section_path: Inaugural events/Ceremony/Inaugural address
section_name: Inaugural address
paragraph_text: Inaugural address
  
  President Trump's inaugural address started with complaints about the indictments against him, followed by the announcement of the new administration's nationalist and conservative policy priorities, including immigration restrictions, the easing of environmental regulations, anti- DEI and anti- gender ideology policies, the establishment of a Department of Government Efficiency, and a negotiated settlement to the Russo-Ukrainian war. Trump defined his presidency as the beginning of a golden era for America.
  
  The Washington Post described Trump's inaugural address as attempting to emphasize unity, but as his speeches usually do, it veered off course and came off as "dark". Through the course of it, Trump made numerous false, inaccurate and exaggerated claims. He described himself as chosen by God, and that he was "tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history," which The Post noted would place himself above every other president in U.S. history, including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Trump invoked the phrase " Manifest Destiny " as he described an expansionist agenda, and criticized Democrats and other leaders. NPR said the speech gave the American public a better idea of what Trump's policies and directives would be, noted he spoke nothing of the January 6th attack nor his prior promises of political retribution, and pointed out his derision of the outgoing administration right in front of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the former president and vice president.
  
  Invocations proceeding the inaugural address were offered by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and Rev. Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Benedictions were offered by Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, Rabbi Ari Berman, and Father Frank Mann, Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. Imam Husham Al-Husainy, a Muslim cleric from Dearborn, Michigan, was initially on the program but did not speak or appear at the event.
  
  President Trump's inaugural address started with complaints about the indictments against him, followed by the announcement of the new administration's nationalist and conservative policy priorities, including immigration restrictions, the easing of environmental regulations, anti- DEI and anti- gender ideology policies, the establishment of a Department of Government Efficiency, and a negotiated settlement to the Russo-Ukrainian war. Trump defined his presidency as the beginning of a golden era for America.
  
  The Washington Post described Trump's inaugural address as attempting to emphasize unity, but as his speeches usually do, it veered off course and came off as "dark". Through the course of it, Trump made numerous false, inaccurate and exaggerated claims. He described himself as chosen by God, and that he was "tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history," which The Post noted would place himself above every other president in U.S. history, including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Trump invoked the phrase " Manifest Destiny " as he described an expansionist agenda, and criticized Democrats and other leaders. NPR said the speech gave the American public a better idea of what Trump's policies and directives would be, noted he spoke nothing of the January 6th attack nor his prior promises of political retribution, and pointed out his derision of the outgoing administration right in front of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the former president and vice president.
  
  Invocations proceeding the inaugural address were offered by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and Rev. Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Benedictions were offered by Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, Rabbi Ari Berman, and Father Frank Mann, Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. Imam Husham Al-Husainy, a Muslim cleric from Dearborn, Michigan, was initially on the program but did not speak or appear at the event.