The Latest on Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 45th president of the United States (all times EST):
12:15 p.m.
In his inauguration speech, President Donald Trump is repeating the dark vision and the list of the country’s woes that he hit on during the campaign.
Trump describes closed factories as “tombstones” that dot the county and says the federal government has spent billions defending “other nations’ borders while refusing to defend our own.”
The Republican president says the U.S. “will confront hardships but we will get the job done.”
He says the oath of office he just took “is an oath of allegiance to all Americans” and said that the country will share “one glorious destiny.”
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12:12 p.m.
President Donald Trump says that he will govern the country by putting America first.
Trump is saying in his first speech as president that “from this day forward, a new vision will govern our hand” and that “from this day forward it’s going to be only America first.”
Trump says that every decision he makes, on issues from trade to taxes to immigration and foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and families.
He says “We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries” taking American jobs.
Trump says that under his leadership, America “will start winning like never before.”
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12:11 p.m.
President Donald Trump says Americans came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement “the likes of which the world has never seen before.”
Trump says the United States exists to serve its citizens.
He says Americans want great schools, safe neighborhoods and good jobs.
But he says too many people face a different reality: rusted-out factories, a bad education system, crime, gangs and drugs.
Trump says the “carnage stops right here and right now.”
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12:10 p.m.
President Donald Trump is declaring his victory a victory for working people.
Trump says in his inauguration speech: “Today we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another,” but “transferring power from Washington D.C. and giving it back to you, the people”
Trump says that, for too long, too few have had power and the people have paid the price.
He says: “Washington flourished but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered but the jobs left and the factories closed.”
He says, “That all changes starting right here and right now.”
Trump is also thanking former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama for their “gracious” aid through the transition.
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12:09 p.m.
President Donald Trump says change starts “right here and right now.”
The new president is using his inaugural address to say it doesn’t matter which party controls the government. He says that what matters is “whether our government is controlled by the people.”
Trump says the forgotten men and women of the country “will be forgotten no longer.”
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12:05 p.m.
President Donald Trump is beginning his inaugural address by saying that “together we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come.”
He says Americans have “joined a great national effort to build our country and restore its promise for all people.”
It began to rain in Washington as Trump started speaking.
Trump also thanked all of the past presidents in attendance, including former campaign foes Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
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12 p.m.
Donald Trump is now the 45th president of the United States. He’s just taken the oath of office on the West Front of the Capitol.
The combative billionaire businessman and television celebrity won election in November over Democrat Hillary Clinton, and today he’s leading a profoundly divided country — one that’s split between Americans enthralled and horrified by his victory.
The unorthodox politician and the Republican-controlled Congress are already charting a newly conservative course for the nation. And they’re promising to reverse the work of the 44th president, Barack Obama.
Up next is Trump’s inaugural address — where the new commander in chief is expected to set out his vision for the country’s next four years.
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11:55 a.m.
Mike Pence has been sworn in as the vice president of the United States.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administered the oath of office.
President-elect Donald Trump chose Pence, the former governor of Indiana, as his running mate last summer.
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11:45 a.m.
U.S. embassies and consulates in at least 10 nations in Asia, Europe and Latin America are warning of potentially violent protests through the weekend against the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. president.
Security notices posted by U.S. diplomatic missions in Chile, Denmark, France, Greece, Haiti, Italy the Netherlands, Paraguay, Portugal and the Philippines advise American in those countries to steer clear of embassies and consulates on Friday and, in some cases, on Saturday and Sunday. That’s due to the possibility of unrest and clashes with police.
The notices say the planned demonstrations are either focused on “U.S. politics” or are “inauguration-related.”
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11:32 a.m.
President-elect Donald Trump has taken the stage for his inauguration.
The Republican businessman from New York flashed a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was introduced.
Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence took the stage at the Capitol minutes after President Barack Obama and members of his family and administration.
Trump will soon be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States.
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11:30 a.m.
Hundreds of people who worked for President Barack Obama are arriving at Andrews Air Force Base to hear some final parting words from the soon-to-be ex-president.
Hours before Obama was to speak, former White House and administration staffers are gathering in a hangar where a small stage with a lone American flag was set up for him.
Obama and his wife, Michelle, are leaving the Capitol by military helicopter after witnessing Donald Trump’s swearing-in, and they’re being flown to the base in Maryland just outside Washington.
The Obamas will vacation in Palm Springs, California.
