Pardons and Populism: Trump’s First Day Back in the White House

it's a free volume on civil and Rel. [Music]. t-shirt so it is around 9:30 a.m. on. inauguration day and we are headed to. the. capital and as you can perhaps hear. through the microphone hopefully not if. I do my job well is really really windy. and very cold so we are layered to the. hilt like five layers wool socks double.

socked thermal underwear two hats cuz. we're going to spend a lot of the stay. outside there it is yeah oh that's a. beautiful. view we're standing about a football. field and a half away from the US. capital I am staring at the Dome and. because it is so bone chillingly cold.

the. inauguration which is normally held. outside facing the National Mall this. has been moved inside the capital in the. Rotunda which we're looking at and at. this very moment president-elect Trump. and President Biden are at the White. House they're having tea they're going. to come in a motorcade together to the. capital and we're looking at what we. think is the exact spot they're going to. arrive and it's very very heavily. fortified or surrounded by these tall. metal Gates there are dozens of police.

officers wait there there's something. happen this is the. motorcade it's the longest motorcade. I've ever seen dozens and dozens of. vehicles and it is working its way to. the Eastern Gate of the capital to. deposit the two presidents inside the. building for the. inauguration and Donald Trump is going. to be sworn in as the 47th president. pres of the United.

[Music]. States from New York Times I'm Michael. babbaro this is the. [Applause]. daily on Monday in the culmination of an. extraordinary political comeback please. raise your right hand and repeat after. me I Donald John Trump do solemnly swear. I Donald John Trump do solemnly swear.

that Donald Trump was officially sworn. in as president of the United States for. a second time the office of President of. the United States Just 4 years after. being voted out of office and being. impeached and later criminally charged. for trying to overturn that result so. help me go congratulations. [Applause]. Mr today my colleague Peter Baker on the. message Trump sent in his inaugural. address and Jonathan Swan on the actions.

Trump took during his first hours in. office it's Tuesday January. 21st Peter thank you for coming in the. studio it's nice to be here with you in. person I don't think I've ever done this. in person with you I don't think I've. ever done this in person with you either. aren't you glad you're here yes you're. here for a day of History however way.

you look back on it this is a day of. History exactly because I got to talk to. you in. person um Peter set the scene for us. inside the capitol rotunda as Donald. Trump prepares to deliver this inaugural. speech well we see in the capital inside. the Rotunda this new power map of. Washington you see the outgoing. president of the United States Joe Biden. the outgoing vice president KL Harris. who lost to Trump in November seated.

just a few feet away from the victors. from the new Power felt like inches from. the camera very close probably. uncomfortably so for both sides right. and behind the new president behind. Donald Trump and JD Vance are family. members as you would expect members of. their incoming cabinet as you would. expect Congressional leaders and these. billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. and Mark Zuckerberg and suddenly we see. the new dynamics of power in Washington. it's a new craft.

and they're all deferring to him okay. thank you very much everybody. well thank you very very much so. describe the speech itself once Trump. begins to deliver it the Golden Age of. America begins right now well the speech. itself is obviously American Carnage 2.0. on some level right and we will not. allow ourselves to be taken advantage of. any longer there is just explain that. for those who may not remember the. reference to the first inaugural forget.

that but in 2017 of course at his first. inauguration Donald Trump delivers this. speech that becomes you know iconic. Infamous whatever word you want to use. describing an America that was very. dystopian at the time very Grim very. dark and unlike what most presidents do. in their inaugural addresses so much so. that George W bush who was sitting there. turns to Hillary Clinton and says well. that was some weird. as We Gather today our government. confronts a crisis of trust this time. around eight years later You Hear The.

