PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Monday at high noon, inside the U.S. Capitol, Donald Trump, promising an avalanche of changes, will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
The inauguration marks the official, peaceful transfer of presidential power, with the executive branch changing hands from the Biden administration to the Trump administration. To keep that peace, nearly 8,000 National Guard troops from 40 states are already in Washington, D.C., to support local police.
For students of history , a bit of trivia, this is the first winter weather move inside the Capitol Rotunda since Ronald Reagan’s second-term inaugural address on Jan. 20, 1985. That may be the only similarity.
The next president is promising a rapid-fire release of executive actions — including, he says, throwing out part of 14th Amendment guaranteeing birthright citizenship. Since that’s in the Constitution, that is going to be a big ask, and should be very interesting.
His other key target — mass deportations — will be challenging, but deporting hardened criminals would be a great start.
His other goals — more drilling, tariffs, health care, European realignment, the Middle East crisis, fighting diversity and inclusion programs, and opposing transgender health support — will be debated, but the overwhelming big issue is your money — cutting inflation. That issue is a great motivator. He has got to get that done by the mid-term elections, otherwise he might lose some of that power. His election victory was primarily based on economic issues.
Much of it will be determined by style and demeanor. On Jan. 20, the California fires will become his crisis. Over 65% of the victims are low- and middle-income Americans, like those hard hit in working class Altadena, California. Trump will be judged not just on fulfilling his promises to his supporters, but perhaps on seeking a level of compassion to those victims of natural disasters with federal aid that we all have paid for with our taxes.
Yes, he is right to investigate the failures by leadership in the fires, but all of us know this. A brighter demeanor could make Donald J. Trump score well in the history books.
Joe Biden is spending his final full day in office in South Carolina, a state that holds special meaning after his commanding win in the 2020 Democratic primary there set him up to achieve his life's goal of being elected president of the United States.
On the eve of Trump's nauguration, Biden planned to deliver a final farewell from the state that brought him to the dance, as he likes to say.
Biden and wife Jill are scheduled to visit Royal Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston to worship and speak on the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Monday is the federal holiday honoring the assassinated civil rights leader.