Peter Baker

However way you look back on it, this is a day of history.

However way you look back on it, this is a day of history.

Well, we see in the Capitol, inside the Rotunda, this new power map of Washington. You see the outgoing president of the United States, Joe Biden, the outgoing vice president, Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November, seated just a few feet away from the victors, from the new power. It felt like inches from the camera. Very close, probably uncomfortably so for both sides, right?

Well, we see in the Capitol, inside the Rotunda, this new power map of Washington. You see the outgoing president of the United States, Joe Biden, the outgoing vice president, Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November, seated just a few feet away from the victors, from the new power. It felt like inches from the camera. Very close, probably uncomfortably so for both sides, right?

And behind the new president, behind Donald Trump and J.D. 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 crowd, and they're all deferring to him. Thank you very much, everybody.

And behind the new president, behind Donald Trump and J.D. 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 crowd, and they're all deferring to him. Thank you very much, everybody.

Who could forget that? But in 2017, of course, at his first inauguration, Donald Trump delivers this speech that becomes...

Who could 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 shit.

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 shit.

He's describing an America in decline, an America that is weak on the international stage, whose economy is weak at home.

He's describing an America in decline, an America that is weak on the international stage, whose economy is weak at home.

What was different in this inaugural address compared to eight years ago was how central he makes himself as the solution to all these problems.

What was different in this inaugural address compared to eight years ago was how central he makes himself as the solution to all these problems.

He was a central character in this speech in a way we don't often necessarily hear by new presidents.

He was a central character in this speech in a way we don't often necessarily hear by new presidents.

He talks about, in fact, the assassination attempt against him last summer.

He talks about, in fact, the assassination attempt against him last summer.

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.

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.