cnn
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Donald Trump will stage one of the most intense and extensive displays of presidential power on the first day of any administration, seeking to fundamentally change the course of the United States before nightfall Monday.
On a frigid day that forced him to be sworn in as the 47th president inside the Capitol, Trump plans a series of hardline executive actions on immigration, energy production, transgender athletes and a pardon for the January 6 rioters.
His inaugural show of force — “close to 100 to be exact,” he said Sunday — will set the tone for a second term based on Trump’s strongman persona and his vision of an all-powerful presidency, destined to unleash intense disruption in the country and abroad.
Trump warmed up for his second inauguration at a victory rally Sunday in Washington, culminating in a spectacle that would have astonished generations of his starched-collared predecessors, showing off his dad dance, knees stiff and jerking, with the Village People and their late 1970s hit “YMCA,” their political anthem.
His informality underscored how the former real estate mogul, tabloid villain and reality TV star became a cultural figure among his millions of fans.
That MAGA mystique also has its roots in his resilience, after surviving two assassination attempts, a pair of impeachments, four criminal charges and a conviction. His return to power, using the same democratic process he tried to crush to avoid leaving office after the 2020 election, means his return is one of the second most surprising acts in American history. It is also a dark foreshadowing of how an imperialist president might try to use his new power.
Trump is no longer a populist, nationalist aberration in a long line of post-World War II presidents who operated with similar assumptions about America’s role in the world. His victory in November, which made him the second president to win non-consecutive terms, means he is a historically significant figure, no matter what happens in the next four years.
And Trump achieved two big victories before even taking office. First, this Sunday, Hamas released three hostages to Israel as part of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that was attributed to his imminent arrival in office. Trump then, at least for now, saved TikTok, which briefly shut down to comply with a federal ban imposed over fears that the social media site could be manipulated by China.
Each trailer demonstrated Trump’s talent for a showman’s political artistry and his preference for personal, improvisational use of presidential power. Since winning the November election, he has changed national and international political dynamics after months in which aging President Joe Biden disappeared from the scene.
But in the cases of TikTok and the Middle East, Trump’s initial “victories” this Sunday will soon give way to much more complex negotiations and decisions that will require intense presidential commitment and a forward-looking strategic wisdom that he did not always display in his first mandate.
Trump is already looking far beyond the tasks voters assigned him
Trump won last year’s election — just four years after being ousted from office for failing to revive a disaffected, pandemic-hit nation — because a plurality of voters were tired of high prices and a border crisis that Biden had denied. , and lost faith in the government’s ability to help them.
So an impatient electorate may not give Trump much time, and the success or failure of his second term could depend on his ability to do the basics, such as reducing the price of staples like eggs and milk, something that has already admitted that it will be difficult to do.
But this Sunday, at his jubilant rally, Trump also raised expectations of transformative change in multiple areas. However, the history of the presidency, evidence of the chaos of his first term, and his narrow majorities in Congress suggest that such a change will be very difficult to achieve.
“Everyone in our country will prosper. “All families will prosper and every day will be full of opportunity and hope,” he promised. “We are on the verge of the four best years in the United States.”
Much of Trump’s appeal lies in his belligerence and outsider authenticity.
But the truth about his second term will only be revealed if one looks beyond the hype and hype to judge the depth and sustainability of his actions. His voters may be delighted with his aggressiveness. And Trump has built a new coalition with more young voters, minorities and working-class Americans than before. But his behavior alienates the other half of the country. And the promise of inauguration eve will soon be overshadowed by the ugly realities of government, which will almost certainly divide the Republican Party.
The expected deportation raids and clashes in Democratic-run cities are intended to make a political appeal, fulfill campaign promises and deter more immigrants, but they could also create a climate of fear that turns politically against Trump and Republicans and threatens the civil rights of American citizens and immigrants.
Even so, the president-elect, who is prohibited by the constitution from seeking a third term, leaves no doubt that he intends to launch at a speed similar to that of one of the SpaceX rockets owned by Elon Musk, who took the stage this Sunday to promise a “significant change.”
“Starting tomorrow, I will act with historic speed and strength and solve every crisis facing our country,” Trump promised at the euphoric victory party at Washington’s Capital One Arena.
Four years ago, a chastened Trump fled Washington before Biden’s inauguration to attend a farewell ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. Two weeks after the assault on the United States Capitol by supporters inflamed by electoral lies, he was still in disgrace and said goodbye with these words: “Have a good life. “We will see each other soon.”
On that morning in 2021, no one could have imagined Trump’s surprising political resurrection, highlighted this Sunday by a masterful speech on a huge red stage before thousands of MAGA devotees.
“We won,” Trump said at his first rally in Washington since Jan. 6, 2021, underscoring how enough voters were so desperate for a government shakeup that they were ready to put their behavior behind them after the 2020 election.
The speech, a classic of its rhetorical genre, combined demagoguery and comedy, scathing anti-immigrant rhetoric, warnings of an imminent world war, distorted data, brazenness and theatricality. He mixed promises to end the war in Ukraine with comments about claiming the spotlight at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. His disregard for presidential decorum showed exactly why millions of Americans believe he is their authentic voice.
“We’re all going to be sworn in tomorrow, that’s how I see it,” Trump told his fans.
Trump will benefit from the legitimacy conferred on him by his predecessor by attending his inauguration, a privilege he denied to Biden. And unlike Trump in 2020, Vice President Kamala Harris accepted defeat in a democratic election.
Furthermore, the authoritarian tendency that Trump revealed four years ago is why so many Americans are horrified by his return.
The rest of the world is nervous, too: Trump has already sparked political crises from Canada to Panama to Denmark with his expansionist rhetoric during the transition. Allies are nervous, but Trump is eager to meet with the tyrants he most admires: China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The scope of Trump’s ambition is enormous.
“When the sun sets tomorrow afternoon, the invasion of our borders will have come to an end, and all illegal immigrants, in one form or another, will be on their way home,” he said Sunday.
His aides revealed he would sign some executive actions shortly after taking the oath of office and then more at Capital One Arena, the indoor venue for his inaugural parade.
Trump promised to “defeat inflation” and provide the cheapest energy on the planet, cut taxes, lower prices, raise wages and return thousands of factories to the United States through the use of tariffs. Trump said he would end the war in Ukraine, stop “chaos” in the Middle East, prevent World War III, crush violent crime in cities and rebuild the police and military. He said he would rebuild Los Angeles, where he plans to visit on Friday, after its wildfires and make it more “beautiful” than before.
Even achieving some of these goals would mark Trump’s second term as a miraculous success by modern standards. But he has to do all this like a lame duck, hampered by a minuscule Republican majority in the House of Representatives and the constant threat of a Democratic surge in the 2026 midterm elections.
The president-elect, however, has the advantage of having done the job once before and having a clear idea of where he wants to go.
Trump allowed himself a rare moment of introspection during his rally, in which he mentioned his place in history and the potential for his second term to leave a stronger and more widely accepted legacy than his first.
“Someday, 30, 40, 50 years from now, some of these young people will say, ‘I remember Donald Trump. He did a good job. He set us on our way. He gave us a path,’” he said.
But before that, there will come what Trump’s first-term political guru, Steve Bannon, has called “Days of Thunder.”
America and the world should be prepared.
