Isaac Saul (4:26)

The White House here behind me, where Donald Trump is spending his first night in four years, sworn in earlier today as the 47th president. A day like we've rarely seen the historic return to the presidency in an inaugural ceremony moved indoors because of the bitter cold here, the President promising to bridge the gap that still devises while sharply criticizing the previous administration and issuing a record number of executive orders.

John Law (4:54)

On Monday, President Donald Trump was sworn in as America's 47th president in a ceremony inside the United States Capitol Rotunda in Washington. The proceedings, which were moved indoors due to freezing temperatures, marked the 60th inauguration in United States history and just the second ever non consecutive re inauguration of a US president. Grover Cleveland being the first vice president, JD Vance was also sworn in, making him the country's 50th vice president and first millennial Vice president. Former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton attended the inauguration, as well as former Vice Presidents Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, all nine Supreme Court Justices and many foreign leaders. Also in attendance were Several prominent tech CEOs, including Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Tim Cook, Google's Sundar Pichai and Tesla's Elon Musk, who has been appointed to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. Space constraints in the rotunda limited the number of attendees and roughly 1,200 attendees viewed the proceedings from an overflow room in the Capital Visitor Center. After being sworn in, President Trump delivered a 30 minute speech outlining his goals for his second term and vowing to put America first. Though he did not mention Biden by name, Trump spoke at length about a crisis of trust facing the U.S. government, criticizing its handling of immigration, natural disasters and public health crises. He described his return to office as Liberation Day for the country and declared, the Golden Age of America begins now. Trump also outlined the first actions he would take as president. In particular, the president said he would institute a number of measures against unauthorized immigration, revoke Biden era tax credits for electric vehicle purchases, move to increase US Oil production, and establish the External Revenue Service to collect revenue from tariffs. Finally, Trump expressed his desire to assume control of the Panama Canal, echoing comments made in recent weeks. Later, on Monday, Trump signed a series of executive actions targeting a range of issues. Notably, he rescinded 78 Biden era executive actions, ended the use of the CBP1 app for migrants seeking to enter the United States, withdrew the US from the Paris climate Agreement and the World Health Organization, delayed enforcement of the TikTok ban for 75 days, and issued pardons for roughly 1,500 people convicted of crimes related to the January 6 Capitol riot. He also signed an order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, teeing up an immediate legal fight with state attorneys general. Today we'll share perspectives from the right and the left on the inauguration, and then the Tangle editorial team will give its take.

Isaac Saul (7:52)

We'll be right back after this quick break.

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John Law (9:24)