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11:25 a.m.
The dais is filled for the inauguration on the West Front of the Capitol.
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have taken their seats.
And President-elect Donald Trump’s family is ready.
The stage is set for Donald Trump to be sworn in as the next president of the United States.
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11:20 a.m.
In the crowd gathered on the National Mall for the inauguration, there’s no shortage of fans of Democratic figures.
Big cheers went up when images were shown of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who ran for president against Hillary Clinton. But the biggest cheer so far for a Democrat has gone to first lady Michelle Obama. She received sustained applause as people watched her appear on the television screens.
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11:15 a.m.
As Donald Trump and President Barack Obama made their way to the Capitol, police were confronting a group of demonstrators wearing black in downtown Washington, and authorities were using what appeared to be pepper spray.
Protesters were carrying signs denouncing capitalism and Trump.
Police cordoned off about 100 demonstrators who chanted “hands up, don’t shoot.”
A helicopter hovered overhead.
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11:10 a.m.
President Barack Obama and his successor, Donald Trump, have arrived at the Capitol for Trump’s swearing-in ceremony.
Trump is joined by his family, including his five children Eric, Don Jr., Ivanka, Tiffany and youngest son, Barron.
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11:05 a.m.
Incoming first lady Melania (meh-LAH’-nee-ah) Trump is wearing a sky blue cashmere jacket and mock turtleneck combination by Ralph Lauren for Inauguration Day.
In a statement, the Lauren Corp. says: “It was important to us to uphold and celebrate the tradition of creating iconic American style for this moment.”
Mrs. Trump’s hair is in a soft updo and accessorized with long suede gloves and matching stilettos. She was greeted at the White House by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama. Mrs. Obama was wearing red, short-sleeve dress.
Ivanka Trump chose Oscar de la Renta, and Hillary Clinton showed up in a white Ralph Lauren pantsuit that harkened back to the one she wore to accept the Democratic nomination for president at her party’s convention in July. Her jacket matched.
Who else made a large fashion statement for Trump’s big day?
Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway wore a military-style wool coat by Gucci of red, white and blue, with two rows of cat-head buttons and a matching red cloche hat. She described her look as “Trump revolutionary wear.”
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11 a.m
President Barack Obama’s departing White House staff is offering a subtle message on the walls of their lower press office as he leaves office.
Obama aides left up on a wall printed front pages from some of Obama’s biggest moments, including his 2009 inaugural, his signing of his health care law and the death of Osama bin Laden.
The wall typically features the day’s front pages. The compilation of Obama front pages was put up about a week ago.
Obama’s press offices were largely emptied out when Trump arrived at the White House for tea with the outgoing president.
It was unclear whether the front pages will still be there when Trump’s team arrives. A cleaning crew was expected to prepare the premises for the incoming administration.
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10:55 a.m.
Hillary Clinton says she’s attending Donald Trump’s inauguration to “honor our democracy.”
Clinton made the comment on Twitter Trump took the oath of office. Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton are both in attendance.
Here’s what Clinton is saying: “I’m here today to honor our democracy & its enduring values. I will never stop believing in our country & its future.”
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10:50 a.m.
President Barack Obama and his successor, Donald Trump, are departing the White House to head to Trump’s inauguration.
The pair got into a limousine that will take them to the Capitol.
Also on their way are Vice President Joe Biden, first lady Michelle Obama and Trump’s wife, Melania (meh-LAH’-nee-ah).
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10:35 a.m.
Crowds on the National Mall — where people without tickets can watch the inauguration — are growing steadily.
But less than two hours before the swearing-in, there are still wide swaths of empty space. There are strong suggestions that the crowds will not match President Barack Obama’s first inaugural eight years ago.
Some people were prevented by security barriers from getting closer to the Capitol despite having plenty of space in front of them.
The grass on the Mall was protected by white plastic and there were some muddy spots amid intermittent rain.
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10:33 a.m.
Most of the Donald Trump backers who are walking to the inauguration past Union Station in Washington are trying to ignore protesters outside the train station.
Then there’s Doug Rahm, who engaged in a lengthy and sometimes profane yelling match with protesters.
“Get a job,” Rahm said. “Stop crying snowflakes, Trump won.”
Rahm — who’s from Philadelphia and does high-rise restorations, is with Bikers for Trump. He says the protesters should get behind the new president.
He says, “This is unite America day.”
