I’m Isaac Saul, and this is Tangle: an independent, nonpartisan, subscriber-supported politics newsletter that summarizes the best arguments from across the political spectrum on the news of the day — then “my take.”
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Today's read: 14 minutes.
Special announcement.
We have a lot of news to deliver: Yesterday, we released Isaac’s interview with Sharon McMahon. Last Friday, we wrote about how we’ll be tracking Trump’s presidency. This Friday, we’ll be reviewing Biden’s term. But we have one more major announcement to share.
Keep an eye out for a special edition of Tangle to hit your inbox at 3:00 pm ET/12:00 pm PT today.
Quick hits.
- The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas began on Sunday with Hamas releasing three Israeli hostages. On Monday, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. (The returns)
- Former President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons for members of his family, Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and members of Congress who served on the committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot during the final hours of his presidency. Biden said the pardons were intended to protect the recipients from politically motivated prosecutions. (The pardons) Separately, Biden commuted the sentences of approximately 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. (The commutations)
- Wildfires in Los Angeles continue to burn, and the National Weather Service issued a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" warning for an increased risk for fire through Tuesday morning due to high winds. As of Monday morning, the Palisades fire is 59% contained, while the Eaton fire is 87% contained. (The latest) Separately, southern U.S. states are preparing for a rare winter storm that has already disrupted transportation systems, while the East Coast experienced freezing temperatures from an Arctic air mass. (The weather)
- The Senate confirmed Sen. Marco Rubio (R) as the next United States secretary of state by a unanimous vote, making Rubio the first confirmed member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet. (The confirmation)
- Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R) is leaving his role as co-head of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency and reportedly plans to launch a campaign for governor of Ohio. (The report)
Today's topic.
Trump’s inauguration. On Monday, President Donald Trump was sworn in as America’s 47th president in a ceremony inside the United States Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. 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 for a U.S. 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 and 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 Capitol 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 right 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 U.S. 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 CBP One app for migrants seeking to enter the United States, withdrew the U.S. 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 (Tangle covered the issue in December).
Today, we’ll share perspectives from the right and left on the inauguration. Then, the Tangle editorial team gives its take.
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 of 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 desire 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 Amendment: 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,’ but, 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 millions of deportations of criminal aliens are necessary is hardly debatable. 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 left.
“Pre-Trump American conservatism was dedicated to a few fundamental propositions: limited government, cultural traditionalism, antiabortion politics, 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.”
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 Rev. 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 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 Lehmann suggested “Trump’s inauguration revealed whom he really serves: the billionaires and the crypto bros.”
“Presidential inaugurations are pageants of symbolism, from Jimmy Carter’s walk through the crowds on Pennsylvania Avenue to Barack Obama’s mediagenic post-Bush lovefest. 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 rentiership,” Lehmann 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 the 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, Zack Beauchamp 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, Rally 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,’” Beauchamp wrote. “Rally 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 and 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,” Beauchamp said. “The Rally 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 lawbreaking friends does not augur well for American democracy.”
Our take.
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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.
- The inauguration speech was, for the most part, like any other; it had some highs and lows, reiterated some campaign goals, and will probably be 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.” 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 Trump’s address fits within this tradition.
- 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.
- The lowest points of Trump’s speech were his insistence that he’ll use his power to make some political proclamations that won’t do any material good for anyone, like renaming “The Gulf of Mexico” the “Gulf of America” and making “Mt. Denali” “Mt. McKinley” again. What does that accomplish, other than provocation?
- All in all, Trump speaking from a teleprompter remains less authentic than Trump off-script. Lines about America “inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world” or describing how “we will dream boldly, and nothing will stand in our way” 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 event’s “overflow room” and sounded much more like he did on the campaign trail. Expect to see much more of the latter version over the next four years (here’s one lighthearted example from the Oval Office on Monday).
- To that end, you can also expect a very different relationship between the president and the press compared to the last administration (and Trump’s first administration). Back in July, Axios reported that President Joe 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 through the remainder of his presidency. Yesterday, Trump invited the press into the Oval Office and took questions for 45 minutes while he signed executive orders. He side-stepped plenty of questions, but it was still a refreshing change after four years of highly choreographed press events.
