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Trump’s comeback will begin with a blast of executive power

Donald Trump stands onstage at a forum in Nashville on February 22, 2024. Jon Cherry/Getty Images

Donald Trump stands onstage at a forum in Nashville on February 22, 2024. Jon Cherry/Getty Images

 
CNN — Donald Trump will flex one of the most intense and sweeping demonstrations of presidential power on the first day of any administration, seeking to fundamentally change America’s course by sundown on Monday.

On a frigid day that forced inside his swearing-in as the 47th president, Trump plans a blizzard of hardline executive actions on immigration, energy production, transgender athletes and the pardoning of January 6 rioters.

His inaugural show of force — “close to 100 to be exact,” he said Sunday — will set the tone for a second term anchored on Trump’s strongman persona and vision of an all-powerful presidency, aimed at unleashing intense disruption at home and abroad.

But before he took office, outgoing President Joe Biden made his own extraordinary use of executive power that reflected an uncertain national moment, granting preemptive pardonsto public servants deemed potential targets of Trump’s vows to seek retribution against his adversaries.

The list includes former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, the nation’s former top infectious diseases specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci, and members of Congress and staff who served on the committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

The pardons, which Biden stressed did not denote wrongdoing, also extended to police officers who testified before the panel.

Trump warmed up for his second inauguration at a Sunday victory rally in Washington, DC, that culminated in a spectacle that would have astounded generations of his starchy collared predecessors, showing off his lock-kneed, jerky dad dance with the Village People and their late 1970s hit “YMCA” — his political anthem.

His informality underscored how the former real estate magnate, tabloid villain and reality TV star has become a cultural figure among his millions of admirers.

 

Trump speaks at a rally at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, on Sunday.
Trump speaks at a rally at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, on Sunday. 
Matt Rourke/AP
 

That MAGA mystique is also rooted in his resilience — after surviving two assassination attempts, a pair of impeachments, four criminal indictments and one conviction. His return to power, using the same democratic process he tried to crush to avoid leaving office after the 2020 election, means his comeback is among the most stunning second acts in American history. It’s also a dark omen of how an imperialist president might try to use his new power.

Trump is no longer a populist, nationalist aberration in a long line of post-World War II presidents who all operated with similar assumptions about American’s role in the world. His victory in November, making him only the second president to win nonconsecutive terms, means that he is a historically significant figure — whatever happens over the next four years.

And Trump scored two big wins even before he took office. First, three hostages were released Sunday to Israel by Hamas as part of a Gaza ceasefire deal being credited to his imminent arrival in office. Then, Trump, at least for now, saved TikTok, which briefly shut down to comply with a federal ban imposed over fears the social media site could be manipulated by China.

Each breakthrough demonstrated Trump’s flair for the statesmanship of a showman and his preference for the personal and improvisational use of presidential power. Since winning the November election, he has changed domestic and global political dynamics after months of an aging Biden fading from the scene.

But in the cases of TikTok and the Middle East, Trump’s initial “wins” Sunday will soon cede to far more complex negotiations and decisions that will call for intense presidential engagement and far-sighted strategic wisdom that he didn’t always supply in his first term.

Trump is already looking far beyond the tasks voters assigned him

Trump won last year’s election — only four years after he was turned out of office for failing to revive a disgruntled, pandemic-hit nation — because a plurality of voters was weary of high prices and a border crisis that Biden had denied, and they lost faith in the government’s capacity to help them.

So, an impatient electorate might not give Trump much time. And the success or failure of his second term could hinge on his capacity to do the basics — such as reduce the price of staples like eggs and milk, which he has already admitted will be tough to do.

But on Sunday, at his jubilant rally, Trump also raised expectations of transformational change in multiple areas. The history of the presidency, the evidence of his first-term chaos, and his narrow congressional majorities, however, suggest such change will be very hard to achieve.

“Everyone in our country will prosper. Every family will thrive, and every day will be filled with opportunity and hope,” he promised. “We stand on the verge of the four greatest years in America.”

 

People vote in the presidential election in Milwaukee on November 5, 2024.
People vote in the presidential election in Milwaukee on November 5, 2024. 
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
 

Much of Trump’s appeal lies in his belligerence and outsider authenticity.

