Donald Trump’s first inaugural address is widely remembered as a dark depiction of the nation in decline, best summarized by the phrase “American carnage.”
As Trump returns to Washington for his second term, his inauguration will certainly look different than last time, with the ceremony now taking place in the Capitol rotunda, which only holds about 600 people. And as far as his speech goes, Republican lawmakers are expecting a slightly different tone.
“No matter what he says,” Rep. Eric Burlison told NOTUS, “I’m sure it will be funny.”
Trump’s rhetorical style has come a long way in eight years. While he read his first inaugural address in under 20 minutes from a teleprompter, Republicans expect this time Trump will deploy his signature oratory style he dubs “the weave.” The incoming president told ABC that the theme of his speech would be “unity, strength and fairness,” but most people expect he’ll ad-lib parts of the speech — à la RNC nomination acceptance remarks — and are ready for 47 to leave them in stitches.
“Even when he’s not on script, I think he’s great,” Rep. Jim Jordan said. “And I think it’s some of the funniest things the rallies are when he’s not on script. He’s just hilarious.”
In terms of policy, Republicans told NOTUS they want to hear about everything from spending cuts to acquiring Greenland. But for the most part, even the most powerful members of Congress are there for a good time and a classically Trumpian celebration.
“I’m just thrilled to hear it,” Rep. Tom Cole said of the speech. “He doesn’t have to check any boxes for me.”
Rep. Derrick Van Orden perhaps summed up Republican aspirations for the speech best.
“It should be a unifying message of patriotism,” he told NOTUS, “and awesomeness.”
After the Speech
The new president will sign “anywhere between 70 and 100” executive actions this week, NOTUS’ Reese Gorman and Jasmine Wright report. Some will be signed today, though exactly what comes first is still unknown.
Reese and Jasmine report that Trump told lawmakers at a breakfast Sunday that he planned to repeal Biden’s electric vehicle mandate on the first day, amid other orders that would focus on the border. On a conference call with lawmakers later in the day, Stephen Miller said Trump would move to revive key policies he pushed during his first administration like Schedule F, making it easier for federal employees to be fired.
The EOs will fall into several buckets: energy, tariffs, cultural issues like DEI and return to work, as well as crypto, Big Tech, Jan. 6 defendants and TikTok.
“There will be impacts, literally, at 12:01 p.m.,” former Trump acting DHS secretary Ken Cuccinelli told NOTUS.
People who worked for the first Trump administration say to expect a more clear-eyed, organized opening day and opening week.
“I say it’s bigger than shock and awe,” Steve Bannon said. “It’s gonna be days of thunder.”
Front Page
- Some Republicans Want Trump to Protect People Targeted by China in His Mass Deportation Plan: Trump has pledged to deport groups who have protected status.
- What a Veteran of Bernie Sanders Thinks the DNC Is Getting Wrong: Faiz Shakir has made a late entrance into the race to be the DNC’s chair.
- Biden Is Pushing Out Big New FDA Rules for Trump to Deal With: From food dyes to nicotine, the last days of Biden are leaving more questions for the first days of Trump.
The Warnings Over J6 Pardons
Trump promised that shortly after his inauguration, he would make “major pardons” for participants of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on Capitol Hill. Republicans in Congress, many of whom were evacuated from the building that day, want to see that happen.
But now retired FBI agents, Justice Department staff and researchers on extremism are worried about what that might look like. “The Senate Judiciary Committee needs to ask the DOJ: What are you doing to protect cooperators?” a former FBI special agent said.
Dozens of Jan. 6 participants are now behind bars. Some of them were convicted of violent crimes, and small collections of convicted “Jan Sixers” are staying in the same prisons across the country. “Prisons are sort of a hotbed of radicalization,” Luke Baumgartner, a researcher at George Washington University, told NOTUS.
So NOTUS wrote letters to the prisoners to find out more … and one wrote back.
“Kinship, I feel, is not the correct term,” Kenneth Joseph Owen Thomas wrote in a 14-page letter. “We have a shared experience and naturally I sometimes use the collective ‘we’ in some conversations, but I did not know or meet any of them before entering the unforgiving walls of this prison.”
Governors Take Center Stage at the Trump Show
Two governors on opposite sides of the country are previewing the next phase of American politics now that the country is officially in a post-2024 election, Trump-centered world.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a special legislative session initially scheduled to brace against Trump’s agenda, while Ron DeSantis has called his own special session for later this month in Florida to make Trump’s red carpet in the state even redder, despite intraparty pushback.
Both men are pressing ahead with their own vision of how to lead during the return of MAGA.
Number You Should Know
7°
That’s how cold it was the last time the inauguration was moved indoors. During Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1985, windchill brought that down to -25°. Trump’s ceremony is sheltered from the cold — which is expected to feel like the single digits outside — on Monday.
Week Ahead
- Trump will reportedly meet with Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday.
- The Senate is set to vote on final passage of the Laken Riley Act after the inauguration this afternoon.
- Confirmation hearings are scheduled for veterans affairs nominee Doug Collins and U.N. ambassador nominee Elise Stefanik on Tuesday, transportation nominee Sean Duffy on Wednesday and agriculture nominee Brooke Rollins on Thursday.
- The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will hold a vote on Marco Rubio’s nomination to be secretary of state today, and a full floor vote later is possible.
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- ‘Lady McBiden’: Alexandra Pelosi Blasts the First Lady by Jonathan Martin for Politico
- Bird flu almost killed this teen. It’s a cautionary tale for Trump officials. By Lena H. Sun for The Washington Post
- The Highest-Ranking Openly Transgender Official in Government Is Still Optimistic by Chelsea Cirruzzo for Politico Magazine
- Trump’s Legal Showdown With Blue State AGs Is Already Happening by Erik Larson and Zoe Tillman for Bloomberg
Be Social: Western Forces, Assemble
https://x.com/jga41agher/status/1880844399564992736
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