Column: At Trump inauguration, a call for unity is punctured by grievance and threats

Hello and happy Tuesday. President Trump was sworn in to his second term on a cold but sunny Washington afternoon Monday, offering up multiple speeches that predictably veered from written-by-others remarks on unity to rambling off-the-cuff promises of retribution.

All that talk was followed by action, as he has long promised. Executive orders dropped like leaves in a thunderstorm, remaking American society in ways that will reverberate for years (though court challenges for some are a certainty). For Trump supporters, it was, as many speakers put it, the start of a new era, with Trump proclaiming, “the Golden Age of America begins right now.”

For others — transgender people, undocumented people, people who have crossed Trump in the past — it ushered in a different sort of era, one of uncertainty and fear.

Here’s a breakdown of the serious, the silly and the scary in a day that is certainly one for the history books.

President Trump celebrates with his family after being sworn in.

(Kenny Holston / Associated Press)

The serious

Trump promised that 100 executive orders would be signed on his first day, and put a desk inside Capital One Arena to do some of them in front of cheering crowds. Many of the actual orders had not been signed or released by Monday afternoon — the first one ensured the flag would be raised to full staff at all inaugurations, after controversy that it would be a half-staff Monday in honor of the late President Carter.

But they rolled out throughout the day, and advance information detailed a plan to make good on campaign promises around immigration and diversity, equity and inclusion — the two issues that, along with the price of groceries, drove his base and helped him win the election.

“As Commander in Chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do,” Trump said during his inauguration speech. “We will do it at a level that nobody has ever seen before.”

Trump said he would declare a national emergency at the border and take actions that essentially close most legal immigration for at least a couple of months. That includes programs for refugees. Most controversially, he is trying to end birthright citizenship, which is part of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Demolishing birthright citizenship has long been a cause of white nationalists, who fear the United States will suffer if it becomes majority non-white, as it is projected to be by 2045.

Trump also promised to “end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.”

That is expected to go beyond ending programs in the federal government that include efforts to increase opportunities for minorities and other underrepresented folks. Trump officials, speaking to the media on background earlier in the day, said it would be U.S. policy that there are only two sexes — male and female. In practicality, that means an attempt to erase transgender people from public life.

No passports, job records, visas or other government-related records issued without a sex-at-birth designation (based, supposedly, on whether a person is born with the ability to make sperm or eggs).

Monday was also Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which Trump alluded to in his speech, promising with an end to diversity, equity and inclusion to be honoring King by creating a “society that is color-blind and merit-based.”

“We will strive together to make his dream a reality,” Trump said of King. “We will make his dream come true.”

Not sure MLK would see it that way, but moving on to the silly, or sillier.

The silly

The Gulf of Mexico? Desapareció! The waters surrounding Florida will henceforth be known by MAGA as the Gulf of America.

Denali, the highest peak in North America? Also gone! It will be restored to its American-given name of Mt. McKinley, which former President Obama did away with in 2015.

Although this may seem trivial, these are the kind of “America First” actions that his base loves because it combines the best of crushing DEI with the anti-immigrant stuff — more of nationalistic fervor that Trump has long cultivated with great success. So although these actions may seem fatuous on the surface, the next four years will be about looking for the undercurrents.

Because there is always a why with these MAGA moves. Take the Panama Canal, of which Trump, insinuating that the canal was under Chinese control, said, “We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”

The canal, you may or may not know, was built in a large part due to the political manipulations of President Theodore Roosevelt, who backed the Panamanian independence movement after Columbia refused to give the U.S. the land to build the canal. After the U.S. helped Panama become its own country, the U.S. promptly bought that land for $10 million and created a segregated social system in the canal zone that favored Americans over Panamanians.

Eventually, that led to Panamanians revolting against the U.S. ownership, and recently deceased President Jimmy Carter returning it to their control under treaties signed in 1977. But conservatives hated the deal. Ronald Reagan even campaigned against it, once saying, “I’m going to talk as long and as loud as I can against it.”

So, like taking Greenland, retaking the Panama Canal is a long-held conservative desire, just the kind of “America First” and “Manifest Destiny” Trump embraced during his speech.

The scary

Lastly, let’s look at things unsaid that should give us a moment of pause.

In his farewell speech, former President Biden warned: “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that really threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedom.”

That oligarchy was — literally — on full display Monday, as a bevy of billionaires took front stage, ahead of Cabinet members, at the inauguration.

In attendance were Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg; Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook; Fox News Chairman Rupert Murdoch; India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani; OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; Google CEO Sundar Pichai. And more!

Elon Musk sat just a seat away from Barron Trump, the president’s youngest son, and Trump enthused about sending astronauts to Mars during his speech, a Musk obsession.

The rich are in the house.

What else you should be reading:

The must-read: Trump is sworn in as the nation’s 47th president, capping historic comeback
The what happened: Biden in Final Hours Pardons Relatives and Others to Thwart Trump Reprisals
The L.A. Times special: Column: I watched Trump’s inauguration with a Democrat and a Republican. Here’s what they saw

Stay Golden,
Anita Chabria

P.S. : Did you really think I’d leave you without mentioning the hat? If ever a woman knew how to send a message with an outfit, it is Melania Trump. With the sharp-edged brim of a boater hat obsuring the upper part of her face for most of the ceremony, Mrs. Trump made it known in no uncertain terms that her eyes — her soul — are her own, to be shared only as she sees fit.

While the look, paired with an equally severe navy blue coat, spawned memes comparing her to the McDonald’s Hamburgler and Carmen Santiago, I’ll offer another take. In the first Trump inauguration, she wore a soft blue dress that drew comparisons to Jackie Kennedy. Monday’s look said clearly she’s here to wield her power this time, on her terms — with her husband and her country. But I do wonder what she was thinking when her hubby forgot to put his hand on the Bible she was holding during his oath of office.

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States as Melania Trump holds a Bible during the during the inauguration ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday.

(Morry Gash / Associated Press)

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