Presidential inaugurations are the American equivalent of the United Kingdom’s coronation and the state opening of Parliament combined. They are held periodically every four years, 10 or 11 weeks after a presidential election.
The only constitutional meaning is that the newly elected president takes a solemn oath to “support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies.”
He (so far all 45 presidents have been men) goes directly to the White House and begins to govern.
Unless a sitting president has been re-elected, inaugurations typically mark a new beginning for the United States with a new head of state. Not this time.
donald trump He is only the second president to be elected for the second time, having lost an election in between, making him the 45th and 47th POTUS (president) of the United States.
The last two inaugurations, of Trump in January 2017 and of Joe Biden in 2021They had more than constitutional importance. Both broke with the usual ceremonial niceties in ways that predicted and exemplified the extraordinary disruptions that have afflicted the United States over the past decade. I reported on both from Washington DC for Sky Information.
Trump’s first inauguration is remembered for two things. The aggressive rhetoric of his speech and the refusal of the new president and his team to accept the truth from their own eyes.
In his first address to the nation as president, the new man generally attempts to be inspiring while also humbly acknowledging the challenge of leading the world’s greatest country.
Not Donald Trump. He had campaigned on a promise to make America great again and criticized the state of the nation he was assuming as “American carnage.”
He complained: “We have enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry…subsidized other countries’ armies…America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay…millions upon millions of workers left behind.”
Instead, he promised that “from this moment on it will be ‘America First’…America will begin to win, to win like never before.”
Bush: ‘That was some weird shit!’
The speech came as a shock to the assembled VIP guests; As he left the stage in front of the US Capitol, Trump’s predecessor as president Republican president, George BushHe was heard commenting: “That was some weird shit.”
The day became stranger. The District of Columbia is a heavily Democratic area that had voted in favor Hillary Clinton. Aerial photography, aided by the protection of the white floor in the shopping center, suggested that public attendance to witness the event was lower than usual.
The Washington Metro reported fewer passengers than a regular Friday. Official estimates later confirmed that both live and television audiences for Trump’s inauguration had been significantly smaller than the previous audience. by barack obama and Ronald Reagan’s first inaugurations.
But that day, Sean Spicer, President Trump’s first official spokesman, informed the White House press that there had been “the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration. Spot.” Trump’s close aide Kellyanne Conway backed him up on network television and provided one of the iconic quotes from the first Trump administration in explaining that Spicer had introduced “alternative facts“.
Crowd size was not an issue for Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration because Washington DC was effectively in a state of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the January 6 assault on the US Congress
Barricades, barbed wire and troops guarded the grass areas where spectators usually meet. Instead of people, there was a “field of flags” of the 50 United States. The main inauguration still took place outside the Capitol, although with health measures in place, including face masks and social distancing, and a more limited guest list than usual.
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How Trump’s inauguration will unfold
Trump prevents Biden’s inauguration
Trump had survived his second impeachment trial days earlier and continued to promote the “big lie” that he had won the 2020 election. He became the first living president since 1869 not to greet or attend the inauguration of his successor.
He staged his own rival, and nearly simultaneous, departure ceremony from the White House, telling those farewelling him at Andrews Air Force Base: “Goodbye. We love you. “We will return in some form.”
Trump’s absence at the inauguration was noted, as was that of Michelle Obama no show at his second inauguration on Monday. Her husband and the other living former presidents will be there.
Read more:
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Melania: the first lady who makes her own rules
How current affairs reveals and cameos helped put Trump in the White House
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A who’s who of the Trump family
Sir Keir Starmer’s absence is not a story. No British prime minister has ever attended an inauguration; Foreign presidents and prime ministers are usually represented by their ambassadors. It is speculated that Netanyahu of Israel and miley of Argentina I could attend in person this year.
Compared to Trump four years earlier, Biden’s inaugural address It was a traditional celebration of “the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy.”
He hoped for a return to normalcy and unity after the turmoil of the Trump years: “So now, on this hallowed ground where just a few days ago violence attempted to shake the very foundations of the Capitol, we come together as one nation, under God, indivisible.” , to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have done for more than two centuries.”
“Politics does not have to be a raging fire that destroys everything in its path,” Biden assured the American people, “every disagreement does not have to be the cause of a complete war. And we must reject a culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even fabricated.”
The next four years did not turn out as expected.
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“An oligarchy is taking shape in the United States”
Biden “abuse of power” warning
Biden has been president for only one term and Trump has been re-elected. This week, in his final address to the nation, President Biden admitted that “Americans are being buried under a Avalanche of misinformation and disinformation. allowing the abuse of power.”
By attacking what he called “the technological-industrial complex,” he warned, “an oligarchy of extreme wealth, power and influence is taking shape in the United States that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair opportunity for all get ahead”.
Tech billionaires are closing in on the president-elect. The large donations to the Inauguration Committee by Meta’s ZuckerbergAmazon BezosPalantir’s Thiel, OpenAI altmanUber and Google, however, are fairly routine behaviors by the largest American corporations. Ford and Common Motors also contribute.
Unlike Biden in 2021, this year Biden will be able to enjoy all the celebrations that new presidents expect: a luncheon at the Capitol, a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and no fewer than five official inauguration balls per night.
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In the past, Democratic presidents have often been greeted with star-studded concerts, free to the public. This year the Village Individuals, Trump’s favorite dance band, will perform. But no major events are planned.
Beyond a few national and Western artists and a handful of maverick actors, most celebrities are against Trump. Spirits have also been shattered by the fires in thethe home of American show business.
There is a physical carnage in Californiawar in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudanand bitter disunity in America.
The entire world will listen with apprehension on Monday to what Donald Trump has to say when he assumes the presidency of the United States for the second time.