Alright, let's start with what the right is saying. The right mostly praises Trump's speech, suggesting he hit all the notes that resonated in his campaign. Some say Trump established an optimistic vision for the future. Others say the inauguration was a reminder of how Trump has fundamentally changed politics. The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote about Trump's inaugural of optimism. Donald Trump was never going to deliver Lincoln's second inaugural address. No one else has either. But On Monday, the 45th and now 47th president delivered a message of aspiration and optimism that most Americans will welcome. If this captures his real plans, he has a chance to leave office in four years as a success, the board said. The contrast couldn't be greater from his American carnage inaugural in 2017. That speech responded to the Democratic and media resistance to his election with the same dark tone that set the stage for four years of rancor and division. The tone and message of this inaugural was that America has always been great and will be greater as it meets new challenges. The speech was also notable for linking the best of America's past with ambitions for the future. This connection is crucial to an American revival. For years, our cultural and political leaders have lectured Americans that their society is rife with systemic racism, that it was founded not on freedom but the desires to own slaves, and that it mostly spreads destruction around the world, the board wrote. Mr. Trump praised the past of America's explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs and pioneers. He also invoked the core American value of a society that is colorblind and merit based. Americans need to believe again in the essential goodness of their country, its exceptionalism, if we can use a disfavored word to forge a better future. In Fox News, Hugh Hewitt called Trump's speech a triumph for him and for his supporters. There will be many critics of the speech because it was necessarily divisive. It had to be. It was a repudiation of almost everything of the past four years, and indeed of the eight years of President Barack Obama's tenure in the White House. Trump is committed to the big lift of restoring the promise of the Declaration as made real by the Constitution, as amended by the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. Equality before the law for all, hewitt said. President Trump's declarations about the weaponization of our justice system, about the crisis at our southern border and so much more will strike many from the left in America as harsh. But those statements are not harsh. To borrow from popular culture, they are tough but fair. The hallmark of the address was unapologetic pride in America, and patriots applaud such pride. That crime menaces millions of Americans is incontrovertible, hewitt wrote. President Trump's promise to adopt bold policies to deal with both was the essence of the Trump Vance campaign, and the new administration has a mandate to move forward with both programs. Honest observers will award Trump's speech the highest number of stars in whatever system they are using for its directness. In the Los Angeles Times, Jonah Goldberg said Trump is president again. Did you feel the vibe shift as a second Trump administration dawns or for his opponents descends on America? An interesting and unusual discussion has emerged over the broader meaning of Trump's victory. One thing that makes it unusual is that there's more consensus than disagreement about the fundamental point. There's been a significant vibe shift in American politics, goldberg wrote. The most important driver of the vibe shift is that Trump and Trumpism have shattered a near metaphysical consensus about politics on the right and the left. Pre Trump, American conservatism was dedicated to a few fundamental limited government, cultural traditionalism, anti abortion policies, fiscal rectitude and free market economics. Those commitments still get some lip service, but there's no denying that on all of these fronts, loyalty to Trump is the more pressing litmus test, goldberg said. As damaging as I think this has been to conservatism, Trump's victory may prove to be more damaging to the left because Trump didn't merely shatter the consensus on the right, he shattered the political consensus generally. Alright, that is it for what the right is saying. Which brings us to what the left is saying. The left is critical of the speech, arguing it foreshadowed a difficult four years ahead. Some say the inauguration highlighted the influence of the ultra rich in Trump's inner circle. Others say Trump's most revealing comments were made after the inauguration. The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board wrote Trump takes office again with empty promises of a Gilded Age. The competing dreams of many Americans played out as Trump took office on the day set aside to honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was an ironic counterpoint as some of Trump's headline grabbing plans are the antithesis of the civil rights icon's peaceful and humane legacy, the board said. Trump has claimed to have a mandate from voters, but he narrowly won the election by 1.5% and failed again to get more than 50% of the popular vote. But while the country remains deeply divided, there is no denying Trump bent it to his will. With the help of a conservative Supreme Court majority, Trump has amassed an unchecked power and is now largely above the law. He has assembled an administration largely of loyal sycophants willing to act on his whims and grievances, the board wrote. For now, Trump's MAGA supporters are ecstatic. It remains to be seen if he can, as promised, lower the price of eggs, let alone fix any of the nation's other real or imagined problems. For those who believe in honesty, truth, justice, the rule of law and caring for the least of our brothers, it is a dark day in the nation. Chris Lehman suggested Trump's inauguration revealed whom he really servesthe billionaires and the crypto bros. Presidential inaugurations are pageants of symbolism, from Jimmy Carter's walk through the crowds of Pennsylvania Avenue to Barack Obama's mediagenic post Bush love fest. It's fitting then that the most notable image from Donald Trump's inauguration as the United States 47th president was a photo of the front row mustering of billionaires for his swearing in ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, along with a clutch of lesser known titans of Information Age rentership, Lehman said here were the prime beneficiaries of Trump's second presidency, as well as the smug enablers making Trump's executive branch a subsidiary of his branding empire. In his speech, Trump delivered rote MAGA slogans about the radical and corrupt establishment that had pillaged the nation's birthright while prophesying that he had been saved by God in last summer's Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt to make America great again. But these echoes of Bannonite lamentations over American carnage were boilerplate shows of outrage for the masses. The real action in Trump's government has always been reserved for the wealthy and wised up insiders. In Vox, Zach Beecham said Trump's real inaugural address started when the teleprompter stopped. In his official inaugural address in the Capitol Rotunda teleprompter, Trump delivered a largely unmemorable performance, a sleepy address that gave audiences little substance to remember it by. In an impromptu follow up performance given to the overflow crowd in nearby Emancipation Hall. Rallied, Trump made an appearance, giving a rambling but undeniably more energetic monologue that Trump himself described as a better speech than the one I made upstairs, beecham wrote. Rallied. Trump's speech was a much better guide to what actually animates Trump than the more buttoned down teleprompter address in his first truly authentic speech after returning to office, where he felt unchained to discuss what he really cared about. He spent the bulk of the time obsessing over election results end January 6, endlessly litigating the past, and at times openly stating his desire to seek recompense and revenge for the indignity of losing an election. Beecham said the rallied Trump speech was the truest reflection of the once and current president's feelings and I suspect his governing priorities. And four years of a president who uses his power to punish political enemies and reward his law breaking friends does not augur well for American democracy. Alright, let's head over to Will for the Tangle editorial.

