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CNN Live Event/Special

The Inauguration of Donald Trump; Vice President J.D. Vance is Sworn in; President Donald Trump is Sworn in; President Trump Delivers Inaugural Address. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired January 20, 2025 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[12:00:00]

BRETT KAVANAUGH U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: Please raise your right hand and repeat after me: I, James David Vance, do solemnly swear...

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I, James David Vance, do solemnly swear...

KAVANAUGH: ... that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

VANCE: ... that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States...

KAVANAUGH: ... against all enemies, foreign and domestic...

VANCE: ... against all enemies, foreign and domestic...

KAVANAUGH: ... that I will bear true faith...

VANCE: ... that I will bear true faith...

KAVANAUGH: ... and allegiance to the same...

VANCE: ... and allegiance to the same...

KAVANAUGH: ... that I take this obligation freely...

VANCE: ... that I take this obligation freely...

KAVANAUGH: ... without any mental reservation...

VANCE: ... without any mental reservation...

KAVANAUGH: ... or purpose of evasion...

VANCE: ... or purpose of evasion...

KAVANAUGH: ... and that I will well and faithfully discharge...

VANCE: ... and that I will well and faithfully discharge...

KAVANAUGH: ... the duties of the office...

VANCE: ... the duties of the office...

KAVANAUGH: ... on which I am about to enter...

VANCE: ... on which I am about to enter...

KAVANAUGH: ... so help me, God.

VANCE: ... so help me, God.

KAVANAUGH: Congratulations, Mr. Vice President.

(APPLAUSE)

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen please welcome Chief Justice Roberts to administer the presidential oath of office.

CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT JOHN G. ROBERTS JR.: Please raise your right hand and repeat after me - I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear...

DONALD J. TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear...

ROBERTS: ... that I will faithfully execute...

TRUMP: ... that I will faithfully execute...

ROBERTS: ... the Office of President of the United States...

TRUMP: ... the Office of President of the United States...

ROBERTS: ... and will, to the best of my ability...

TRUMP: ... and will, to the best of my ability...

ROBERTS: ... preserve, protect, and defend...

TRUMP: ... preserve, protect, and defend...

ROBERTS: ... the Constitution of the United States...

TRUMP: ... the Constitution of the United States...

ROBERTS: ... so help me God.

TRUMP: ... so help me God.

ROBERTS: Congratulations, Mr. President.

(APPLAUSE)

(MUSIC)

(CANNON SHOOTING CEREMONY)

(APPLAUSE) (MUSIC)

(The Armed Forced Chorus and the United States Naval Academy Glee Club)

[12:08:00]

(APPLAUSE)

FISCHER: Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce to you the 45th and the 47th president of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you very much, everybody. Wow. Thank you very, very much.

Vice President Vance, Speaker Johnson, Senator Thune, Chief Justice Roberts, Justices of the United States Supreme Court, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and my fellow citizens, the golden age of America begins right now.

[12:10:00]

(APPLAUSE)

From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first.

(APPLAUSE)

Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent, and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.

(APPLAUSE)

And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free.

America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before.

(APPLAUSE)

I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country, sunlight is pouring over the entire world, and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before.

But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face. While they are plentiful, they will be annihilated by this great momentum that the world is now witnessing in the United States of America. As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust.

For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair.

We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad. It fails to protect our magnificent law- abiding American citizens but provide sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world.

We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders but refuses to defend American borders or, more importantly, its own people. Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people of North Carolina, who have been treated so badly.

(APPLAUSE)

And other states who are still suffering from a hurricane that took place many months ago. Or more recently, Los Angeles, where we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago, without even a token of defense.

They're raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now. They don't have a home any longer. That's interesting, but we can't let this happen.

Everyone is unable to do anything about it that's going to change. We have a public health system that does not deliver in times of disaster, yet more money is spent on it than any country anywhere in the world. And we have an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves; in many cases, to hate our country, despite the love that we try so desperately to provide to them. All of this will change starting today. And it will change very quickly.

