More than 30 miles of anti-scaling fencing has been installed across the nation's capital. Concrete barriers have been installed at major intersections. Some roads are already closed. Surveillance drones will fill the skies.
But whether Washington looks or feels like a war zone again doesn't necessarily mean it feels that way. Unlike eight years ago, when President-elect Donald J. Trump last took the oath of office, ferocious tension and angry defiance have given way to conformity and obedience. The resistance of 2017 faded into the resignation of 2025.
The atmosphere leading up to President Trump's second inauguration reflects changes from the first. Many people around the world seem to be bowing down to the next president. Tech moguls rushed to Mar-a-Lago to pay their respects. Billionaires are signing seven-figure checks and vying for seats at the inauguration. Some companies are preemptively canceling climate change and diversity programs to garner goodwill.
Some Democrats are talking about working with the newly resurgent Republican president on individual issues. Some news organizations are believed to be pivoting to be more respectful. Saturday's sequel spawned some of the grassroots protests in 2017 that saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets of Washington to protest against Trump just one day after he was sworn in as president.
“Hashtag resistance turned into hashtag capitulation,” said David Urban, a longtime Republican strategist and Trump ally. “Pink cat hats are gone, replaced by MAGA hats worn by black and brown people.”
Determined demonstrators gathered at Saturday's People's March said they had not given up, but some sympathized with those who expressed exhaustion over Mr. Trump's recent victory.
“Why do we have to keep doing this?” asked Lisa Clark, 65, of Akron, Ohio. She also participated in the 2017 Women's March. We've been here before and will come again if we have to. ”
For both the progressive left and the Never Trump right, this second inauguration upended all assumptions after an eight-year battle with Trump. Their strategies and messages failed to keep him from power. And many of them became exhausted and depressed.
“Democratic leaders have learned that you can't make change by focusing all your energy on one man,” said Donna Brazile, former Democratic National Committee chair. “It's a bitter pill to swallow, but this is not the end. Let's rebuild. Resistance to Trumpism will never go away, but it will manifest differently in Trump 2.0.”
Meanwhile, for the Trump team, it's a moment of victory and celebration. Trump's chances of returning to the White House in four years seemed remote after he left office four years ago after being defeated and impeached twice, facing the prospect of multiple criminal investigations. . So for his camp, this weekend brings a sense of justice.
And this time, Trump arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, not as a fluke electoral favorite who fell behind in the popular vote. He will be sworn in on Monday with explosive momentum, buoyed by his popular vote victory, although it was one of the narrowest margins of victory since the 19th century, rather than the landslide he claims.
“If you were there in 2015, 2016, 2017 and you're here today, you feel vindicated,” Urban said.
Part of the respect that politics, media and business circles now show Trump comes from a broader sense that perhaps public opinion is more on his side than they assumed. Perhaps, in this view, Mr. Trump gets something important by suggesting that we need to fundamentally rethink, however imperfectly, some of the ways we do things built into this country. I guess he did.
A new poll released Saturday by The New York Times and Ipsos finds that even many Americans who dislike Mr. It turns out that they agree with some of the policy prescriptions.
Demoralized opponents will therefore face a period of introspection before returning to the arena. “The humbling reality that he won the popular vote requires a lot of self-reflection and introspection,” said Patrick Gaspard, president of the American Progress Center, a progressive research group.
Progressives were stunned when Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2016, but less surprised when he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in November, so this second The atmosphere on the eve of the inauguration was different, he said.
“Activist reactions usually come from a shock to the body. Something happens and people are surprised or embarrassed or angry about it, and this visceral reaction occurs and metastasizes.” Gaspard said. “It usually comes from shock. There's nothing shocking about what happened here.”
In fact, President Biden's political problems and fixation on running for a second term long ago depleted the energy of his supporters, he added. “For the centre-left, we are in the midst of a slow-moving train wreck that will be expected for a long time to come,” Gaspard said. “From the moment Joe Biden announced he was running for a second term, you could feel deflation immediately taking hold within our big tent and coalition.”
While the Resistance reconsiders its approach, those in power warm to the returned leader. The enthusiasm with which tech moguls like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are courting Trump may not reveal any new personal affection for the president-elect, but It certainly confirms that they are analyzing changing social trends and calculating how best to protect themselves from recession. An unstable and vindictive leader. Companies that abandon their diversity, equity, and inclusion policies without being asked are anticipating where the future lies.
As he takes office again, Trump has discovered that he doesn't even need to act as a self-preservation strategy to force his adversaries to conform, retreat, or bend them in his direction. He is already on his own path just by being himself.
News networks are revamping their lineups, editorial pages are adjusting their attitudes at the behest of the wealthy, and corporate media parents have settled or are considering settling lawsuits with Mr. Trump. Mr. Zuckerberg's meta waived fact-checking in deference to a president who was questioned about the facts.
Unlike Trump's first-term predecessor, James B. Comey, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray resigned on his own terms rather than waiting to be fired. Special Counsel Jack Smith preemptively abandoned the investigation without waiting for Mr. Trump to order him to abandon the investigation.
Democrats such as Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have preached the virtues of cooperation. Seven Democratic members of Congress who boycotted Trump's 2017 inauguration told Politico they will attend this one. Republicans who at times stood up to Trump at the beginning of his first term have now reversed themselves and endorsed a candidate they privately despise.
At the same time, beneath that wave of acquiescence is a current of fear in Washington. Many of those who have been threatened with retaliation by Mr. Trump are spending this weekend in fear of what is to come. The FBI, under the direction of pro-Trump warrior Kash Patel, who is awaiting Senate confirmation, could become the Bureau of Revenge. In his book, Patel published a list of 60 people he believed would be targeted by people involved in the “deep state” and vowed to “challenge” the media for lies.
Expectations changed the environment. Some of Mr. Trump's once vocal critics have stepped away from television, no longer post on social media, and no longer speak to reporters on the record to avoid attracting Mr. Trump's attention. I'm refusing. If they remain silent, they reason, he might not come after them.
But there are still pockets of resistance in Washington. “As more and more people surrender, , said he noticed there was a “very strong appetite” for heretical views. ”
She said one reason Washington feels different at the start of Trump's next term is because this time he is a lame duck and cannot be re-elected under the 22nd Amendment. That said, he does occasionally crack a joke, if you will, about finding a way to remain in office after four years.
“There are a million reasons why it would be different, but no one is setting the stage to defeat Trump for a second term,” Longwell said. They're trying to figure out how to compose themselves, how to win again in two years, four years. ”
In some ways, she says, it's now a matter of waiting for him to leave rather than just fighting him. “People are just thinking, how are we going to survive the next four years?”
Aishwarya Kabi Contributed to the report.
