unfortunately for donald trump people can't help but compare the size of the crowd at the 2009 inauguration of barack obama. millione there werere 1.8 people there and that was the scene in 2009. washington, d.c. packed out. contrast.ark almost the same time during today's ceremony, the numbers are far smaller. i'm not sure whether they achieved 800,000. the other big story is the new

potus twitter account. otus was being used by barack obama. it is now swept clean. there's a photograph of him looking rather drum. it is not just that one tweet, because this photo was not the original choice. the original photo for his account was this one. it only got changed an hour ago. the reason there is controversy is because this photograph is from barack obama's inauguration . a lot of people drawing attention to it and twitter user "so sad." photo from original the getty images website, which

says it is indeed president barack obama's inauguration. if you are wondering what happened to the account of president barack obama, it has @potus44.d to donald trump is up to 5.7 million who joined him today. reaction to the speech itself is interesting. trump fans found it wonderful. in my opinion the speech -- "in my opinion, the speech will go down as one of the best e ever. clearly a dig at liberals. we have the other side of the coin, trump delivered one of the angriest and most nationalistic speech."

asked why he is only talking about money, money isn't everything. best known for his business dealings, so perhaps it is not all that surprising. wall street journal focused on this. i shall handed off to you. >> tended off to president donald trump. -- let's handed off to president donald trump. [applause] president trump: and honestly there is nothing more i can say, because i have a lot of respect for those two people. thank you for being here.

we will be working very hard. i know chuck is going to approve. whether you are republican or democrat, it doesn't make any difference, we are going to get along. you have done a spectacular job. i want to thank you. thank you, everybody. >> two clock final things, you

can remain standing. >> thank you for joining us for our continued coverage of events from washington. under overcast skies, donald trump has been sworn in as the 45th president of the united states of america. presidency will set the course for america and the rest of the world for many years to come. with tradition and thinking h his predecessor, who he described as magnificent. trump is the oldest person to be sworn in as president, and he spoke out about his ambitious plans to build a new instructor for america. again,ake america great but before trump was sworn in

his vice president mike pence took the oaths of office. as well as president george w. bush and jimmy carter, they're unableaudience watching, health.it to ill let's listen to an excerpt of what president trump said. >> what truly matters isn't whichh party controls our government, both whehether our gogovement is cocontrolled by te people. januaryy 20, 2017 will be as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. >> donald trump is speaking

there. toled a standing ovation hillary clinton at that congress lunch before that recap. with me is, james from our watch desk. the reaction to donald trump's first speech as president. >> a lot of people, some have taken it pretty seriously. policy to hear from donald trump does hearing quickly from the wall street they have reaped the reward of government. people do not share in its wealth. obviously there is a lot of criticism against all politicians who preceded him. some people choosing to -- whether this was the moment you

criticizing or not, i don't know, a lot of people focusing on the facial expressions of the former presidents as they listened to that speech. comedys one is a account, obama trying to wake himself up from a nightmare. that was at the start of the inaugural service. one thing that a lot of people are pointing out, and it is rather unfortunate, we could have a tongue-in-cheek plagiarism controversy. people pointing up as a market similarity between repetitive has to say and will set in the batman movie the dark knight rises by the bad guy. he apparently made a speech before he emptied out the jails , and lots the swamp of people drawing those theyrisons, including -- have lifted this particular part of it.

"the oppressors of generations who have kept you down with opportunity and we give it back to you, the people, gotham is yours." giving it back to the people was a fake theme of donald trump's a dress. -- a big theme of donald trump's address. a rather peculiar choice of outfit. it does have some sort of revolutionary uniform, it has to be said. apparently she herself has called it revolutionary where. a joke about what people think of kellyanne conway. if you are interested about where this outfit comes from, it is an expensive gucci code.

it was made to celebrate the u.k. capital. >> we learn something by that outfit. thank you very much indeed for that. joining me now in the studio is a lecturer at the university of -- the frenchin consulates in the united states. how to you think francis leaders reacted as they watched the ceremony in washington state? guest: i'm not sure. i assume nobody really knows what to expect. you heard what donald trump said during the campaign. now what he will do as president is very unsure.

i was with cultural services from the french embassy. he declared he would limit entry foreignnited states to -- government said please do that. the research in the united states depends on foreign-born researchers. it is probably too early to decide. anchor: what would you say about the beginnings of the relationship between the trump administration and paris? do you --nk things have gone off have gotten off to a good start? guest: i think countries are different, but germany and france are wary of what is going to happen. especially regarding the possible relations -- the new relations between the united

states and russia. everybody's wondering if donald trump's plan is to get closer to russia to destabilize europe. pamela me e bring into the discussion, what do you think is being the french public perception of donald trump? given that we are a french news channel, i'm keen to get a french flavor on that. that said 75% of the french survey consider donald trump to be uncouth. >> i think to your point of european capitals, i would agree they are very weary. he has made statements that other european states may follow along.

is of great concern to european states who don't agree with this message at all. >> it sounded like he was of the the implosion european union, which geopolitically speaking would be fairly cataclysmic. goes completely contrary to previous u.s. policy. presidents have been supportive of the european union, but his statements tend to be derogatory towards the union. he actually congratulated you that congratulated burton -- he actually congratulated britain on the brexit. anchor: certainly a lot more work for the united states. a major ally and a key player in the world. suddenly there was very severe political unrest in this part of the world.