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10:25 a.m.
President Barack Obama has left a letter for his successor in the Oval Office before departing the White House — as is the tradition from one president to the next.
The White House is providing no details about what Obama conveyed to Donald Trump.
Obama campaigned vigorously against Trump. But the president and president-elect have had regular phone conversations since the election, with the president offering guidance and advice.
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10:20 a.m.
Belgium’s prime minister hopes Donald Trump will uphold NATO’s security guarantees and live up to the expectations of the American people.
Charles Michel says in a statement before Trump takes the oath of office that “it is essential that our engagement is maintained” to guarantee peace and stability through NATO.
Trump has called NATO “obsolete” and says European members aren’t paying their fair share.
Michel’s statement contains no congratulations. He does say “the expectations of the American people are high” and hopes Trump “will be able to deliver.”
Michel also says the European Union is entering a new era and it’s his belief “that Europe more than ever needs to defend its own agenda and interests.”
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10:05 a.m.
The White House says members of the residence staff have presented President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama with two American flags that were flown atop the building.
One of the flags was flown on the first day of Obama’s presidency. The other was flown on his final morning as president.
The Obamas are preparing to depart the White House for the last time as president and first lady when they head to Donald Trump’s inauguration.
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9:45 a.m.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are asking the public to help them develop projects for his new presidential center on Chicago’s South Side.
The Obamas are starting up a foundation website — Obama.org — in the hours before Donald Trump is inaugurated the 45th president.
Obama says the foundation’s projects will be developed “all over the city, the country and the world.” He asks Americans to “tell us what you want this project to be and tell us what’s on your mind.”
The foundation is developing Obama’s presidential library and center in Chicago.
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9:40 a.m.
Donald Trump is heading to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama.
Trump has left St. John’s Church across from the White House. He paused to shake hands with a clergy member at the door and then walked to his waiting vehicle.
There were cheers from supporters as Trump left the church.
He was followed by family members and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Pence said he was “very humbled” when he was asked about his message for the day.
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9:35 a.m.
President Barack Obama is taking a final stroll from the Oval Office through the Rose Garden as a sitting president. He’s soon to welcome his successor, Donald Trump, to the White House.
Obama was seen leaving papers on his desk in the Oval Office. He’s told reporters he’s feeling nostalgic on his final day as president.
He says his final message to the American people is “thank you.”
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9:30 a.m.
President Barack Obama is bidding farewell on Twitter.
Here’s what it says on the official presidential account: “It’s been the honor of my life to serve you.”
The president has been striking an optimistic tone in the final days of his administration.
He tells followers that he’s “still asking you to believe – not in my ability to bring about change, but in yours.”
The president is also asking people to share their thoughts about the focus of his new foundation’s work.
He says: “I won’t stop; I’ll be right there with you as a citizen, inspired by your voices of truth and justice, good humor, and love.”
AP White House Correspondent
Eds: Updates with Trump at White House for tea with Obamas; Obama tweet. With AP Photos. AP Video.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Following the path of inaugurations past, Donald Trump paid visits to church and the White House on Friday as the real estate mogul and reality television star who upended American politics prepared to be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. His ascent puts Republicans in control of the White House for the first time in eight years.
“It all begins today!” Trump tweeted at daybreak, before attending a morning service with his family as light rain fell. “THE MOVEMENT CONTINUES – THE WORK BEGINS!”
Trump and his wife Melania then shuttled to the White House for the traditional private meeting of outgoing and incoming presidents and their spouses. Posing for photos on the North Portico, the couples exchanged hugs as Barack Obama chatted about the demands of protocol.
The Trumps and the Obamas were to travel together in the presidential limousine for the short trip later to the Capitol for the noon swearing-in ceremony.
Ebullient Trump supporters flocked to the nation’s capital for the inaugural festivities, some wearing red hats emblazoned with his “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan. But in a sign of the deep divisions Trump sowed during his combative campaign, dozens of Democratic lawmakers were boycotting the swearing-in ceremony on Capitol Hill.
Supporters were lined up at security checkpoints before dawn to take their places in this quadrennial rite of democracy.
“I’m here for history,” said Kevin Puchalski, a 24-year-old construction worker who drove from Philadelphia. “This is the first president that I voted for that won.” His big hope: Trump builds that promised wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. “Keep the illegals out,” he said.
