Donald Trump sworn in as US president for second time, telling Americans: ‘The golden age begins right now’

Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, completing perhaps the most remarkable political comeback in American history.

The Republican, the first convicted felon ever to become commander-in-chief, signed a series of executive orders at his inauguration parade and later at the Oval Office on issues ranging from climate change, immigration and the 6 January riots – with some bound to cause controversy.

Proclaiming that a “golden age begins right now”, Mr Trump also said he would rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and take back the Panama Canal in his inauguration address.

“I’m going to put America first… The scales of justice will be rebalanced,” he said. “From this moment on, America’s decline is over.”

In his executive orders, he “declared a national emergency” at the southern border with Mexico as well as a “national energy emergency”.

He granted pardons and commuted sentences for people related to the January 6 riots and targeted automatic citizenship for US-born children of illegal immigrants;

During his inauguration speech, he pledged to “build the strongest military the world has ever seen” and also turned his attention to the Panama Canal.

“China is operating the Panama Canal, and we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”

The president did not say exactly what measures he would take to retake control of the crucial waterway.

Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino responded shortly after, saying the canal “is and will continue to be Panamanian”.

Mr Trump has also spent recent weeks talking about taking control of Greenland and making Canada a US state, but these claims did not feature in his inaugural address.

He did, however, include his promise to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”.