Will Kabeck (18:15)

All right, that is it for what the right and left are saying. Hi everybody, my name is Will Kabeck. I'm one of Tangle's editors and I'm going to be reading our take today. So a quick note on that Today's take was authored by Tangle's whole editorial team, and that has a bit to do with an announcement we'll be sharing later today. We're going to put it out at around 3pm Eastern as an email. That'll go to your inbox if you're a newsletter subscriber and if you're a podcast listener, you can just look for it to drop around the same time, 3pm Eastern, wherever you get your podcasts. For now, though, let's jump into our take on Trump's inauguration. Since we're covering President Trump's inauguration as a staff, we thought it would make the most sense to share our thoughts with 19 bullet points. Number one, the inauguration speech was for the most part, like any other. It had some highs and lows, reiterated some campaign goals, and will be probably forgotten in a week. If any part is going to endure, it will probably be Trump's opening line about the beginning of the Golden Age of America. But NBC analyzed the history of inaugural addresses and found that presidents have begun speaking much more simply Post World War II, with a heightened focus on unity. And it's fair to say that Trump's address fits within this tradition. Number two, Trump hit all the right notes when he focused on collective prosperity and his desire for a thrilling new era of national success. Those are common themes in inaugural speeches, but after years of listening to Trump mostly talk about everything he thinks is wrong with the country, it was refreshing to hear a decidedly upbeat tone at the start of his address. At his best, Trump inspires real national pride in this country's potential, and his focus on our capabilities was at times quite stirring. Number three, the lowest points of Trump's speech were his insistence that he'll use his power to make some political proclamations that won't really do any material good for anyone, like renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and making Mount Denali Mount McKinley again. What does this accomplish other than provocation? Number four all in all, Trump speaking from a teleprompter remains a lot less authentic than Trump off script. During the speech, Trump delivered lines about America inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world, or described how we will dream boldly and nothing will stand in our way. And these lines felt like empty rhetoric. As many commentators noted, the real Trump seemed to appear after the inauguration when he addressed an audience of supporters in the events overflow room and sounded much more like he did on the campaign trail. Expect to see much more of this latter version over the next four years. And there was one great, lighthearted example from the Oval Office on Monday, when he was asked about whether Biden left him a letter as his tradition for presidents. And he discovered in the moment that Biden had left him a letter that he wasn't aware of. We linked to that in the newsletter. Recommend checking that out if you're interested. Number five to that end, you can also expect a very different relationship between the president and the press compared to the last administration and even Trump's first administration. Back in July of 2024, Axios reported that Biden had engaged in fewer press conferences and media interviews than any of the last seven presidents to that point in their terms, a trend that continued throughout the remainder of his presidency. Yesterday, though, Trump invited the press into the Oval Office and took questions for 45 minutes, largely off the cuff, while he signed executive orders. And it's true he sidestepped plenty of those questions. I'm not saying the answers were perfect or that it was a glowing representation of how the president and the press should interact, but it was still a refreshing exercise after four years of, frankly, highly choreographed press events. Number six it was somewhat surreal to see Trump speaking to applause within the Capitol rotunda, four years removed from rioters storming the building after Trump refused to concede the election. Remember where we were at that time, still mired in the pandemic and steeped in political tension. This political moment feels entirely different. Back in 2021, Isaac wrote that the country felt like it had been at, quote, a breaking point at the end of Trump's first term, expressing optimism that Biden could relieve some of that pressure. Today, the country feels more like it's at a hinge point amid shifting political allegiances and global backlash against incumbent leaders. Number seven. That said, we should never take for granted how unique it is to see a civilization, even friendly, transition of power with all of our leaders coming together to honor American democracy. In former Vice President Harris's concession speech on November6, she committed to working with Trump's team to facilitate an orderly and peaceful transition of power. Aside from some vague grumbling from Trump earlier this month, it's clear that Harris and Biden fulfilled that promise, and they deserve further credit for earnestly partaking in the inaugural ceremonies yesterday. Number eight, the same cannot be said for Biden's final Access presidents, which we'll be writing about tomorrow. Number nine, we're starting to get a sense of how President Trump is going to prioritize his campaign goals. Ahead of the inauguration, Trump circulated a memo among