- It was surreal to see Trump speaking to applause within the Capitol Rotunda four years removed from rioters storming the building after he refused to concede the election. Remember where we were at that time: still mired in the pandemic and steeped in political tension. This moment feels entirely different. Back in 2021, Isaac wrote that the country felt like it had been “at a breaking point” at the end of Trump’s 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.
- That said, we should never take for granted how unique it is to see a civil — 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 November 6, 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.
- The same can’t be said for Biden’s final acts as president, which we’ll be writing about tomorrow.
- 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 “Make America Safe Again,” were a series of promises to address and secure the border, many of which he acted on yesterday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is also reportedly planning to begin mass deportations today.
- 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 more — is 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.
- Trump has already started to walk back some of his campaign’s loftier 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 he 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).
- 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 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; we’ll interpret this statement as Trump agreeing with us.
- Let’s zoom out on some fundamentals as Trump begins his second term, starting with this: Donald 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 a few years now) Trump just passes the basic eye test much better. 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 was concerned about Biden’s age at the beginning of his term, you should also be watchful for signs of aging as Trump starts his.
- 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 by 5% in both 2016 and 2024. Any economist would say that investors obviously like what Trump’s policies indicate for the success of American companies, but the amounts being this similar? We’re not sure what to make of that.
- Trump’s cozier relationship with big tech is a major change from four years ago. You can see this playing out in three ways, all of which are ringing internal alarms about the coordination of government and free-market power.
- First, tech CEOs. It was jarring to see that CEOs Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Sundar Pichai (Google), Shou Zi Chew (TikTok), and Jeff Bezos (formerly Amazon) joining Elon Musk (X/Tesla/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?
- Second, cryptocurrency. The technology is polarizing, even among Tangle staff. However bullish you are on the future of decentralized currencies, you have to admit that the prevalence of memecoins that pump and dump their values is a huge threat to their future. Now, the president is running his own memecoin — $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.
- 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 that he’d be open to splitting control of the app between its Chinese parent company ByteDance and the U.S. government. Then, TikTok went back online, with a message thanking Trump for saving it. For those keeping score, that means the president has the CEOs of the companies that own the #1, #2, #3, and #4 largest social media apps sitting front row at his inauguration, while #5 is putting out PSAs thanking him (and the owner of #15 is working for his administration).
- 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 people who voted for someone else don’t lose). We only win together, if the president succeeds in passing legislation and enacting policies that benefit the country as a whole. So as Donald Trump begins his final term, everyone here at Tangle will be watching him closely and scrutinizing him carefully; because he works for us. And he works for you. We need to make sure he’s doing his job, even while hoping he makes good on his promise to win for all of us.
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Under the radar.
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 (OMB) 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 Personnel Management and the Department of Government Efficiency, after which they will submit a plan to reduce the size of the workforce. POLITICO has the story.
Numbers.
- 2,909. The length, in words, of President Donald Trump’s second inaugural address, the longest since Herbert Hoover in 1929.
- 1,433. The length, in words, of Trump’s first inaugural address.
- 2,540. The length, in words, of President Joe Biden’s inaugural address.
- 135. The length, in words, of President George Washington’s second inaugural address, the shortest in United States history.
- 4. The number of times Trump referenced a “crisis” in his inaugural address.
- 4. The number of times Trump referenced “unity” or “unifiers” in his address.
- 25,000. The approximate number of law enforcement personnel deployed across Washington, D.C., for the inauguration.
- $1.2 trillion. The approximate combined net worth of billionaires who attended Trump’s inauguration.
- $250 million. The approximate amount of funds raised for Trump’s second inauguration, according to ABC News.
- $107 million. The approximate amount of funds raised for Trump’s first inauguration.
The extras.
- One year ago today we had just released a subscribers-only mailbag edition.
- The most clicked link in Thursday’s newsletter was the cottage cheese comeback.
- Nothing to do with politics: The book Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown has been reading on the sidelines is shooting up the charts.
- Thursday’s survey: 2,489 readers responded to our survey about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal with 59% not at all confident the deal will result in lasting peace. “Thousands of years of hate on all sides. Can there ever be a real change of heart,” one respondent said.
Have a nice day.
The western United States faces constraints on its fresh water 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 the story.
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