The News
President Donald Trump began his second term on Monday with the promise of a new “golden age” at an inauguration with public attendance restricted due to the cold — but prime seats reserved for some of the world’s wealthiest men.
Trump’s inaugural address, delivered in the Capitol Rotunda after the ceremony moved indoors in frigid temperatures, highlighted a series of executive orders on immigration, energy and the federal government that he plans to sign immediately. But some of his most telling remarks came as he addressed a favorite topic: himself, and his stunning rise back to power.
He promised a comeback for the nation that he would lead from the perspective of being “tested and challenged more” than any of his predecessors.
“I was saved by God to make America great again,” Trump said, bringing the crowd to its feet with a reference to last summer’s failed assassination attempt against him.
Former President Joe Biden stayed in his seat during that ovation. Biden also stayed seated as the new president detailed how he’d unwind four years of Democratic policies, declaring a “national emergency at our Southern border” and an energy emergency that would include an end to electric vehicle mandates and aspects of the progressive “Green New Deal.”
America’s problems, Trump said, would be “annihilated” by the “great momentum” begun by his victory in November.
Among the campaign promises that Trump is immediately instituting are pledges to roll back LGBTQ protections and DEI initiatives. Other promises were partly fulfilled with his first set of executive orders, including a new “external revenue service” that would collect revenue from tariffs on imported goods that he has vowed but not yet imposed.
Criticizing the natural disaster response of local and federal governments in his speech, Trump said that it had even harmed some of the “wealthiest and most powerful people in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now.”
It was a conspicuous nod to the billionaires who have worked to win his favor and showed up in person on Monday, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — and of course, Tesla CEO-turned government cost-cutting adviser Elon Musk.
Trump also said he would work to end the nation’s “chronic disease epidemic,” a cause that he has adopted since former presidential rival Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. endorsed him and ultimately became his nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Republicans have already worked quickly to implement Trump’s agenda, which is expected to be filled out with further executive orders in the coming days. The Senate is expected to confirm Marco Rubio as Secretary of State on Monday, but the rest of Trump’s Cabinet will have to wait; negotiations are ongoing to approve some other national security picks.
After the formal address, other Republicans and inaugural guests who were seated in the Capitol Visitor Center got a different, but also familiar, side of Trump – 30 minutes of remarks with no teleprompter.
After joking that he’d given House Speaker Mike Johnson a “majority of almost nothing,” Trump criticized the January 6 committee, repeated the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and suggested that he could have won California if voters had been required to show ID.
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The View From Democrats
Unlike eight years ago, when Democrats made a show of boycotting or otherwise resisting Trump’s inauguration, they tried to ignore this one.
Some attended the peaceful transfer of power in person, hopeful that they could work with the new president on a few key issues.
“I am showing up for our Constitution today and for the office, not for the man,” Vermont Rep. Becca Balint told Semafor. “In a healthy democracy, we don’t just go to the inauguration when our candidate wins.”
Others skipped it, spending Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in their districts, and explained why on social media: “I don’t celebrate rapists,” said New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“I will not be surety to this change,” said Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen, who said that he was watching the transition from democracy to “autocracy” from Memphis. “Maya Angelou said when somebody shows you who they are, believe them. Trump has shown us who he is.”
And quite a few Democrats winced as Biden greeted Trump at the White House by telling him “welcome home” — a jarring show of courtesy from an outgoing president who’d warned that Trump and his allies “represent extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.”
David’s view
Trump is just the second president to win non-consecutive terms. It’s a quirk with some surprising benefits.
Eight years ago, Trump inherited a country with 4.8% unemployment, low interest rates, and no inflation; he promised to “bring back jobs” and end the “American carnage” of crime and poverty. He took the stage on Monday with unemployment at 4.1%, inflation below its post-pandemic heights, and a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war that dominated the last year of Biden’s presidency. (Trump announced the deal before Biden did, though both the outgoing and incoming teams had worked on it.)
Simply put, Trump got a double boost from his Democratic predecessors.
In 2017, both parties were still uncertain about how Trump would handle the job — whether its scale and power would change him, and which rally rhetoric would turn into tangible policies. This time around, he spoke more confidently, making promises directly from his campaign stump speech and the post-election period.
Some of those rhetorical flourishes were the quirky stuff that has endeared Trump to his base; I don’t think many Democrats woke up on Nov. 6 expecting to hear Trump talk about restoring William McKinley’s name to the nation’s biggest mountain.
Broadly speaking, neither party is wondering how Trump will treat the Oval Office. He’s the leader of a Republican Party that has re-built its agenda around him, and the media that was so skeptical of his ambitions in the first term is more beleaguered than ever.
Burgess Everett and Kadia Goba contributed.
Notable
- Trump plans to also ask federal agencies to study tariff-related issues as a possible precursor to issuing the levies, per The New York Times.
- He is also preparing to pardon people accused of nonviolent offenses during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and commute the sentences of others involved, CNN reported.