Protesters, too, were out early, some trying to block inaugural visitors from passing through security checkpoints, some wearing orange jumpsuits with black hoods over their faces. Police in riot gear were out in force.
Eleanor Goldfield, who helped organize the Disrupt J20 protest, said demonstrators hope to show they will not be silent throughout Trump’s presidency. She called Trump supporters “misguided, misinformed or just plain dangerous.”
Trump aides said the president-elect had been personally invested in crafting his inaugural address, a relatively brief 20-minute speech that is expected to center on his vision for what it means to be an American. Spokesman Sean Spicer said the address would be “less of an agenda and more of a philosophical document.”
Trump has pledged to upend some of Obama’s major domestic and national security policies, including repealing his signature health care law and building a wall along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. But he’s offered few details of how he plans to accomplish his agenda, often sending contradictory signals.
The three days of inaugural festivities kicked off Thursday. Trump left his Trump-branded jet in New York and flew to Washington in a government plane, saluting an Air Force officer as he descended the steps with his wife, Melania. He and the incoming vice president, Mike Pence, solemnly laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery before joining supporters for an evening concert at the Lincoln Memorial.
Trump’s son, Don Jr., told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that as the various festivities got underway, “the magnitude of it all” was at last sinking in. He pronounced his father “ready to take office.”
“We’re going to unify our country,” Trump said at the close of the two-hour concert featuring country star Toby Keith, soul’s Sam Moore and The Piano Guys. But not singer Jennifer Holliday: She backed out after an outcry from Trump critics.
With rain a possibility, the National Park Service announced that it was easing its “no umbrella” policy for Friday, allowing collapsible umbrellas along the parade route and on the National Mall.
The nation’s soon-to-be president joked about the chance of a downpour. “That’s OK,” Trump told campaign donors at an event Thursday night, “because people will realize it’s my real hair.”
“Might be a mess, but they’re going to see that it’s my real hair,” he said.
Whatever the weather, Trump supporters were looking ahead to the day.
Chris Lehmann, 55, a maintenance supervisor from Belmar, New Jersey, said: “I’m so excited, I’m like, on top of the world.”
Eleanor Haven, 83, of Alexander City, Alabama, was attending the festivities with her son, Scott Haven. The pair said they had never been to a political event before attending a Trump “thank you” tour rally in Alabama after the election and were looking forward to Friday’s celebration.
“We’re excited for changes in the country,” Scott Haven said.
Celebrities were weighing in from all parts of the globe. Matthew McConaughey, in London to promote movies, stressed a need for acceptance, saying, “The votes came in, the peaceful transfer of power should happen today and we all need to embrace that.” James Taylor, a vocal Trump critic, emailed a video postcard from his vacation in French Polynesia, saying that on the last day of the Obama administration, “it feels like it’s raining all over the world.”
On the eve of the inauguration, protesters and Trump supporters clashed outside a pro-Trump event Thursday night, with police using chemical spray to try control demonstrators outside the “DeploraBall.” The name was a play on a campaign remark by Hillary Clinton, who once referred to some Trump’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables.”
All of the living American presidents were scheduled to attend the swearing in ceremony, except for 92-year-old George H.W. Bush, who was hospitalized this week with pneumonia. His wife, Barbara, was also admitted to the hospital after falling ill. Trump tweeted his well-wishes to the Bushes, saying he was “looking forward to a speedy recovery.”
Clinton, Trump’s vanquished campaign rival, also planned to join dignitaries at Capitol Hill.
While Trump revels in a celebratory lunch with lawmakers and parade up Pennsylvania Avenue — passing his newly opened Washington hotel — workers at the White House will set about the frantic process of moving out the Obamas and preparing the residence for its new occupants. Moving trucks were on standby Friday morning at the White House.
Obama, who will continue to live in Washington, was leaving town with his family after the inauguration for a vacation in Palm Springs, California. He planned to address a farewell gathering of staff at Joint Base Andrews before boarding his last flight on the military aircraft that ferries presidents on their travels.
Obama began his day with a final visit to the Oval Office and goodbye tweets echoing a farewell letter he had penned to the American people.
“I won’t stop,” he tweeted. “I’ll be right there with you as a citizen, inspired by your voices of truth and justice, good humor, and love.”
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Associated Press writers Nancy Benac, Ben Nuckols, Alanna Durkin Richer, Jessica Gresko, Jill Colvin and Jonathan Lemire contributed to this report.
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Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
