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Trump takes over as US president

Donald Trump has taken power as the 45th president of the United States and pledged to end what he called an "American carnage" of rusted factories and crime in an inaugural address that was a populist and nationalist rallying cry.

Striking a defiant tone, Trump said American workers have been devastated by the outsourcing of jobs abroad.

"From this day forward it's going to be only America First," the Republican told thousands of people gathered on the National Mall to see him take over from Democrat Barack Obama.

With Obama and three other former presidents sitting nearby, Trump accused previous US administrations of enriching Washington at the expense of struggling American families.

Underscoring the deep divisions in the country, protests against Trump turned ugly in downtown Washington. Black-clad activists smashed store windows, blocked traffic and fought with police in riot gear who responded with tear gas and stun grenades. Police said at least 95 people were arrested.

Aerial pictures of the crowds of Trump supporters on the Mall showed a much smaller turnout at midday on Friday than that in comparable photos from Obama's first inauguration in 2009. Estimates of Friday's crowd size were not immediately available from police.

The inaugural address was vintage Trump, with plenty of material gleaned from dozens of campaign rallies he staged last year on the road to victory on November 8 over Democrat Hillary Clinton, who attended the ceremony with her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Trump said the United States has enriched foreign industry at the expense of American companies, subsidised the armies of other countries while letting the US military become depleted, and spent trillions abroad while allowing US infrastructure to crumble.

"The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world," he said.

Trump accused the Washington establishment of protecting itself but abandoning regular citizens who have suffered from poverty and crime.

"This American carnage stops right here and stops right now," he said. "Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families," he said.

Trump, 70, takes over a country divided after a savage election campaign.

A New York businessman and former reality TV star who has never held public office, Trump will set the country on a new, uncertain path at home and abroad.

His election was greeted with concern by many countries around the world, in part because of the potential for an isolationist foreign policy.

US stocks closed higher on Friday in a modest advance, marking the first time in more than 50 years that a new commander-in-chief has been welcomed by a rising equity market on his first day in office.

On financial markets, the dollar was down but US stock indexes pared their gains in the last day of a choppy trading week, after Trump's inaugural speech prompted investor concern about protectionist trade policies.

Trump signalled the possibility of a more aggressive approach to Islamic State militants.

"We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones, and unite the civilised world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth," he said.

The US Senate overwhelmingly voted on Friday to confirm retired General James Mattis as defense secretary, making him the first Trump Cabinet nominee to be approved.