Trump’s Triumphant Return | 1.20.25

Summary

Morning Wire Podcast Summary
Episode: Trump’s Triumphant Return | 1.20.25
Release Date: January 20, 2025

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1. Inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President

The Morning Wire episode opens with the historic inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States. Host John Bickley sets the stage at [00:03], announcing Trump's triumphant return:

John Bickley [00:03]: "Donald Trump's triumphant return to Washington sees his inauguration today as the 47th President of the United States."

Trump's own words at the inauguration highlight his vision for America’s future:

Donald Trump [00:10]: "The curtain closes on four long years of American decline and we begin a brand new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride."

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2. Trump’s Rally and Support

Georgia Howe discusses Trump's massive rally preceding the inauguration, emphasizing the overwhelming support and the atmosphere of optimism despite the cold weather [00:23]. Cabot Phillips, Daily Wire senior editor, provides an on-the-ground perspective at [02:21]:

Cabot Phillips [02:21]: "The overarching mood here in Washington where hundreds of thousands of Trump supporters have descended... It was raucous, it was optimistic, it was star-studded and it was triumphant."

Trump’s speech at the rally focused on his supporters, reinforcing his connection with them:

Donald Trump [02:48]: "We won. We won. Thank you very much, everybody. What a good feeling. We like winning, don't we?"

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3. Trump's Agenda and Executive Orders

John Bickley outlines Trump's ambitious plans during his first day in office, highlighting his intent to prioritize a record number of executive actions [00:31]. Megan Basham, Daily Wire culture reporter, delves deeper into the specifics at [07:39]:

Megan Basham [07:39]: "Trump says he wants to sign more than 100 executive orders in his first week. Which ones can we expect to see?"

Key areas of focus include immigration reform, climate policy reversals, and reducing federal bureaucracy. Trump aims to address illegal immigration with unprecedented measures:

Donald Trump [00:48]: "Very soon we'll begin the largest deportation operation in American history. Larger, even larger than President Dwight Eisenhower, who has the record, right."

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4. Immigration Policies

Immigration stands out as a cornerstone of Trump’s policy agenda. Cabot Phillips highlights the public support for these measures [03:35]:

Cabot Phillips [03:35]: "For example, the New York Times poll this week found that 87% of Americans support deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records... We've never seen such strong support for mass deportations."

Trump plans immediate actions to halt illegal border crossings:

Donald Trump [03:46]: "By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt, and all the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home."

Megan Basham further explains the implementation strategies and potential challenges [07:39]:

Megan Basham [08:11]: "ICE is finally going to go out and do their job. We're going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them go arrest criminal aliens."

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5. Climate and Energy Policies

Trump is set to reverse several climate policies initiated under the Biden administration. Megan Basham articulates these plans [07:39]:

Megan Basham [08:19]: "Trump has said he plans to end taxpayer subsidies for wind turbines and reinstate oil and gas drilling across U.S. coastal territories."

Trump emphasizes energy independence and economic growth through fossil fuel development:

Donald Trump [08:56]: "Biden has banned all oil and gas drilling across 625 million acres of US coastal territory. It's ridiculous. I'll unban it immediately. We have oil and gas at a level that nobody else has and we're going to take advantage of it."

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6. TikTok Ban and National Security

The podcast addresses the contentious issue of TikTok, with Megan Basham explaining Trump's stance and the administration’s strategy [09:13]:

Megan Basham [09:13]: "Trump announced a 90-day deadline extension for ByteDance to address national security concerns. He is considering mechanisms like joint ventures or firewalls to protect U.S. data."

The administration remains vigilant about national security risks posed by Chinese-owned platforms:

Tim Rice [10:22]: "Outright sale, whether that's some mechanism of... Is protected here on US Soil."

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7. Joe Biden’s Final Day and Legacy

As Trump assumes office, the episode also covers Joe Biden’s departure under a cloud of controversy and internal party conflicts. Tim Rice, Deputy Managing Editor, provides insights into the tense atmosphere on Pennsylvania Avenue [11:26]:

Tim Rice [11:26]: "Biden is leaving amid a sea of criticism from members of his own party... Nancy Pelosi's daughter unloading on Jill Biden to Politico."

Despite attempts to salvage his legacy, Biden faces significant backlash:

Tim Rice [12:33]: "The infighting has gotten ugly in these final days... Biden's been telling anyone who will listen that he would have beaten Trump, which has upset his remaining allies."