Echoes of that speech again in this. speech for many years a radical and. corrupt establishment has extracted. power and wealth from our citizens while. the pillars of our society lay broken. and seemingly incomplete. disrepair he's describing an America in. Decline an America that is weak on the. international stage whose economy is. weak at home we now have a government. that cannot manage even a simple crisis. at home.

while at the same time stumbling into a. continuing catalog of catastrophic. events abroad what was different in this. inaugural address compared to eight. years ago is how Central He makes. himself as the solution to all these. problems my recent election is a mandate. to completely and totally reverse a. horrible. betrayal and all of these many betrayals. that have taken place it very much. speech of Triumph both politically but. also personally over the past 8 years I.

have been tested and challenged more. than any president in our 250e history. and I've learned a lot along the way the. journey to reclaim our Republic has not. been an easy one that I can tell you he. was the central character in this speech. in a way we don't often necessarily hear. by new president those who wish to stop. our cause have tried to take my freedom.

and indeed to take my life he talks. about in fact the assassination attempt. against him last summer just a few. months ago in a beautiful Pennsylvania. field an Assassin's bullet ripped. through my. ear but I felt then and believe even. more so now that my life was saved for a. reason I was saved by God to make. America great again and he says that God. saved him to make America great again.

which really takes that formulation. which he's played with over the months. even further than before he is the. savior now of the country a TI of change. is sweeping the country sunlight is. pouring over the entire world and. America has the chance to seize this. opportunity like never before what this. speech did not contain was an overture. to those who didn't support him we think. of inaugural speeches as almost.

dutifully containing language that says. to those who didn't vote for me right I. offer you this message exactly that was. not in this speech no the words National. Unity were uttered National Unity is now. returning to America but you wouldn't. have heard it a lot in the rest of the. speech right he didn't say anything nice. about his outgoing predecessor Joe Biden. even though that's the tradition when a. new president comes in to at least thank. you for your service didn't do that. didn't talk about bipartisanship today I.

will sign a series of historic executive. orders with these actions we will begin. the complete restoration of America and. the revolution of Common Sense he. instead went for some of these wedge. issues right from the start it will. henceforth be the official policy of the. United States government that there are. only two genders male and female he said. he's going to get rid of government. programs that promote diversity and. inclus usion I will also end the.

government policy of trying to socially. engineer race and gender into every. aspect of public and private life and he. even said that he would reinstate. military service members who were. discharged for refusing to have a. vaccine during the covid pandemic and. even pay them back pay which is of. course ruling back a very specific. President Biden policy exactly and I. will sign an order to stop our Warriors. from being subjected to radical.

political theories and social. experiments while on duty it's going to. end. immediately this is my seventh. presidential inauguration and this is. not the way inauguration speeches are. supposed to go right they're supposed to. be the lofty speech there're supposed to. be the large theme speech broad strokes. and here he makes this more like a State. of the Union Address and he outlines one. idea one proposal after another many of. them divisive it felt very different. than a normal inaugural within that list.

Peter of things that Trump says he wants. to do that made this feel State of the. Union is as you said what struck me was. how much it strayed from Trump's. traditional isolationism right it was. expansionist yes exactly above all my. message to Americans today is that it is. time for us to once again act with. courage Vigor and the Vitality of. History's Greatest civilization rather. than than pulling back it's about.

America expanding in a way not in a new. war in the Middle East not Iraq. Afghanistan kind of way but in a. territorial way a very 19th century way. of looking at the world we have been. treated very badly from this foolish. gift that should have never been made. and Panama's promise to us has been. broken he did talk about the Panama. Canal which is an issue that nobody had. been thinking about for 40 some years. and he said it was a mistake to give it. way and we're taking it back and we're.

taking it back not just we're going to. renegotiate this or that we're taking it. back right and the implication being. perhaps by force well that's right he. hasn't ruled it out and the other one of. course was saying he had signed or was. signing uh a proclamation a short time. from now we are going to be changing the. name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf. of America and renaming the Gulf of. Mexico the Gulf of America which again. is a very nationalist thing to do and.

you're forgetting something Peter and we. will pursue our Manifest Destiny into. the Stars launching American. astronauts to plant the stars and. stripes on the planet. Mars he's going to plant a US flag he. claimed on Mars which is about as. ambitious an expansion Vision as I think. any president has has ever had and there. in the back row was Elon Musk pumping. his fists in the air and giving thumbs. up he loves that of course because. SpaceX is his company and he was always.

