U.S. President Donald Trump (left) takes the oath of office during the presidential inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., the United States, on January 20, 2017. Donald Trump was sworn in on January 20 as the 45th President of the United States (XINHUA)

Donald Trump was sworn in on January 20 as the 45th president of the United States.

With his hand on a Bible used by his family and the one used for the inauguration of the 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Trump took the oath of office administered by Chief Justice John Roberts at the U.S. Capitol, becoming the first U.S. president without prior government or military experience.

The inauguration culminated an extraordinary rise to the pinnacle of American political power for the 70-year-old billionaire businessman from New York, who fiercely took aim at the establishment during one of the most divisive campaigns in modern U.S. history.

"Today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the people," Trump said in his inauguration address.

"From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it's going to be only America first, America first," Trump said before dignitaries and hundreds of thousands of spectators attending the inauguration ceremony.

Repeating his campaign slogans, Trump pledged that "together, we will make America great again."

He said the new administration will rebuild infrastructures of the country by following "two simple rules: buy American and hire American."

The new president also said the U.S. will strengthen old alliances and form new ties with countries, while vowing to eradicate "radical Islamic terrorism" from the face of the earth.

More than an hour after the inauguration, clashes broke out between anti-Trump protesters and police blocks away from the parade route along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.

Police used pepper spray to quell the protesters and have made about a hundred arrests, according to U.S. media reports.

Earlier in the day, about 500 protesters, many of whom are black-clad, marched through streets near the White House in downtown Washington, holding banners such as "No Hate, No Place" and "Make Racists Afraid Again."

Police in riot gear used stun grenades and pepper spray to disperse the protesters after they smashed windows of a local Bank of America branch, a Starbucks store, a McDonald restaurant and some cars by throwing stones, media reports said.

During the riot, two police officers sustained minor injuries from coordinated attacks by protesters that were attempting to avoid arrests, Washington, D.C. Police Department said in a statement.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2017)