Biden’s final actions include unprecedented pardons and controversial declarations:

Tim Rice [12:44]: "He commuted another 2,500 prison sentences... and announced the Equal Rights Amendment was ratified as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, which it wasn't."

Additionally, Biden celebrates the release of hostages, albeit attributing the success solely to himself:

Donald Trump [14:07]: "This was the deal that I outlined for the world back in May 31..."

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8. Event Schedule and Coverage

John Bickley details the schedule of Trump’s inauguration ceremonies [04:49], noting the involvement of prominent figures and the adaptation to inclement weather by moving the proceedings indoors. The Daily Wire promises comprehensive live coverage featuring key commentators like Ben Shapiro and Michael Knowles [06:18].

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Conclusion

The Morning Wire episode provides an in-depth look at Donald Trump’s return to the White House, outlining his immediate policy priorities and the significant support he enjoys. Concurrently, it portrays the tumultuous final days of Joe Biden’s presidency, highlighting internal conflicts and Biden's last-minute efforts to influence his legacy. With detailed analysis and firsthand reports, the episode offers listeners a comprehensive overview of this pivotal moment in American politics.

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Note: Advertisements and non-content segments from the transcript have been omitted to maintain focus on the core discussions and analyses.

Transcript

[John Bickley]

Donald Trump's triumphant return to Washington sees his inauguration today as the 47th President of the United States.

[Donald Trump]

The curtain closes on four long years of American decline and we begin a brand new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride.

[Georgia Howe]

We discuss Trump's massive rally ahead of the event and what to expect throughout the historic and historically cold day.

[John Bickley]

I'm Daily Wire Editor in Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, January 20th, and this is Morning Wire. Trump is ready to hit the ground running with a slew of executive actions. What's he prioritizing? Day one.

[Donald Trump]

Very soon we'll begin the largest deportation operation in American history. Larger, even larger than President Dwight Eisenhower, who has the record, right.

[Georgia Howe]

And as Trump returns, Joe Biden retires, declaring new constitutional amendment and touting the release of hostages on his way out.

[John Bickley]

Thanks for waking up with Morning wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

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[Georgia Howe]

The 45th President of the United States will officially become the 47th President today, completing an incredible political comeback.

[John Bickley]

The Daily Wire has been on the ground in D.C. for the big event as well as the celebratory rally Trump held over the weekend. Joining us now with more is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips, a Cabot. So, a jam packed series of days for all of you in D.C. culminating with this inauguration today. First, give us a sense of what it's like there.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah, you said the word celebratory. And that certainly is the overarching mood here in Washington where hundreds of thousands of Trump supporters have descended. In many ways, that victory rally, which we were front and center for, was far more than than just a Trump rally and much more like his return to the stage at the Republican National Convention after he'd just been shot. It was raucous, it was optimistic, it was star studded and it was triumphant. As you might expect Taking the stage, Trump kicked things off with this simple message.

[Donald Trump]

We won. We won. Thank you very much, everybody. What a good feeling. We like winning, don't we?

[Cabot Phillips]

Now, one thing that really stuck out was how often Trump returned credit for that victory to his supporters. And at times, at this, his final rally before becoming president, he sounded almost sentimental.

[Donald Trump]

For the past nine years, you and I fought side by side against the most sinister and corrupt forces on earth. And in our magnificent victory on November 5, you showed them once and for all that this nation does not belong to them. This nation belongs to you.

[Cabot Phillips]

Again. As you can imagine, Trump focused much of his speech on immigration, the issue that arguably played a bigger factor than any other in his victory, and the issue that also drew the loudest applause throughout the evening.

[Donald Trump]

By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt, and all the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home.

[Cabot Phillips]

And it's certainly worth noting those plans are growing more popular by the day with all Americans. For example, the New York Times poll this week found that 87% of Americans support deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records, 63% support deporting all illegal immigrants who've come here in the last four years, and 55% support deporting all illegal immigrants, period. In modern history, we've never seen such strong support for mass deportations. And more broadly, a CBS poll found that 60% of Americans say they're optimistic about the next four years under Trump. That includes 67% of 18 to 29 year olds and even 30% of Democrats. So there certainly seems to be much more support for Trump coming into the second term than we saw back in 2016.

[John Bickley]

Now, turning to the big event today, just a few hours away. Now, what is the schedule of events for Trump?