talking about going to Mars right from. this day on the United States of America. will be a free Sovereign and independent. nation we will stand bravely we will. live proudly we will dream boldly and. nothing will stand in our way because we. are Americans the future is ours and our. golden age has just begun thank you God. Bless America thank you all thank.

you thank you very much thank you very. much so taking all together how do you. think we should understand this speech. as a whole and what it means well it's. an aggressive speech right and it. presses an aggressive term this is not a. present coming into office for the first. time having never spent a day in public. office with the military remember in. 2017 was only president who was that.

inexperienced and he didn't know what he. was doing by his own later admission. right this time he knows what he's doing. he's not going to let you know mey mouth. establishment Republicans or Military. Officers any of these lawyers or any of. these other people tell him no he's not. going to let them tell him sorry that's. illegal sorry that's unconstitutional. sorry that's unwise no way he's going to. listen to that anymore in that sense. this did not feel simply like a speech. articulating a restoration because that. would suggest I'm back just like I was.

before what it sounds like he's saying. is I am back I am better prepared and I. am capable now of transcending what my. first presidency was and as you said. earlier Peter it is about me and this. term will be big and ambitious because I. am and the country in his telling is. kind of him and he is the country and. and they are so fused in this speech.

that it's hard to imagine him. tolerating the country not meeting his. expectations because he and his. expectations in the country they're all. so bound up they're all intertwined in. there right he says I have been tested. over these last eight years and I've. learned right what he's saying is the. country has also been tested and it's. learned that it wants him I think that. makes him feel very powerful in this. moment right that he's got validation of. the voters and there's for him this sort. of sense of Des and he is now tied in to.

the country his identity is tied in as. he presents it with the identity of the. country if he was down the country is. down if he succeeds the country succeed. and he is succeeding right now he is. succeeding right now he is the most. dominant force in American society today. he drives our conversation he drives our. debate he even forces the opposition to. respond to him on his terms that may not. last but for the moment he's got a lot. of momentum. going Peter thank you very much thank.

you great to see you here in Washington. great to be. [Music]. here back baby back baby back. baby so now that Donald Trump has been. sworn in and delivered his inaugural. address we wanted to head out into the. streets of downtown Washington where. thousands of his supporters are Milling. around to understand how they are. feeling now that it is official that he. is president again. are you here for the inauguration yes.

okay where did you guys come from. Virginia from Florida Hawaii I'm from. Atlanta Atlanta Georgia Fon County St. Mary's Ohio South Arkansas from. Louisiana and those Cajun love president. Trump love Trump and how are you feeling. right now like in a word now that it's. official that he's president again. fabulous is there any other word. fabulous relieved ready we're ready very. much ready yes I'm excited. elated hopeful.

Hallelujah and what's the most important. thing you want to see him get done maybe. in the next few hours through executive. orders but definitely like in the next. couple of days or weeks first thing. first let's tackle these borders get our. borders under control you know Without. Borders we don't have a country you know. what I mean without a front door you. really don't really have a house you. know he's going to get rid of the woke. policies yes we're not going to be. weaklings anymore oh my God yeah I would.

hope that all the j6 prisoners would be. released today because they didn't. commit crimes they were using Justice in. a bad. way so many people voted for him and he. is not going to disappoint us not even. on the first. [Music]. day after the break Jonathan Swan on. what Trump actually did on day one. we'll be right.

back Jonathan I want you to pick up with. the second half of Donald Trump's day. when he's suddenly endowed with the full. powers of the presidency what does you. do with that power perod of time so I'm. going to go right over to here and I'm. going to sign in front of you is that. okay good we sits in a chair in the. Capal one arena in DC you have that. other one to sign picks up his shopie. and he starts signing executive orders.

you want me to Sir why don't you say. what I'm saying sure uh the first item. that President Trump is signing is the. recision of 78 Biden era executive. actions and you have his staff secretary. standing there announcing each executive. order to the federal government uh. ordering the restoration of freedom of. speech and preventing government. censorship of free speech going. forward and then at the end of all this. he stands up Sir can I have a p and.

throws the Sharpies into the crowd like. he's a baseball star throwing a cap or a. ball or something like that I've never. seen anything like it then he walks out. leaves the arena and heads over to the. Oval Office and keeps signing executive. orders for the. cameras essentially it's saying things. are changing now starting right now and. he wanted that to be the message from. the.

