Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, fellow
Americans and people of the world – thank you.
We the citizens of America have now joined a great national effort to rebuild our county and restore its promise for all our
people. Together we will determine the course of America for many, many
years to come. Together we will face challenges. We will confront
hardships.
But we will get the job done.
Every four years we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer
of power. And we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for
their
gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent, thank you.
Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning because today we are not merely
transferring power from one administration to another – but
transferring it from Washington DC and giving it back to you the people. For too
long a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government
while the people have borne the cost. Washington
flourished but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered but the
jobs left and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself but not the
citizens of our country.
Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs
have not been your triumphs. While they have celebrated there has been little to
celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
That all changes starting right here and right now because this
moment is your moment. It belongs to you. It belongs to everyone gathered here today
and everyone watching all across America today. This is your day. This is your
celebration.
And this – the United States of America – is your
country.
What truly matters is not what party controls our government but that this government
is
controlled by the people. Today, January 20 2017, will be
remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. The
forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. Everyone is
listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic
movement – the likes of which the world has never seen before. At the centre
of this movement is a crucial conviction – that a nation exists to serve its
citizens.
Americans want great schools for their children,
safe neighbourhoods for their families and good jobs for themselves. These are just and reasonable
demands Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner
cities, rusted out factories scattered like
tombstones across the landscape of our nation. An education system flushed with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful
students deprived of all knowledge. And the crime and
the gangs and the drugs which deprive people of so much unrealised
potential. We are one nation, and their pain is our
pain, their dreams are our dreams, we share one nation, one home and one glorious destiny.
Today I take an oath of allegiance to all Americans. For many
decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American
industry, subsidised the armies of other
countries, while allowing the sad depletion of our own military. We've defended other nations’ borders while refusing to
defend our own. And spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while
America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay. We have made other
countries rich while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has
dissipated over the horizon. One by one,
shutters have closed on our factories without even a thought about the millions and
millions of those who have been left behind.
But that is the past and now we are looking only to the
future. We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in
every city, in every foreign capital, in every hall of power – from this day on a
new
vision will govern our land – from this day onwards it is only going to be America first – America first!
Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on
foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American
families. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you with every bone in my body and I will
never ever let you down.
America will start winning again. America will start winning like never before.
We will bring back our jobs, we will bring back our borders,
we will bring back our wealth, we will bring back our
dreams. We will bring new roads and high roads and bridges and tunnels and
railways all across our wonderful nation. We will get our
people off welfare and back to work – rebuilding our country with American hands and
American labour. We will follow two simple
rules – buy American and hire American.
We see good will with the nations of the world but we do
so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their nations
first.
We will shine for everyone to follow.
We will reinforce old alliances and form new
ones, and untie the world against radical
Islamic terrorism which we will eradicate from the face of the earth.
At the bed rock of our politics will be an allegiance to the
United States.
And we will discover new allegiance to each other. There is no room
for prejudice. The bible tells us how good and
pleasant it is when god’s people live together in unity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. There is no fear, we are protected and will always be
protected by the great men and women of our military and most importantly
we will be protected by god.
Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. As
Americans, we know we live as a nation only when it is striving. We
will no longer accept politicians who are always complaining but never doing
anything about it. The time for empty talk is over, now arrives the hour of action.
Do not allow anyone to tell you it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart
and fight and spirit of America. We will not
fail, our country will thrive and prosper again. We stand at the birth of a
new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space,
to free the earth from the miseries of
disease, to harvest the energies, industries and
technologies of tomorrow. A new national pride will
stir ourselves, lift our sights and heal our
divisions.
It’s time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never
forget, that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood
of patriots.
We all enjoy the same glorious freedoms and we all salute the same
great American flag and whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or
the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look at the same night sky, and dream the
same dreams, and they are infused with the breath by the same almighty creator.
So to all Americans in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to
mountain, from ocean to ocean – hear these words – you will
never be ignored again. Your voice, your hopes and
dreams will define your American destiny. Your courage, goodness and love will
forever guide us along the way.
Together we will make America strong again, we will make
America wealthy again, we will make America safe again and yes – together we will
make America great again.
Thank you. God bless you. And god bless America.