"The golden age of America begins right now," President Trump said today in an inaugural address that was heavy on specifics about his second-term agenda.

• It wasn't as dire as Trump's "American carnage" theme in 2017. But he painted a relatively bleak picture of the current state of the U.S. — and vowed to change it.

🎤 "The pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair," Trump said as former President Biden looked on with a pained expression.

• "We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad."

"January 20, 2025, is Liberation Day," Trump said, who got frequent standing ovations from the crowd in the Capitol Rotunda, where the swearing-in was held because of a frigid forecast.

"From this moment on, America's decline is over," Trump said.

🔎 Trump used his inaugural address to reiterate his pledges to significantly restrict immigration, reduce consumer prices, produce more domestic energy and impose new tariffs on imports.

• "Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed to take my life," Trump said.
• "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."

The latest ... Transcript of Trump's speech ... Trump priorities list, issued today.

Joe Biden's last act as president may be one of his most controversial — preemptive pardons for five members of his family.

• The White House announced the pardons after Biden was already at the Capitol for Trump's swearing-in.
• The five relatives — Biden's three siblings and their spouses — haven't been charged with any crimes. He said he was pardoning them to avoid politically motivated investigations: "That is why I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden."

✍️ Biden also issued preemptive pardons to retired Gen. Mark Milley, Anthony Fauci and the members of the Jan. 6 committee.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk sat together at the Capitol today.

• The people in this photo are worth a collective $910 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Jose Silvestre (right) styles a customer's hair at Florida City Barbers in Florida City, Fla., as President Trump gives his inaugural address.