So help us God... Donald Trump sworn in as 45th President of the United States

Mr Trump, the most divisive political figures in modern history, is named President as protesters around the world express concern about his attitude to women, climate change, minorities, Russia and nuclear weapons

Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 45th President of the United States.

Mr Trump and his team will now embark on his avowed mission to undo many of the achievements of Barack Obama, including the monumental health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act.

“The movement continues - the work begins!” President Trump tweeted hours before the inauguration ceremony took place.

Mr Trump will enter the White House with the lowest favourability rating in four decades at 41.8 per cent – roughly half of Barack Obama’s 2009 rating.

Hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets of Washington DC to attend the inauguration ceremony, a number of whom were protesting the new President.

It is not unusual for activists to stage demonstrations during presidential inaugurations; however, the election of Mr Trump has been rife with contention and controversy.

At least one anti-Donald Trump protester smashed glass window frontage down the road from Capiol Hill (BBC)

Police try to remove demonstrators from attempting to block people entering a security checkpoint (AP)

Mr Trump, who lost the popular vote to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by nearly three million votes, is now tasked with leading a polarised country.

Despite this, the President’s top advisor, Kellyanne Conway, assured that he would take the opportunity to issue a call for unity.

“In the Inaugural Address, you will hear an uplifting, aspirational, visionary Donald Trump calling for us to take bold action fairly quickly,” she told CBS News. “That’s what businessmen do.”

Mr Trump’s election win caught many by surprise, as polls leading up to the final hours of Election Day indicated that former Secretary of State Clinton was the likely victor. And while she did secure a majority of individual votes, Mr Trump still earned a narrow majority in electoral votes.

Still, nothing was normal about the President’s campaign, which continuously surpassed the expectations of analysts, politicians, and even the public.

The campaign seemed dead on arrival when Mr Trump descended from the escalator of the gilded Trump Tower in June 2015. He launched a racist tirade against Mexican immigrants.

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” he said. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us.

“They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

To prevent such people from entering the US, Mr Trump repeated his promise to build a wall along the 2,000 mile border between the US and Mexico – despite the area already being heavily militarised, with large walls already covering major metropolitan points in the region.

Mr Trump saw a drop in polls after he accused an Indiana-born federal judge, who happens to be Mexican-American, could not be impartial in presiding over the fraud lawsuit involving Trump University.

“I’ve had terrible rulings, I’ve been treated very unfairly. Now, this judge is of Mexican heritage,” he said of US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel. “I’m building a wall. I’m building a wall.”

Mr Trump stoked concerns of civil liberties advocates when he announced an apparent outright ban on Muslim immigration to the US.

“Donald J Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on,” a statement on his campaign website still reads.

Despite the controversy of Mr Trump’s unexpected rise, Barack Obama continuously reassured Americans that the peaceful transition of power was important to maintain to preserve democratic norms.

“There’s a difference between the normal functioning of politics and certain issues where I think our core values may be at stake,” he told reporters in his final press conference as President.

In his farewell letter to Americans, Mr Obama added that they have their work cut out for them, but that he would never be too far.

“I’ll be right there with you every step of the way,” he said.

“And when the arc of progress seems slow, remember: America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word 'We.' 'We the People.' 'We shall overcome.'

“Yes, we can.”