But the truth about his second term will be revealed only by looking beyond stunts and hyperbole to judge the depth and sustainability of his actions. His voters might love his aggression. And Trump has built a new coalition with more young voters, minorities and working-class Americans than before. But his behavior alienates the other half of the country. And the promise of inaugural eve will soon be swamped by the ugly realities of government, which are almost certain to split the Republican Party.

Expected “shock and awe” deportation raids and showdowns in Democratic-run cities are intended to make a political point, honor campaign promises and deter more migration. But they could also create a climate of fear that rebounds against Trump and Republicans politically and threatens the civil rights of American citizens and immigrants.

Still, the president-elect, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, is leaving no doubt he aims to launch at a similar speed to one of the SpaceX rockets owned by Elon Musk, who came onstage Sunday to vow “significant change.”

“Starting tomorrow, I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” Trump pledged at the euphoric victory party in Washington’s Capital One Arena.

A stunning comeback for a cultural icon

Four years ago, a chastened Trump bolted from Washington before Biden’s inauguration for a farewell ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. He was still in disgrace two weeks after the assault on the US Capitol by supporters fired up by election lies, and he signed off with: “Have a good life. We will see you soon.”

On that morning in 2021, no one could have imagined Trump’s stunning political resurrection, highlighted Sunday by a tour-de-force speech on a vast red stage before thousands of MAGA devotees.

“We won,” Trump said at his first rally in Washington since January 6, 2021, underscoring how sufficient voters were so desperate for a shake-up of government that they were ready to move on from his behavior after the 2020 election.

 

In this January 20, 2021 photo, Donald Trump and Melania Trump board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
In this January 20, 2021 photo, Donald Trump and Melania Trump board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. 
Pete Marovich/Pool/Getty Images
 

The speech — a classic of his “weave” genre of rhetoric — blended demagoguery and comedy, searing anti-migrant rhetoric, warnings of impending world war, twisted facts, brashness and showmanship. He mixed in promises to end the war in Ukraine with riffs about claiming the spotlight at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. His disdain for presidential decorum showed exactly why millions of Americans believe that he is their authentic voice.

“We are all going to be sworn in tomorrow, that’s the way I look at it,” Trump told his admirers.

Trump will benefit from the legitimacy conferred by his predecessor attending his inauguration — a privilege he denied to Biden. And unlike Trump in 2020, Vice President Kamala Harris accepted her defeat in a democratic election.

Furthermore, the authoritarian streak revealed in Trump four years ago is why so many Americans are horrified by his return.

The rest of the world is also on edge: Trump has already sparked political crises from Canada to Panama to Denmark with expansionist rhetoric during the transition. Allies are nervous. But Trump can hardly wait for summits with tyrants he most admires, Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia.

‘Days of Thunder’ lie ahead

The scope of Trump’s ambition is vast.

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

Aides revealed he’d sign some executive actions shortly after being sworn in and then more at Capital One Arena, the indoor venue for his inauguration parade.

He pledged to “defeat inflation” and provide the lowest-cost energy on Earth, cut taxes, slash prices, raise wages and return thousands of factories to the US with the use of tariffs. Trump said he’d end the war in Ukraine, stop “chaos” in the Middle East, prevent World War III, crush violent crime in cities, and rebuild the police and the military. He said he’d rebuild Los Angeles, where he plans to visit Friday, after its wildfires and make it more “beautiful” than before.

 

A Trump supporter takes photos outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Saturday.
A Trump supporter takes photos outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Saturday. 
Rebecca Wright/CNN
 

Even accomplishing a few of these goals would mark Trump’s second term as a miraculous success by modern standards. But he has to do all this as a lame duck, hampered by a minuscule GOP majority in the House of Representatives and the constant threat of a Democratic rebound in the 2026 midterm elections.

The president-elect does, however, have the advantage of doing the job once before — and having a clear sense of where he wants to go.

Trump allowed himself a rare moment of introspection during his rally, touching on his place in history — and the potential for his second term to leave a more robust and widely accepted legacy than his first.

“Someday, in 30 years from now, 40 years from now, 50 years from now, some of these young people are going to say, ‘I remember Donald Trump. He did a good job. He sent us on (our way). He gave us a path,’” he said.

But before then, there will be what Trump’s first-term political guru Steve Bannon has called “Days of Thunder.”

America and the world better be ready.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

Author: Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN

Source: CNN:::

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