[Music]. outset so talk us through some of the. specific orders that really stand out. immigration is probably the area that. they spent most time thinking about. Steven Miller who's one of his most. important advisers has been overseeing. the entire process of developing these. executive orders and his most important. issue is immigration it's also Donald. Trump's so every. baby born in America is guaranteed.

citizenship and he's trying to get rid. of that for people born to undocumented. immigrants right trying to eliminate. Birthright citizenship it's guaranteed. in the Constitution not clear how he'll. do that there's going to be a lawsuit. we'll find out but so that's one example. designating cartels as foreign terrorist. organizations is another declaring a. national emergency at the border a lot. of these actions were strongly. foreshadowed in his campaign basic. basically what they've been doing for. the last 2 years 3 years is figuring out.

all the legal tools available to them to. effectively seal the southern border to. end Asylum to freeze the refugee program. in this country and also to begin what. Trump has called the largest deportation. operation in American history right they. know what they're doing and they know. how to affect the Machinery of. government far better than they did in. 2017 so I would expect to see real. changes happening in Immigration space.

with the force of law behind them so. beyond immigration what stood out in the. executive orders a big part of what. Trump is doing in these executive orders. is unwinding the Biden administration's. policies in particular in climate MH and. you're seeing him get rid of subsidies. for electric cars you're seeing him make. it much easier to drill for oil in. protected areas he's also pulling. America out of multilateral deals and.

institutions he's pulling America back. out of the Paris climate Accords which. he had removed America from in his first. term Biden put America back into the. deal now he's reversal exactly and he's. withdrawing America from the World. Health Organization that seems like a. fairly big deal yeah it is a big deal. and it's not just a big deal on its own. terms in terms of America's cooperation. with other countries you know with. global health I think it's also signal. for what he might do with other.

multilateral institutions Donald Trump. has always been skeptical of. multilateral Institutions he's always. been skeptical of the World Trade. Organization what's he going to do now. in the second term so it's important on. its own terms but it's also potentially. a signal for other multilateral. institutions that America is a part of. that maybe America will be reassessing. its Global. relationships so I those are the the. high-profile ones but there's actually. an order that hasn't been getting a lot.

of attention and I think it's really. important and actually could foreshadow. where things are heading with Trump the. order is titled ending the weaponization. of the federal government when you. actually read the order the Preamble. asserts as fact that the Biden. Administration has acted lawlessly H. okay and then it directs all agencies to. produce. reports on this. so whether it be um you know through doj.

through the intelligence agencies. whatever these reports have to be. produced and sent to the White House. well if you have asserted as fact that. this thing is happening and then you're. telling your cabinet agencies go and. find me evidence of this thing and send. it back to me w at a minimum you're. naming a bunch of Biden officials you. know damaging their reputations whatever. but more likely perhaps or equally. likely is you're setting up a road map.

for prosecution right for. investigation Etc so right president. basically ordering every executive. agency to go dig up potentially. incriminating evidence that could be. used against the outgoing Administration. and its Personnel correct that seems. important to me MH particularly when you. have a campaign where one of the themes. was. retribution and then this is sort of the. executive order version of actually yeah. let's do a little bit of Retribution.

right because it could become a tool of. that retribution pretty blatantly yes I. think we have to end and end quite. meaningfully was something that wasn't. an executive order per se but flowed. from the executive pen which was. President Trump's. partons yes and and we knew these were. coming but they're pretty stunning he is. going to Pardon more than 00 people who.

