Somewhere among his felony convictions, his need to return from an election loss, the narrowness of his popular vote margin, or a failed assassination attempt, one might think there could have been a just touch of humility in the swearing-in of Donald J. Trump as president.
But here was Trump, strongly proclaiming a mandate to rule in sweeping ways — and returning to a White House where he would declare national emergencies and launch broadsides against the very governmental systems he’s been hired to administer. He took an oath to support laws of the land even as he breaks or ignores them.
Trump used partisan, self-referential remarks to promote a “unity” based on following him, not us, and on promoting America First. In calling for a “revolution of common sense,” Trump promised “a thrilling new era of national success” based on doing whatever Trump says we need to do — and trashing Joe Biden over failures in immigration and Justice. “America’s decline is over,” he said, adding it was “Liberation Day.”
The day may have been intended to promote democracy, but in Trump’s remarks, it became a political rally.
In details small to large, Trump was out to use Inauguration Day not only to swear allegiance to a U.S. Constitution he would rewrite, but to ensure that everyone in sight of a television or internet connection would know that he is now responsible for their very continued health and prosperity. Even the stage moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda had to be made larger, displacing lawmakers, but leaving room for influential billionaire contributors, and by the end of day, even a border where traffic was way down would need labeling an emergency — all to grant Trump absolute say and freedom from limitations.
The re-arrival of an emboldened Trump, bristling with bravado and a coterie of people who were promising to follow without question, will prove a test for democratic traditions, as well as a distinct turn inward for a country whose global presence is seen as vital in so many places. Still, the transfer of power, the formalities of a morning White House tea, the respect of past presidents all occurred to make this a normal transition.
If you were watching — and lots of folks insisted they would not — the entire Trump shtick was on display: It was a repeating regal play that equates success for you and me with a chance for Trump to grab property, profit and peace from critics who worry about pesky things like law and precedent. As his inaugural speech reflected, Trump effectively runs an ultimate PR machine that washes and shines perceptions based on tilted assertions into glorified policies that generally protect the wealthy, disdain those in need, and that run racial and political hatreds right up to the edge of humanness.
The Signing Parade
No sooner were the ceremonies tucked away than Trump was to start signing dozens of executive orders that were meant to set an immediate tone for the next four years. Trump’s orders on immigration, oil drilling, tariffs, diversity policies, climate change, gender definition, and possibly on pardoning at least some convicted on charges arising from the Jan. 6, 2021, attempted insurrection, were staged together as a signal of presidential might. He was calling on two-hundred year-old laws to justify whatever actions he might take.
Set aside whether border issues have momentarily calmed; the emergency orders give Trump the power to rearrange federal monies without congressional approval or to assign active-duty troops to erect barriers or to launch his promised mass deportation plans, which have yet to be spelled out in practical or legal detail. Let’s be clear: Declaring an emergency at the border doesn’t solve anything; it just sets up Trump to be the all-deciding figure he seeks to be. Forget that the U.S. already is the world’s largest fossil-fuel exporter, the message is that we need more, even as we trash the very idea that climate change matters. Again, don’t expect that opening the ocean to more drilling in the next decade will affect prices anytime soon. Ordering the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed Gulf of America seems beyond the White House’s purview.
In other orders, Trump was ready to restore TikTok operations, to empower a legally questionable out-of-government review of all federal spending, to eliminate civil service protections for federal workers all on Day One, or Week One. Individually, each order may allow a Trump program to progress or at least gather the public attention that suggests that they progress. But together, they tell a story more of power to control events than providing control over the outcomes.
We can know that the Trump inaugural shock and awe is working by the waves of resignation we are seeing in Congress, in the courts, in the number of business leaders now seeking to withdraw criticisms to show public fealty. Despite the very real frailty of tiny majorities in the House and Senate, Trump’s Big Stick approach is demanding the laying down of anything like questions or criticisms; Trump, who has attacked legislation that lump financial items, now insists on a single bill to cut taxes for the rich and corporations, give unlimited border powers, and more, out of recognition that he has two years to do anything before he enter lame-duck status.
Biden’s Departure
The outgoing Joe Biden is leaving Trump an economy that has proved the strongest in the world, with structural policies in place to keep inflation near target levels, with the war in the Middle East at a ceasefire stage and with commitments remaining to Ukraine. Despite criticisms about migrant numbers and supermarket prices, Biden was able to restore international alliances and economic competitiveness that make Trump’s life easier.
Still, the main message from Trump is that the Biden era simply never should have happened, from the 2020 election to bringing the country through Covid, to failed immigration and energy programs and what Trump keeps insisting is international military disgrace. The point of the inaugural flood of executive orders is largely an across-the-board attempt to wipe away four years of Biden.
The talk of retribution and reprisals was strong enough to force Biden in his last hours to issue in-your-face, preemptive pardons to Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, members of the Jan. 6 congressional investigation panel, staff and others listed as Trump political enemies to protect them from prosecution — and then in the minutes before leaving office, pardoned his own family members from potential prosecution. That action is not only unprecedented, but a mark of how dangerous anyone not aligned with Trump sees Inauguration Day. Trump called Biden’s pardons “disgraceful,” as compared with the ones he is issuing.
The inauguration was the kick-off moment for the Trump 2.0 era, but it likely also was the launching point for an endless number of legal and political challenges to whatever Trump spins up as policy. Even Trump cannot expect that everyone blithely will go along with takeover plans for Greenland, Panama, even Canada, or that we all will look away as he unleashes armed troops on U.S. streets or to invade Mexico to take down cartels.
Trump’s presidency is aimed at undercutting much of the structure of U.S. government and regulations to make it easier to do business, to make money, regardless of the new problems those efforts create. So it makes it our job to watch what he does rather than what he says he is doing.