President Donald Trump officially returned to the White House after taking the oath of office on Monday. For members of the Northwestern community, Trump’s inauguration brought mixed feelings.
Weinberg junior and NU College Republicans Vice President Clark Hanlon, who watched the inauguration, believes the second Trump presidency will “forge a true restoration of the American way of life.”
Hanlon also believes the decision by House Speaker Mike Johnson to raise the Capitol’s flags to full mast during the inauguration was representative of “confidence and excitement in this new era of governance.” Johnson’s decision directly defies outgoing President Joe Biden’s orders for American flags to be kept at half-mast for a month following the death of former President Jimmy Carter.
However, the ceremony did not take place with the flags outside the Capitol in view. The ceremony instead took place in the Capitol Rotunda due to inclement weather conditions.
CEOs of notable tech companies, including Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Sundar Pichai of Google, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Elon Musk of Tesla and X, sat in prominent seats at the inauguration.
Such presences irritated Weinberg junior and NU College Democrats co-President Adam Durr.
“Donald Trump took the oath of office surrounded by corporate oligarchs,” Durr said.
Durr also expressed his doubts regarding the plausibility of Trump’s economic plans mentioned in his inaugural speech. He believes Trump will not “do anything to tackle inflation or price-gouging.”
During his inauguration speech, Trump also expressed plans to declare a national energy crisis that would encourage the nation to “drill, baby, drill” for oil.
Weinberg Prof. Shana Bernstein found herself “struck” by Trump’s environmentally-related remarks in his inaugural address. To Bernstein, Trump’s statements are fascinating given the historical stances of the Republican Party.
“I’m struck by the shift in the Republican Party from Nixon’s establishment of the EPA to the current party’s focus on undermining environmental policy,” Bernstein said.
Communication freshman John Hughes is already wondering how Congress’ future, which he says could change in the 2026 midterm elections, may impact plans outlined by Trump in his inaugural address.
“Coming (congressional) elections will be the litmus test for Trump’s unconventional agenda,” Hughes said. “I’m very interested to see what will happen.”
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