WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump said a “tide of change is sweeping the country,” telling Americans during his inaugural address Monday that he is “optimistic” that the U.S. is beginning a “new era of national success,” while declaring that the country’s “decline is over.”

Trump addressed the nation on Monday after taking the oath of office for the second time and being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.

“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said in his inaugural address. “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.”

DONALD TRUMP SWORN IN AS 47TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Morry Gash/AP Photo, Pool)

“During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first,” Trump said.

Trump vowed that U.S. “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. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free.”

Trump promised that he would not use the government to go after political opponents, saying it was something he knew something about, a reference to his claims of persecution by the Biden administration.

“But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face,” Trump said. “While they are plentiful, they will be annihilated by this great momentum that the world is now witnessing in the United States of America.”

But, the president said in his first remarks to the nation as the 47th president, “our government confronts a crisis of trust.”

“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,” Trump said.

TRUMP TO TAKE MORE THAN 200 EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON DAY ONE

The president delivered his remarks from the Capitol Rotunda Monday due to an arctic blast that hit the nation’s capital, with frigid temperatures forcing the inaugural ceremonies to be moved indoors for the first time in four decades.

Trump, who won the Electoral College and popular vote, defeating now-former Vice President Kamala Harris in a landslide, has vowed that his second administration will bring “the golden age of America.”

Trump was running against then-President Biden, who was seeking re-election, until July 2024. But after the two debated for the first time, and after a disastrous performance by Biden, the incumbent was pressured by Democrat insiders to suspend his presidential bid.

Biden made the announcement in a social media post and endorsed Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee in his place, moving his vice president to the top of the ticket.

The decision for Biden to drop out of the race came just days after the Republican National Convention (RNC) finished, and after Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, formally accepted the GOP nomination.

But Trump, just days before accepting the Republican nomination, survived an assassination attempt at a rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. During the event, Trump was showing off a chart highlighting how illegal immigration skyrocketed under the Biden-Harris administration. As he turned toward the chart, he was hit by a bullet that pierced the upper part of his right ear by the now-deceased would-be-assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Weeks later, in September, another would-be-assassin hid himself in the bushes at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida. The gunman, Ryan Wesley Routh, had an AK-47-style rifle pointing through the fence toward Trump as he was golfing. Trump was rushed off the golf course by U.S. Secret Service agents, unharmed.

TRUMP TO DEPLOY MILITARY TO BORDER, END BIDEN PAROLE POLICIES IN FLURRY OF DAY ONE EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 20, 2025. (Saul Loeb/Pool via Reuters)

Trump reflected on his near-death experience, and his unprecedented trials and legal battles throughout the 2024 campaign cycle.

“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, and that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed to take my life,” Trump said. “Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear.”

He added: “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.”

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Trump, on his first day in office, is expected to take more than 200 executive actions – a massive, first wave of policy priorities focused on border security, energy, reducing the cost of living for American families, ending DEI programs across the federal government, and more, Fox News Digital exclusively reported.

Trump will also deliver on his campaign promise to roll back the policies of his predecessor on his first day in office. Trump will end “catch and release”; pause all offshore wind leases; terminate the electric vehicle mandate; abolish the Green New Deal; withdraw from the Paris climate accord; and take several major steps to assert presidential control over the federal bureaucracy.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.