congressional Republicans outlining his plans after taking the oath of office. At the very top, under the heading, quote, make America safe again, were a series of promises to address and secure the border, many of which he already acted on yesterday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is also reportedly planning to begin mass deportations today. Number 10, putting aside whether you think the government should deport unauthorized migrants who have been found guilty of a crime, deportations on the scale of hundreds of thousands of people or even more is frankly a Herculean task involving the military or ice. At that scale, without ever overstepping the line and making some terrible mistakes will be basically impossible. Number 11. Trump has already started to walk back some of his campaign's lofty promises. The pledge to levy tariffs on all Chinese goods is now becoming an investigation into whether China upheld its end of some trade deals. The vow to end the war in Ukraine before Trump took his oath of office is turning into a hope that it'll end before six months. Though to be fair, Israel and Hamas did agree to a ceasefire before he took office, and that is a significant foreign policy win. Number 12. One of the things Trump mentioned in his speech was the crisis of trust in government institutions. We ended last week's Friday edition on the metrics to watch over the next four years by saying that we'll measure whether Trump can really make America great again by tracking the confidence Americans have in the federal government. So we'll interpret Trump's statement in his speech as him agreeing with us. Number 13. Let's zoom out on some fundamentals as Trump enters the Oval Office for his second term, starting with this Trump is 78 years old. That's the oldest any president has been upon entering office, a record previously held by Biden. That said, age alone doesn't tell us much about either man's fitness. And as has been the case for years now, Trump passes the basic eye test much better than his predecessor. Also, age isn't everything. Some people can be sharp and energetic well into their 80s or beyond, but being president takes its toll. And if you're someone who is concerned about Biden's age at the start of his term, you should also be watchful of signs of aging as Trump starts his second 14 the market loved Trump in 2016, and it loves him again in 2024 by about the same amount. In the time between election night and Inauguration day, the dollar rallied 5% in both 2016 and 2014. Any economist would say that investors like what Trump's policies indicate for the success of American companies, but the amounts being this similar, we're really not sure what to make of that. Number 15 Trump's cozy relationship with big tech is a major change from four years ago. We can see this playing out in three ways, all of which are ringing internal alarms about the coordination of government and free market power. Number 16 First Tech CEOs it was jarring to see that CEOs Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Sundar Pichai of Google, Xu qi Chu of TikTok, and Jeff Bezos, formerly of Amazon, joining Elon Musk of x, Tesla and SpaceX in positions of prominence at the presidential inauguration, intermingling with the first and second families, past presidents, members of Congress and Supreme Court justices. How can you see that and not worry that a few immensely wealthy people are buying their way into Trump's inner circle to advocate for their own interests. Number 17 second cryptocurrency. The technology is polarizing even among Tangle's staff. But however bullish you are on the future of decentralized currencies, it's indisputable that the prevalence of meme coins that pump and dump their values is a huge threat to to their future. Now the president is running his own meme coin Trump to a fluctuating valuation in the tens of billions, which is a concerning display of both Trump's and crypto's worst tendencies towards cheap but also lucrative cash grabs. Number 18 third TikTok over the weekend, the social media app went dark, but with a message that President Trump could bring it back. Since then, Trump, who once campaigned fiercely against TikTok, has said he'd be open to splitting control of the app between its Chinese parent company ByteDance and the US government. Then TikTok went back online with a message thanking Trump for saving it for those keeping score. That means that the president has the CEOs of the companies that own the number one, number two and number four largest social media apps sitting front row at his inauguration, while number five is also there and also putting out PSAs thanking him. And the owner of number 15, that's Musk and X is working for his administration, number 19. It's easy to see politicians as celebrities representing some mass or undefinable ideal that we can resonate with. It's easy to think that if the person we voted for wins, we win, that we're sharing in their success. But that isn't the reality. Politicians are people fighting for the right to become our employees, and people who voted for them don't win when they win an election, just like the people who voted for someone else don't lose. We only win as a country if they succeed when they're in office. So as Donald Trump begins his last presidential term, everyone here at Tangle is going to be watching him closely and scrutinizing him carefully because he works for us and he works for you. We've got to make sure he's doing his job even while hoping he makes good on his promises to win for all of us.

