Trump returns to White House

Donald Trump will be sworn in for a historic second term as US president Monday, promising a new "golden age" for America as the world braces for a return of his unpredictable leadership.

- By Evelyn Macairan and Mark Ernest Villeza

Freezing weather has forced the 78-year-old's inauguration at the US Capitol indoors, but the first hours of the most extraordinary comeback in American politics will be a blaze of activity.

The Republican vowed to unleash a blitz of executive orders undoing Joe Biden's legacy upon his return to the White House, and to launch immediate deportations of undocumented migrants.

If Trump painted a dystopian picture of "American carnage" at his first inauguration in 2017, this time around he is offering a more upbeat promise of a "brand new day" for the United States.

"I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country," Trump told a huge inauguration eve rally where he also danced with the Village People band.

But the billionaire populist also returned to some of the dark themes that drove his election victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in November.

The incoming 47th US president said he would “stop the invasion of our borders” and reverse “woke” policies, including “transgender insanity” in US schools.

‘Golden age’