[Cabot Phillips]

Right, so Joe Biden's presidency officially ends at noon Eastern on January 20th as specified by the 20th Amendment. The inaugural ceremonies for Trump and VP Vance will begin at 11:30am and be overseen by the Chair of the Inaugural Committee, Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar. They also feature an invocation from Franklin Graham and a performance by Carrie Underwood. It'll all start with the procession to the Capitol, followed by Vice President Vance's swearing in ceremony and then President Trump's swearing in. Trump will then give his second inaugural address. Now, these addresses traditionally are not very long. Trump's was just 16 minutes back in 2017. As we've reported, the big shift this year because of the frigid Weather here is that Trump will be inside the rotunda of the Capitol rather than outside on the west front of the Capitol facing the National Mall. While that is unusual, it has happened before with Ronald Reagan's second inauguration. Right after that, we have the honorary departure. And what there's been a huge degree of anticipation about, as I know Megan will be discussing next, the signing ceremony. This is where Trump will sign his key nominations and memos and crucially, those first executive orders. The signing ceremony is followed by the inaugural luncheon and finally, the ceremonial pass in review. That's where President Trump and VP Vance go to the east front steps of the Capitol to review the military troops, then lead a procession down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. All the key elements of the ceremony are expected to take just about an hour.

[John Bickley]

And here we are again. A historic inauguration on so many levels. Kevin, thanks for reporting.

[Cabot Phillips]

Anytime.

[John Bickley]

And I should note here that the Daily Wire is live streaming the inauguration on our website, app and other platform and providing our live news and commentary coverage starting at 8:30am Eastern. That'll feature Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles and all of our backstage hosts. Cavett will, of course, also be there, along with some other familiar Morning Wire voices.

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[John Bickley]

President Trump has promised to enact a record setting number of executive orders when he returns to the White House. Among his top priorities, deportation. Drill, baby, drill. And delaying the TikTok ban.

[Georgia Howe]

Here with more on what we can expect to see from Trump on day one is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. So, Megan, Trump says he wants to sign more than 100 executive orders in his first week. Which ones can we expect to see?

[Megan Basham]

Yeah, and you know, Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming is familiar with Trump's plans. And he said that it's going to make it clear that this presidency will be transformative. Immigration, of course, has been Trump's signature issue. And he said that deporting illegal immigrants, particularly those who've committed crimes, will begin, quote, very early Very quickly. In fact, new border czar Tom Homan indicated Friday on Fox that we can expect to see raids in major metro areas like Chicago beginning as early as tomorrow.

[Cabot Phillips]

ICE is finally going to go out and do their job. We're going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them go arrest criminal aliens.

[John Bickley]

That's what's going to happen.

[Megan Basham]

Trump has also said that he's going to reinstate some previous policies that the Biden administration ended. Things like Title 42, which allowed the US to quickly expel asylum seekers amassed at the border. And he said he's going to restart construction on that border wall and then he's also looking to end birthright citizenship. That one could be difficult, though, because pro immigration legal activists are moving to block these efforts through the courts. So I do think that's going to be a fight. And then on another front, an immediate priority is reversing Biden's climate policies, including drilling bans. So this is what Trump told talk show host Hugh hewitt back on January 6th.

[Donald Trump]

Biden has banned all oil and gas drilling across 625 million acres of US coastal territory. It's ridiculous. I'll unban it immediately. We have oil and gas at a level that nobody else has and we're going to take advantage of it.

[Megan Basham]

He also said he plans to end taxpayer subsidies for wind turbines. And then one other major priority here, reducing the federal bureaucracy. Trump has promised to make it easier to fire government employees and quoting here, totally obliterate the deep state. In particular, he said that he's targeting corrupt bureaucrats who have weaponized our justice system and corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus.

[Georgia Howe]

So I want to ask you also about TikTok. The app briefly went dark over the weekend. It's back up now. What's Trump's position on that?

[Megan Basham]

So he announced on Truth Social over the weekend that he's going to give ByteDance a 90 day deadline extension to address some of those national security concerns. And that's something that the bipartisan law passed last year does allow for. Now. TikTok restored US service after Trump made that announcement, and it then thanked Trump for his commitment to free speech. But we do need to note there is still a lot of concern about national security risks with TikTok. And Trump's national security adviser, Mike Walz, told CNN that the new administration is sure that it can find a way to work through that, whether that's an.

