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Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
No one has ever accused Donald Trump of being consistent. Shortly after he was sworn in, he promised to bring peace to the world, rebuild the Panama Canal and expand America’s territory. The latter sounded like a declaration of war – a first in the history of US commencement addresses. The trick, as ever with Trump, is to figure out what he means just from the speech.
His image of the new golden age was very different from 2017 when he spoke of “the murder of America”. But his speech this time took on very specific actions, including territorial aggression against America’s neighbors, US troops on the Mexican border, the beginning of the deportation of illegal immigrants, the end of subsidies for electric cars and the new era of “drilling children.”. These should be taken seriously.
The vibes in the Capitol Rotunda also spoke volumes. It would be an understatement to say that Trump’s second inauguration was unprecedented. It is surrounded by the richest men in the world, with fortunes north of billions of dollars in the room, topped by Elon Musk ($434bn), Jeff Bezos ($240bn) and Mark Zuckerberg ($212bn) , Trump’s return was blessed by the outgoing president. Joe Biden called the new oligarchy.
Such wealth has never shaken the shoulders of a president who is also a billionaire. Trump is using his return to expand his wealth. In the days before the inauguration, he added billions to his paper fortune by launching an instant meme coin called “$Trump”. His wife, Melania, followed suit with her crypto offering. He also proposed that the US take a 50 percent stake in TikTok, the Chinese social media app whose ban by Congress was upheld last week by the Supreme Court. Shou Zi Chew, the chief executive of TikTok, was also there.
The difference between Trump and his predecessors, Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama, and Biden, showed a change of government rather than a normal transfer of power. They listened in amazement as Mr. Trump drew up a plan that would undo almost everything they stand for – whether Bush Republican or Biden Democrat. In the morning Biden said “welcome home” to Trump when he greeted him at the White House. He also forgave public officials and members of his family in advance of the retaliation that Trump mentioned in his speech. The ceremony took place in a room that was vandalized four years ago by Trump supporters who claim the 2020 election was stolen.
Besides promising to plant the stars and stripes on Mars, Trump said God saved him from an assassin’s gun last July so he could make America again. After Trump finished speaking in 2017, Bush turned to the Clintons and said that “it was amazing shit”. It is unclear whether Bush had the words to describe Trump’s second inauguration on Monday.
