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US presidential inauguration — this was not just one of those weeks, that’s for sure

US presidential inauguration — this was not just one of those weeks, that’s for sure
The audience applauds after US President Donald Trump concludes his remarks after being sworn in as the 47th President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on 20 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Saul Loeb / Pool)
J Brooks Spector
By J Brooks Spector
20 Jan 2025
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The Middle East ceasefire and new US President Donald Trump’s inauguration have made the past few days among the most consequential in years. While the ceasefire can offer some modest hope for better, the new president’s inauguration speech careened down a dangerous highway at high speed, without restraints.

Many people probably have become too comfortable with calling an event, or even a series of closely connected events, as momentous. But, sometimes, things really are momentous. The past several days have now, without doubt, met that standard — and then some for America, and the world.

One part of this has been the confluence of an actual Middle Eastern ceasefire combined with the first steps in a new release of some of the hostages seized on 7 October 2023 and then held thereafter by Hamas — in an exchange for a significant number of Arab prisoners that have been held by the Israelis. No matter how limited these first steps may be, they are, ironically, also a direct outcome of the brutal fighting that has occurred in addition to some recent, seismic changes in the region.

But, beyond that, this process was taking place as Donald J Trump, rising from the near-politically dead, has now been inaugurated as America’s 45th — or 47th — president, depending on how one counts discontinuous four-year terms of office.

In fact, what Trump has now accomplished is something previously only achieved by one other president — Grover Cleveland — way back at the end of the 19th century. Yes, Theodore Roosevelt did attempt this in 1912 as a third-party candidate, but he was unsuccessful in that effort.

Middle East ceasefire


middle east ceasefire A Palestinian family passes destroyed houses in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, on20 January 2025, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Mohammed Saber)



Substantially the same Middle East ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement had been mooted in May 2024 by then-President Joe Biden’s team, but it was apparently “slow walked” by the respective combatants — Hamas and Israel — who presumably had very different ideas about how to end the ongoing bloodshed.

But, as the conflict dragged on and on, and the casualties, damage and destruction continued to mount, several things have now pushed the parties into this agreement. 

One was the realisation there was no obvious plan B in the ongoing fighting — for either side. While the destruction continued, there was no real vision of how the fighting would end, and that meant there was no real end in sight. 

Second was the massive strategic shift in the region that included the collapse of the al-Assad regime in Syria and thus the rupturing of an easy supply line from Iran to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. 

Further, there were the major casualties inflicted on Hezbollah and Hamas by the Israeli Defence Force. And there was a realisation in Iran that their air defence systems were virtually useless against determined Israeli attacks. 

Meanwhile, within Israel itself, the continuing protests over the lack of progress in the repatriation of the hostages taken on 7 October, and, importantly, a public belief by many that their country’s prime minister simply was not doing nearly enough to prioritise the hostages’ return. 

Collectively, these pressures were beginning to push Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu towards agreeing to a ceasefire, despite strenuous disagreement by cabinet members from the two small far-right political parties.

In reaching this outcome, there was also the active involvement of Steve Witkoff, the US president-elect’s representative, working in tandem with the Biden team in the negotiations, thereby giving a real sense to the Israelis that the time had come to reach an agreement, even if the Israeli hostages would be released only in small numbers through an extended, three-step process.

That, of course, would still leave some of the hostages in the hands of their captors, but it has given hope to the families of the hostages that progress is finally underway.

Of course, it remains an open question if the succeeding steps of the new agreement will be carried out without difficulties from the parties — or if there would be precipitate military actions that trigger further hostilities — either from Gaza, southern Lebanon, the Houthis, by the Israelis, or elsewhere. Time will tell, but the incoming US president seems intent on both bolstering the Israelis and chivvying Hamas into staying on-side on the ceasefire.

Oath of Office


trump oath US President Donald Trump takes the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump look on. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Chip Somodevilla / Pool)



In the meantime, precisely at noon on 20 January, Donald Trump, the president-elect, took the oath of office specified in the Constitution, an oath taken by every president since George Washington, and then, without ceremony, Joe Biden was now the former president and Donald Trump was ready to move back into the White House for the second time. 

In response to the predicted frigid weather, the actual oath-taking took place in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building, rather than on the West side of the building, facing the National Mall as had been the norm for many decades. The last time an interior oath-taking took place was during Ronald Reagan’s 1985 swearing-in when the weather was also especially cold. 

In his inauguration speech after the oath taking, the new president started with his now-standard catchphrases about “America first”, the weaponisation of the justice department, and making the country freer and “more exceptional” than ever before. 

He lambasted that nasty radical left elite for destroying the country and for allowing all those criminal or mentally disturbed illegal immigrants to enter the country to carry out their treacheries. 

Naturally, it was a quick shift onward to attacking the government’s incompetence in fighting California’s fires and North Carolina’s hurricane, and the failing educational and public health systems.

He then went on to say — explicitly — that God had saved him from an assassin’s bullet to “make America great again”. As a result of his divinely supported victory, he promised to bring back prosperity and safety to all citizens and that “January 20th is liberation day”.

Then it was off to discuss electoral politics and how he had won the vote in the swing states and among black and brown Americans. Given that this day was Martin Luther King Day, his administration would “strive to make his dream come true”. 

Southern border emergency


Then he went on to announce there would be a “revolution of common sense”. There will be a declaration of a national emergency at the southern border and all illegal entry will be halted and the government will begin driving millions of illegal immigrants out of the country. He added that, “I will send troops to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.” Oh, and the drug cartels too, they’re toast, or something.