[Tim Rice]

Outright sale, whether that's some mechanism of.

[Cabot Phillips]

Firewalls to make sure that the data.

[Tim Rice]

Is protected here on US Soil.

[Cabot Phillips]

That's what the president will be evaluating. And I'll, I'll certainly be helping from.

[Tim Rice]

That from a national.

[Megan Basham]

So it's possible that Trump has also said that he wants to see the US have a joint venture with 50% ownership in TikTok. But ByteDance again and again has been resistant to plans just like that. They are still saying they don't plan to sell. So we'll have to see what this extension accomplishes.

[Georgia Howe]

Well, and it's also worth noting that China does not allow American social media apps in their country. So just a little comparison there. Megan, thanks for reporting.

[Megan Basham]

Anytime.

[Georgia Howe]

As Trump makes his triumphant return to Washington, Joe Biden is bringing his presidency and his political career to a close.

[John Bickley]

Here with a look at Biden's last day in the White House's Daily Wire, deputy Managing editor Tim Rice. Tim, so an end to a really tumultuous chapter under Biden. First, what's the mood like on Pennsylvania Avenue?

[Tim Rice]

You know, John, it's a little dreary and not just because of the weather. Usually when presidents leave office, even one term presidents, they're met with a lot of pomp and circumstance. But Biden is leaving amid a sea of criticism from members of his own party. This quote from Democratic strategist James Carville sums up the mood pretty well. The Joe Biden story is one of the great tragedies of American politics. I really mean that he should be having a glorious, well deserved, highly acclaimed retirement, and he's not. It's hard to blame anybody but him. In addition to that, you've got Nancy Pelosi's daughter unloading on Jill Biden to Politico, calling her lady McBiden and telling her to put on her big girl pants and think about her husband's legacy. This is just the latest volley in the ongoing fight between Biden and the Democrat leaders who pushed him off the presidential ticket. We obviously heard a lot about that over the summer. But things have bubbled up again in these waning days of the administration. Just last week, the New York Times reported how Chuck Schumer went to Delaware to talk a stubborn Biden off the ticket. For his part, Biden's been telling anyone who will listen that he would have beaten Trump, something that seems to have upset whatever allies he had left, including Kamala Harris, who was reportedly disappointed in her boss's latest talking point.

[John Bickley]

Yeah, the infighting has gotten ugly in these final days. Other than apparently burning 50 years worth of bridges, how is Biden spending his last few hours as Commander in chief.

[Tim Rice]

Well, he's pulling out all the stops. In a last ditch effort to change the grim narrative of his presidency, he commuted another 2,500 prison sentences on Friday and now holds the record for the most presidential pardons and commutations in a single term. He also announced that the Equal Rights Amendment was ratified as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, which it wasn't. That announcement was immediately met with pushback and confusion because it's up to the states to ratify constitutional amendments, not the president. Still, the White House insists that Biden is using his power of the presidency to make it clear that he believes. Not that it should be, but it is the 28th amendment of the Constitution. So clearly an effort to bolster progressive spirits on his way out the door, but not one that appears to carry any legal weight. Yeah, and just yesterday, Biden celebrated the release of the first three hostages held by Hamas and Gaza under the newly signed ceasefire agreement. Of course, the hostages returning is great news and the Biden administration was certainly party to those negotiations. But Biden's really trying to make it seem like he alone was responsible for the deal. That's clearly an effort to combat the stories that Hamas only buckled because Trump threatened there would be hell to pay if a deal wasn't reached by the time he returned to the White House. But Biden's gone so far that he's talking as if it was just him, not the State Department, not Tony Blinken, not even the United States who sealed the deal here. He was speaking about the hostages yesterday.

[Donald Trump]

This was the deal that I outlined for the world back in May 31. It was endorsed overwhelmingly by folks around the world, including the UN Security Council unanimously endorsed the deal and developed a in coordination with a developed in coordination with Egypt, Qatar and Israel. I've worked in foreign policy for decades and this is one of the toughest negotiations I've been part of.

[John Bickley]

We'll have to wait to see if any of these last minute pushes do anything to change how history sees Biden's presidency. Until then, Tim, thanks for reporting.

[Tim Rice]

You bet.

[John Bickley]

And before we go, a reminder to tune in to the Daily Wire's live coverage of the inauguration starting at 8:30 this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news. You need to know.