(APPLAUSE)

[12:15:00]

My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy, and indeed, their freedom. From this moment on, America's decline is over.

(APPLAUSE)

Our liberties and our nation's glorious destiny will no longer be denied. And we will immediately restore the integrity, competency and loyalty of America's government. Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history and I've learned a lot along the way.

The journey to reclaim our republic has not been an easy one, that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom, and indeed, to take my life. Just a few months ago in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear, but I felt then and believe even more so now that my life was saved for a reason: I was saved by God to make America great again.

(CHEERING)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

[12:20:00]

That is why each day, under our administration of American patriots, we will be working to meet very crisis with dignity and power and strength. We will move with purpose and speed to bring back hope, prosperity, safety and peace for citizens of every race, religion, color and creed. For American citizens, January 20th, 2025 is "Liberation Day".

(CHEERING)

It is my hope that our recent presidential election will be remembered as the greatest and most consequential election in the history of our country. As our victory showed, the entire nation is rapidly unifying behind our agenda with dramatic increases in support from virtually every element of our society: young and old, men and women, African- Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans, urban, suburban, rural, and very importantly, we had a powerful win in all seven swing states, and the popular vote, we won by millions of people.

(APPLAUSE)

To the black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote. We set records, and I will not forget it. I've heard your voices in the campaign, and I look forward to working with you in the years to come. Today is Martin Luther King Day, and his honor -- this will be a great honor -- but in his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you. National unity is now returning to America, and confidence and pride is soaring like never before. In everything we do, my administration will be inspired by the strong pursuit of excellence and unrelenting success. We will not forget our country, we will not forget our Constitution and we will not forget our God. Can't do that.

(APPLAUSE)

Today I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revelation of common sense. So all of that common sense. (APPLAUSE)

First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border.

(APPLAUSE)

All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my Remain in Mexico policy.

(APPLAUSE)

I will end the practice of catch and release.

(APPLAUSE)

And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.

(APPLAUSE)

Under the orders I signed today, we will also being designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

(APPLAUSE)

And by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks, bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities.

(APPLAUSE)

As Commander-in-Chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions and that is exactly what I am going to do. We will do it at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Next, I will direct all members of my cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down cost and prices.

(APPLAUSE)

The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices and that is why today I will also declare a national emergency. We will drill, baby, drill.

(APPLAUSE)

America will be a manufacturing nation once again and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have. The largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth and we are going to use it.

(APPLAUSE) We will use it.

(APPLAUSE)

We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top, and export American energy all over the world.

(APPLAUSE)

We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet. That will help to do it.

With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American auto workers.

(APPLAUSE)

In other words, you'll be able to buy the car of your choice. We will build automobiles in America again at a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago. And thank you to the autoworkers of our nation for your inspiring vote of confidence. We did tremendously with their vote.

[12:25:00]

(APPLAUSE)

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

(APPLAUSE)

For this purpose, we are establishing the external revenue service to collect all tariffs, duties, and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our Treasury coming from foreign sources. The American Dream will soon be back and thriving like never before to restore competence and effectiveness to our federal government.

My administration will establish the brand new Department of Government Efficiency.

(APPLAUSE)

After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America.

(APPLAUSE)

Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents. Something I know something about. We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again. Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law.

(APPLAUSE)

And we are going to bring law and order back to our cities.

(APPLAUSE)

This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.

(APPLAUSE)

We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.

(APPLAUSE)

As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.

(APPLAUSE)

This week, I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the COVID vaccine mandate, with full back pay.

(APPLAUSE)

And I will sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. It's going to end immediately.

(APPLAUSE)

Our Armed Forces will be free to focus on their sole mission, defeating America's enemies.

(APPLAUSE)

Like in 2017, we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen. We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end and, perhaps most importantly, the wars that we never get into.

(APPLAUSE)

[12:30:00]