Trump sworn in as president, pledges America-first policy

A president unlike any before, the oldest ever at age 70, a marketing tycoon with no prior experience in government, his public approval at a record low, Trump struck the same belligerent tone he used throughout the campaign, warning a wary world that “America will start winning again,” while assuring the disaffected working-class voters who lifted him to his improbable victory that he would put their interests first. Of each ritualized step of the inaugural ceremony, crafted to symbolize the peaceful transfer of power that is a hallmark of American democracy, none was more poignant than the presence of Hillary Clinton, dressed in white and accompanied by her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Defeated by Trump for the presidency despite her 2.3 million vote victory in the popular vote, Hillary Clinton solemnly looked on as a spectator at an inaugural she had hoped would be her own as the nation’s first woman president. First Lady Melania Trump, tall and elegant in blue, and Trump’s five children and son-in-law Jared Kuschner, named as a top advisor, watched as Trump took the oath on two bibles, Araham Lincoln’s and his family’s, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts. With nearly a third of California’s Democratic delegation boycotting his inaugural cerremony and as many as 50 House Democrats in all staying home in protest, Trump takes office amid an active ongoing investigation by both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees and the nation’s intelligence agencies of Russian interference in the election with the aim of electing Trump. Unlike former president George W. Bush, who faced a similarly deeply divided public after an election that many Democrats felt was unfairly awarded to him by the Supreme Court, Trump has done little to reach out to his defeated opponents. Trump also faces serious constitutional questions, with some legal experts warning that he will immediately be in violation of the Constitution’s emolument’s clause, which bans payments to a public official from foreign governments, because Trump has refused to divest his vast business holdings.