Today, the 45th President of the United States returned to the White House as the 47th President of the United States. Only once before, in 1892, has an ex-President (Democrat Grover Cleveland) been re-elected President after a term out of office. That historical curiosity further highlights the uniqueness of this American moment.
More important than that historical coincidence, of course, Trump's return to power is unique in more infamous ways, with which we are all familiar by now, among them his association with the January 6 coup attempt and his felony convictions in his home state.
Trump returns to the Presidency as the charismatic head of a grand coalition. In this, he is not unlike the great FDR, who managed (more or less successfully) to hold together a coalition of southern segregationists, northern urban blue-collar workers, and liberal intellectuals interested in centralized economic planning and and international order. Trump's coalition, of course, is different and includes mega-rich oligarchs, once Democratic-voting blue collar workers, and a coalition of Christian Evangelicals and conservative Catholics whose religious identity has been transformed into a political allegiance, all of whom are held together by the charisma of Donald Trump. As with the Democrats after FDR, whether and how long anyone else will be able to hold together Trump's coalition in the future remains to be seen. Indeed, even now with Trump's charisma at its apex, the factions within the Trump coalition have started sniping at each other (e.g. MAGA, personified by Steve Bannon, vs. the oligarchs, personified by Elon Musk).
The Inaugural ritual (moved indoors this year because of the extreme cold as it was in 1985) is a ceremonial enactment of the peaceful transition of power, which we have historically highlighted as a defining characteristic of our political system. The principals in the inaugural ceremony seemed committed to carry out that tradition. So President Biden did not leave the city beforehand - as John Adams did in 1801 and Donald Trump did in 2021. Everyone was there who was supposed to be there, performing his or her prescribed role. Somewhat discordantly, the tech oligarchs were also seated there in prominent places - more prominent than those nominated for seats. in the new President's Cabinet.
The once and future President took his oath. The band played Hail to the Chief, and 21 guns were fired. The President and his predecessor shook hands. The Battle Hymn of the Republic was sung. Then, marching to a somewhat different drummer, came the Inaugural Address.
"The golden age of American begins right now."
The President promised "to put America first" and to end the "weaponization of the Justice Department." He warned of "a crisis of trust" and denounced government's purported failures under the past Administration. It was a typically Trump litany of contemporary American failures, which the new President promises to change and thus arrest America's decline. Invoking his near-death experience last summer, he claimed he had been "saved by God to make America great again." He characterized his Inaugural as "liberation day" and called his reelection the most consequential for our country.
He announced his intent to sign a series of Executive Orders, declaring a national emergency at our southern border, reinstating the "Remain in Mexico" policy, designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. He also promised to bring down inflation, declaring a "National Energy Emergency," and exporting American energy all over the world. He promised to end the "Green New Deal" and revoke the electric vehicle mandate. He promised tariffs, claiming they will somehow enrich American citizens, and he promised to establish an "External Revenue Service."
He promised a colorblind and merit-based society and declared it official policy that there are only two genders.
He promised to be a "peacemaker" and a "unifier."
But he also promised to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico and to restore President McKinley's name to the mountain that until recently bore his name in Alaska. He denounced the return of the Panama Canal to Panama, alleged the Chinese have acquired control of it, and ominously promised to take it back. He promised to increase American wealth and expand American territory.
Overall, it certainly sounded more like an election campaign speech than an Inaugural Address. The contrast between the traditional ceremonial and ritual goodwill, on the one hand, and the outburst of MAGA malevolence, on the other, was jarring, if unsurprising. It was the very opposite of hte opening words of the most famous Inaugural Address (JFK 1961): "We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom."
The majesty and solemnity of our constitutional civic religion were all on display, but the substance seemed to be challenged by the new Administration's agenda.
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