By Trump’s fiat, his cabinet is now charged with bringing down prices, somehow, and there will be a new “drill baby, drill” policy for oil and gas. “We will be a rich nation again…  And we will repeal the Green New Deal.” 

The entire trade system will be changed and a new tariff regime is coming via a new external revenue service with the revenue coming from foreign sources. 

And then there is that new department of government efficiency. He added that he will also sign an executive order to end any restrictions on free speech, along with returning law and order in the cities. 

Oh, and by the way, there will be no more engineering on race in any government programmes and offices. In case his audiences haven’t been paying attention to his campaign speeches, he now pledged that “there are only two genders — male and female”.

president audience The audience applauds after US President Donald Trump concludes his remarks after being sworn in as the 47th President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on 20 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Saul Loeb / Pool)



Shifting those gears, Trump told his audience he wanted to be a peacemaker even as he took full credit for the ceasefire in the Middle East. Then it was just a short hop on to the Panama Canal and how America had been cheated and mistreated by Panama, that China was operating the canal and then, hold on to your hats, “We’re taking it back.”

Then it was off to his pledge to end a chronic disease epidemic, whatever that meant, and then he would send astronauts to Mars. (At that moment, the television cameras cut to Elon Musk as he grinned ear to ear, since that is one of his pet projects.) 

Beginning his final perorations, he delivered a rhetorical paean to manifest destiny, with the capstone of Trump’s epic return from the dead. He wound up his campaign speech, a speech not so cleverly pretending to be an inaugural address, with his promise, “We will win like never before.” 

It is a safe bet it will not go down in history as one of the great speeches of American political and social life but it will be studied assiduously at home and abroad for an understanding of what in the world Donald Trump really wants to do in his new term of office.

In the hours after the oath of office, the usual inauguration parade — unusually — took place inside a downtown sports arena, populated by a crowd of Maga-ites, instead of rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue for the crowds that would have gathered.

Executive orders


Later that day, President Donald Trump was to go back to the White House to begin his heavy-lifting, arduous task of signing a folder of new executive orders. 

Among them are a number of orders positioned to roll back various policies of the Biden administration — and even a few from as far back as the Barack Obama administration. 

These included stiff measures leading towards the deportation of vast numbers of illegal immigrants/undocumented aliens, and even an effort to revoke birthright citizenship, despite being stipulated in the Constitution. 

Among other measures, there will also be executive orders attempting to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America (something not in the purview of any president), and Mount Denali back to Mount McKinley in Alaska (something that a president conceivably could do). Trump is a serious fanboy of former President McKinley from the late 1800s, and renaming a mountain would reverse a decision undertaken by President Obama years ago, formally giving the mountain its traditional Native American name.

Taken as a whole, the roster of executive orders is a mix of symbolic Maga red meat, as well as policies aimed at lessening government regulations on the energy sector and those tougher stances on immigration.

Trump’s first executive orders as President:




Peaceful transfer, rocky road ahead


Nevertheless, in a modest way, the solemnity of a peaceful transfer of power from one chief executive to another has been reasserted (despite Trump’s extraordinary speech), standing in stark contrast to 6 January 2021 when a Trump-inspired mob had attempted to seize the Capitol and prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory as president. 

This time around, adult behaviour basically prevailed, even if Donald Trump’s rhetorical excesses were unrelenting in his formal speech and then in a second presentation to his supporters.

Nevertheless, there is a feeling the new Trump administration is going to be a dangerous, uncontrollable roller coaster ride. New York Times columnist David Brooks argued, “…Trump is the most consequential president since Ronald Reagan. He does represent a fundamental shift in our national politics. It’s a turn away from rule by the educated class to rule by people who think the educated class is self-serving and incompetent. It’s a turn away from the postwar internationalism and back toward mercantilist nationalism. It’s a turn away from classical liberalism toward something semi-post-liberal.

“Disruption is clearly the point for Trump. I don’t believe Trump or the people around him understand much about how government operates; I don’t think they understand how hard it is to create effective change. I think they will destroy or degrade the institutions they mean to disrupt…

“…My gut instinct tells me that this will be a foreign policy presidency, and will revolve around China. If China goes ahead and invades Taiwan, that will change everything. The good news is that I think Trump scares the Chinese more than any other American politician. As a power-hungry thug, I think he understands Xi better than most politicians. So maybe he will be effective against China. On the other hand, foreign policy is complicated.

“Confronting one of your leading trading partners is complicated. It all takes decades of experience and relationships. Who’s going to do that in the Trump administration? Pete Hegseth? We’re in the most dangerous security moment in 80 years, and we’ve never had a group of leaders so unprepared for what’s about to hit them.”

As a result, the incoming Trump administration is going to have its hands full, right from day one, well beyond that passel of executive orders, the inaugural balls and other symbolic moments, and beyond fancifully renaming international bodies of water or an Alaskan mountain.

There is the ongoing war in Ukraine that the new president has airily pronounced he can solve with a single phone call; and there are the Chinese intentions regarding Taiwan that may well become the biggest crisis of Trump administration v2.0, especially as that issue overlaps with quarrels about tariffs, TikTok, and yet other trade issues.

Both of these issues are in addition to a multifaceted Middle East crisis. 

Through it all, we will be here at Daily Maverick, helping you make sense of it all. DM

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