guest: they thought europe was greeted to fight the united states in terms of economic terms. his reaction is rhetorical. >> it all it sounds as if he has been reading from the same playbook. himself wishes to see the end of the european project as well. spoken in favor of brexit. he has indicated the number of other countries would probably want to get out of e europe. the message that the united states is offering is not a positive one in terms of international relations. >> another area of concern is he pointed out the united states may not support a native country

if under attack if they haven't contributed sufficiently. i think there was some concern about his statements of support. it is a negotiating position, because he wants nato states to contribute more. is solicited some concerns. >> what do you think trump's presence in washington changes, if anything, not least with regards to the possible fortunes? it sends a strong message that we should be very careful about this, about the rise of populism and contemporary democracy. i think senator john mccain would say russia would probably try to intrude in the european elections in the coming year.

donald trump is not popular at all and france. i think it is 81% of french people who dislike donald trump. if she is elected, which could happen, i'm not sure this will be directly or indirectly related to what will happen in the united states. in a speaker bring from the other side of the atlantic. professor of u.s. political history, who joins us from charlottesville in virginia. thank you for joining us. a lot of firsts when it comes to president comes -- president trump's presidency. he is the first president to never have served and held political office, nor to hell -- nor to hold any military

position. how hopeful are you that donald trump will actually be able to push through and understand how to navigate the corridors of power if indeed he has never held political office before? >> i don't thinthe e quesonon of holding pololitical office is so importt t as t p presint i is negotiator with congress. where his experience is to play in hisimportant role is difficulty inputting the right people in the right positions, especially in the intermediate and lower ranks of each department. can see right now that the trump administration is probably the latest in being assembled in

old resisidential l transitions. experience also weave absolutelyo o idea as t to how the relationship between congress and the president is going to take place. why -- this also explains in large partt the choice of mike pence a as a running mate. mike pence knows very well how well the institution works. anchor: please stay with us, we are going to see if we can fix the quality of the skype connection. let's go back to our international commentator in washington, douglas herbert.

we saw some ugly scenes unfolding in washington. guest: there have been dozens of arrests. we have to put this into perspective. array ofxpecting an dozens of protests in washington, sort of a prelude to a peaceful women's march in washington, which will be the marquee event. these protests have been localized violent protests. most are trying to send the message that by no means do they support violent protesting. the fear is that donald trump will see a -- will seize upon this as a pretext to denounce all protests. most of the protesters have made it clear they want to be peaceful, they want to be organized, but they do want to

send a powerful message of dissent and not let donald trump get away from having an un-traveled road. i would say the violent protests, most people are hoping this will not be a sign of what is to come. they do not represent the mast -- represent the vast majority of sporadic protests we have seen. from racial justice to immigration to all sorts of issues. they have been peaceful. anchor: we are keeping a close eye on developments in washington. here in the studio, director of the political forum and also at -- is a lecturer

the united states and america -- united states of america is an extremely divided country right now. chomp willfeel. manage to stop the sort of protests we have been looking out there that we have been seeing out there? at howi'm not sure successful he will be at stopping the protests, but i think he has a chance to bridge this divide. right now the relationships between the two parties and the congress for 10 years are acrimonious. in release get along socially and were able to come together with bipartisan issues. donald trump is not a classical republican. positions arelicy very populist and they typically

come from the left more than the right. we have already seen an example of this at play. when you look at the repeal of verycare, republicans were interested in pushing for the repeal immediately. donald trump put a brake on that. on that, buteal only if you have a replacement in order. republicans were talking about repealing and coming up with a placement sometime in the future. donald trump at a stop to that and said no, you have to do that at the same time. i think there's a chance to bridge that gulf. anchor: the united states is an extremely diverse nation with a diverse population. cabinet and at the the people donald trump has chosen to surround himself with. there has been some criticism of those choices.

that means it will be another section of the population that will feel extremely disenfranchised. guest: he was trying to bebe vey clear he was against this idea of disenfranchisement. i think that his message has been all-inclusive. has been against this idea of identity politics and saying you have to have a certain women, blacks, or certain ethnic groups. i do take to your point that that could be perceived as somehow exclusionary. anchor: he said train the swap, getting rid of the elite in but -- certainly

wealthy figures who are quite possibly the most attached you could imagine. that is the paradox about all this. join thiscted to swamp and probably he knows a -- incause it is probably terms of his financial dealings. to hisple he appointed cabinet also represent what he calls the swamp and the establishment. hewas a strange moment when gave his speech. he gave the anti-establishment speech. when you look at the cabinet effectively, there is definitely a paradox here. and we will see how that works out. >> could he lead the isolate that could he lead the united states on an isolation path -- could he lead the united states on an isolationist path? at the same time he

promised he would eradicate colt from the face of the earth. it's very much a mixed message and probabably his advisers woud have to sort them out. >> let's cross quickly back to washington. in downtown d.c., where protests have been taking place this afternoon. turned violent and arrests have been made. what is the situation like right now? reporter: things are relatively calm. on,n describe what is going there are a group of protesters behind me and they have gathered around a trashcan that was set on fire. i was told by some of the that memorabilia had been thrown in that trashcan.

protesters seem to gradually be leaving but there are an awful lot of people here. you take a look at this sign over here, it says if you are neutral in situations of injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor. people here think they are setting the resistance against donald trump, another woman saying the resistance is -- there are a lot of anti-fascist groups here. pro-immigrant groups. protectho want to women's rights, who say donald trump is essentially a misogynist. and also a different type of protesters from franklin square. policeas a standoff with and some violence. bricks,testers throwing

but the vast majority out here in d.c. have been peaceful. >> still some anger out there. things8úxúa

>> this is democracy now, democracynow.org. an inauguration day special. we're broadcasting live from whut on the campus of the historically black university, howard university. we are live on the air until 3:00 eastern time in his inauguration day special. i'm amy goodman. >>