Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States, vowing a "new day" for the United States after four years of tumult under Donald Trump who in an extraordinary final act snubbed the inauguration. He vowed to defeat political extremism and domestic terror in his first speech as US president.
After officially entering the White House after swearing in as the President, Biden signed a raft of executive orders to launch his administration Wednesday, including a decision to rejoin the Paris climate accord, reported news agency AFP.
The US faces "a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism, that we must confront, and we will defeat," he said in his inaugural address on the steps of the US Capitol.
Joe Biden arrived at the White House, walking the last block with members of his family through streets that were eerily empty because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Former California senator Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president of the United States, the first woman ever to hold the post.
Two weeks to the day after Trump supporters violently rampaged at the US Capitol to overturn the election results, Joe Biden took the oath on the same very steps alongside Kamala Harris, who was sworn in moments earlier as the first woman vice president. Joe Biden, putting his hand on a family Bible, repeated after Chief Justice John Roberts the presidential oath -- that he will "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Kamala Harris, 56, took the oath of office from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a ceremony at the US Capitol. She is the first Black woman and the first woman of South Asian descent to become US vice president.
US President Donald Trump left the White House for the final time, heading by helicopter to a nearby military base where he will fly to Florida, skipping the inauguration of successor Joe Biden in an extraordinary break with tradition. Trump, 74, and First Lady Melania Trump walked a short red carpet and boarded Marine One on the White House lawn on a sunny but chilly day in Washington for the short flight to Joint Base Andrews where he will board Air Force One.
In brief remarks to reporters, Trump said it had been an "amazing four years" and the "honor of a lifetime." He said: "I just want to say goodbye."
Mr Biden plans to kick off his new administration Wednesday with orders to restore the United States to the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization, aides said. He will sign 17 orders and actions hours after being sworn in as US leader to break from policies of departing President Donald Trump and set new paths on immigration, the environment, fighting Covid-19 and the economy, they said.