Isaac Saul (29:21)

We'll be right back after this quick break.

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Will Kabeck (30:55)

All right, that is it for our take reminder. This was authored by the Tangle editorial staff today. Because of the length of the edition, we are skipping the reader question so I will send it back to John to wrap up the pod and we will see you all tomorrow. Thanks.

John Law (31:16)

Thanks Will. Here's your under the radar story for today folks. Among Donald Trump's slew of first day executive orders were two that could immediately shake up the federal government, an order for federal workers to return to the office full time, and a broad government hiring freeze. Just 54% of the government's 2.28 million civilian employees currently work in person full time, According to a 2024 U.S. office of Management and Budget report, and yesterday's order says that all agencies must now return to full time in person work as soon as practicable. Separately, the hiring freeze will coincide with a review of the federal workforce conducted by the OMB Office of Personal Management and the Department of Government Efficiency, after which they will submit a plan to reduce the size of the workforce. Politico has this story and there's a link in today's episode Description alright, next up is our numbers section. The length in words of President Donald Trump's second inaugural address is2909, the longest since Herbert Hoover in 1929. The length in words of Trump's first inaugural address was 1,433. The length in words of President Joe Biden's inaugural address was 2,540. The length in words of President George Washington's second inaugural address was 135, the shortest in United States history. The number of times Trump referenced a crisis in his inaugural address is 4. The number of times Trump referenced unity or unifiers in his address is also 4. The approximate number of law enforcement personnel deployed across Washington, D.C. for the inauguration was 25,000. The approximate combined net worth of billionaires who attended Trump's inauguration is $1.2 trillion. The approximate amount of funds raised for Trump's second inauguration was $250 million, according to ABC News, and the approximate amount of funds raised for Trump's first inauguration was $107 million. Alright, and last but not least, our have a nice day story. The western United States faces constraints on its freshwater resources, but a new discovery provides a ray of hope. A team of scientists from the University of Oregon and Partners recently identified an aquifer below volcanic rocks at the base of the Oregon cascades. The aquifer was far larger than originally expected, with a capacity almost three times greater than the current reservoir that supplies water to several states. While news of the resource is certainly welcome, Leif Karlstrom, an Earth scientist who led the study, cautions that its longevity and resilience to change is set by the availability of recharging waters. Science Daily has this story and there's a link in today's episode description all right everybody, that is it for today's episode. As always, if you'd like to support our work, Please go to retangle.com and sign up for a membership. You can also go to tanglemedia.supercast.com to sign up for a premium podcast membership, which gets you ad free daily podcasts, Friday editions, Sunday editions, interviews, bonus content, and so much more. Stay tuned for a special announcement coming up just a little bit later on today. We'll be right back here tomorrow. For all Ari and Will and the rest of the Tangle team, this is John Law signing off. Have a great day y'all. Peace.

Isaac Saul (34:52)

Our podcast is written by me, Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by John Wall. The script is edited by our Managing editor, Ari Weitzman, Will K. Back, Bailey, Saul and Sean Brady. The logo for our podcast was designed by Matt Magdalena Bacopa who is also our Social Media Manager. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet75 and if you're looking for more from Tangle, Please go to readtangle.com and check out our website.

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