were prosecuted for their roles in the. January 6th attack on the capital no. matter what you did you're getting out. of prison now there's 14 of them I think. the number is who are getting their. sentences commuted but everyone's. getting out whether you're a proud boy. whether you're an oathkeeper doesn't. matter you're getting out of prison the. fact that he went that far says a lot to. me about how Trump plans to use his. power as president just explain that. well. that's not the action of someone who's.

operating cautiously or with any amount. of restraint if you're basically saying. even though you know the majority of. Americans do not support pardoning all. the January 6ers certainly not the ones. you know who committed acts of violence. that the fact that he feels empowered. enough to do that anyway tells me a lot. about his mindset right now his. confidence his comfort with exerting a. maximalist power. I thought that of all the things he did.

today that was the most revealing it's. quite possible that the history books. will look back on this mass pardoning as. the defining Act of this first day of. Trump's presidency and I think it. arguably speaks to something that our. colleague Peter Baker told us when we. asked him to analyze Trump's inaugural. speech and he talked about just how much. Trump is at this moment telling the. story of America in relation to himself. and kind of fusing man and Country in.

the way he talks and now he's pardoning. people who the justice system charged. many cases found guilty of serious some. cases violent crimes he would argue. because a weaponized justice system. mistreated them but by many people's. lights what he's really saying is their. crimes don't matter and this brings me. back to what Peter said their crimes. don't matter because they were done in. his name for him. watching Trump today brought together so.

much of what he's done throughout this. campaign which is the story he's told. about this Victory it's not just an. electoral Victory it's a victory you. know mandated by God and he's connected. all elements of his story since he left. office the first time with this sort of. divine Mission it's I'm a Mar they're. only Prosecuting me for you and of.

course all these people who committed. acts of violence in my name they are. righteous Warriors too they are Martyrs. too and me coming back into office is. Justice for our side it's the Triumph of. good over evil MH and Donald Trump has. always seen the world in this black and. white way if you're with him you're on. the side of sunshine and glory and. everything's great Sunshine he he. literally said the will shine in or. something to that effect and the other.

side is you know a scene out of Mad Max. apocalypse death and destruction and. crime and all manner of evil and that's. what today was really all. about it was Donald Trump returning as. an instrument of God and now that he's. seen this Arc of the story and the. political power in their cause now they. are righteous Martyrs and and they've.

been. saved and so in his telling has the. entire country. [Music]. exactly Jonathan thank you very much. thanks for having. [Music]. me on Monday evening the families and. friends of January 6th riers celebrated. Trump's pardons outside of jail in. Washington where several convicted.

rioter remain imprisoned we are so. grateful to president Trump promises. made Promises Kept promises made. Promises Kept in some cases Trump's. pardons resulted in the immediate. release of riers a spokesperson for. Enrique tario a former leader of the. proud boys who was sentenced to 22 years. in prison for his role in the assault on. the capital said that toio had walked.

out of a federal prison in Louisiana on. Monday afternoon as a free. man we'll be right. back here's what else you need to. another day in his final act as. President Joe Biden issued a wave of. preemptive pardons to those who fear. that President Trump will prosecute them.

over the next 4 years the pardons were. given to members of Biden's own family. including his brothers every member of. the Congressional committee that. investigated January 6th including its. Vice chairwoman Liz Cheney and the. government's lead scientist during the. covid pandemic Dr Anthony fouchy in a. statement Biden said that while he. believes in the justice system quote. these are exceptional circumstance. ances following Trump's swearing in.

ceremony Biden boarded a military plane. Bound for California where he was. expected to begin a vacation as a. private citizen and a former. [Music]. president today's episode was produced. by Claire tennis AA chur and will Reed. it was edited by Rachel quer and Mark. George contains original music by Dan.

Powell Mary Lozano and Sophia lman and. was engineered by Chris Wood our theme. music is by Jim runberg and Ben lansburg. of wonderly special thanks to aim. [Music]. Shapiro that's it for the daily I'm. Michael bbo see you tomorrow.