrolled Trump's election campaign to the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars and promotes far-right policies on the X social network, will lead a cost-cutting drive in the new administration.

'American decline'

Unusually for an inauguration where foreign leaders are normally not invited, Argentina's hard-right president Javier Milei was attending, along with Italy's 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.

Trump will declare a national emergency at the Mexico border, give the US military a key role on the frontier, and end birthright citizenship, as he seeks to clamp down on undocumented migrants, an official from his incoming administration said.

The announcement of the hardline policies came a day after Trump had promised a "brand new day" and to end "four years of American decline."

"I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country," Trump told an inauguration eve rally where he danced with the Village People band.

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".

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Source: TRT