Trump Transition
Trump Transition
Transitional Trump
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Washington Memorandum
As Donald J. Trump prepares to take the oath of office for a second time, much of the world seems to bow to him and demoralized warring parties are rethinking the future.
By Peter Baker
Peter Baker has covered the past five presidents and is the co-author of a book about Donald J. Trump’s first term in the White House.
More than 30 miles of lime fences are being erected in the nation’s capital. Concrete barriers are placed at key moments. Some roads have already been closed to traffic. Surveillance drones will flood the sky.
But if Washington looks like a war zone again, it does not necessarily feel that way. Unlike the last time President-elect Donald J. Trump took the oath of office eight years ago, the bristling tension and angry defiance have given way to accommodation and submission. The Resistance of 2017 has faded into the Resignation of 2025.
The mood leading up to the second Trump inauguration reflects how much has changed since the first Trump inauguration. Much of the world, it seems, is bowing down to the incoming president. Technology moguls have rushed to Mar-a-Lago to pay homage. Billionaires are signing seven-figure checks and jockeying for space at the inaugural ceremony. Some corporations are pre-emptively dropping climate and diversity programs to curry favor.
Some Democrats are talking about working with the newly restored Republican president on discrete issues. Some news organizations are perceived to be reorienting to show more deference. The grass roots opposition that put hundreds of thousands of people in the streets of Washington to protest Mr. Trump just a day after he was sworn in back in 2017 generated a fraction of that in their sequel on Saturday.
“Hashtag-resistance has turned into hashtag-capitulation,” said David Urban, a longtime Republican strategist and Trump ally. “The pink-pussy hats are gone, and they’re replaced by MAGA hats worn by Black and brown people.”
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