WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump took his oath of office Monday in a crowded Capitol rotunda, where he was surrounded by a very different Washington than he had eight years ago.
When Trump gave a speech about “American carnage” on the inaugural stage in the rain, many Republicans in Congress were quietly prepared to reject the most radical elements of his agenda and investigate his background.
Today they almost unanimously support the president. World leaders who once opposed Trump were expected to attend the ceremony, ready to brave the bitter chilly to publicly show their support before events moved indoors.
It’s also a very different Washington than it was four years ago, when the stage erected for Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration had to be hastily repaired after a riot by Trump’s supporters just two weeks earlier. The rioters tore pieces of the scaffolding to employ as weapons against police as they tried to stop them from breaking into the Capitol and preventing the certification of Biden’s victory.
The Rotunda was also overcrowded then as rioters violently stormed in after breaching the main doors. They hung on statues, shouted for lawmakers and fought with police who tried to force them out of the building.
Trump refused to attend Biden’s inauguration, and many Republicans thought his political career was over. But he came back stronger than ever – and brought Washington with him.
“It’s a partisan victory in the sense that there’s this new populist Republican Party,” said Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. “There’s no question that enthusiasm is significantly higher than it was eight years ago.”
Trump’s second inauguration was also different because it was held indoors, which was a last-minute change due to the chilly, windy weather. The platform on the West Front of the Capitol, built over many months, will remain unused and barren while he takes the oath therein.
Biden’s inauguration in 2020 was also unusual, as it took place without the usual crowds due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The guests on the platform were at intervals instead of in dense crowds.
Cramer said he was there but many other lawmakers were not, and he said it felt “weird” but also more intimate with fewer people. “I remember the big teleprompter, the giant TV, with Joe Biden reading, and how there were only a few people out there who heard it,” he said.
Did he ever think that Trump, largely shunned by official Washington after the Jan. 6 attack, would be back at the Capitol to take his oath of office?
“It was a possibility that was obviously always there,” Cramer said.
South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds says that while Trump was an unknown in 2017, Republicans in Washington now understand how he operates.
“You know he’s going to make statements and test the waters,” Rounds says. “But they also know that in the end he will seek advice and then make a decision.”
Despite broad support and unified power in Washington, Trump’s second presidency still faces obstacles – including a narrow majority in the House of Representatives and diverging views within the party, as he and Republican leaders push massive bills to cut taxes, secure the border, deport immigrants and expand the economy Keep an eye on energy production.
An early test in December showed Trump’s limits after Congress rejected his push to include a debt ceiling escalate in year-end spending legislation.
In his final hours as president, Biden issued a series of preemptive pardons. These include pardons to members and staff of the Jan. 6 committee that investigated the attack, as well as to U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the House committee that day.
The moment is tense for Democrats.
“I think this time it will be even clearer that the challenges we face and the divisions in our nation are deeply rooted,” said Democrat Andy Kim of New Jersey, a freshman senator. “This isn’t just about one person in the Oval Office. This isn’t just about Trump. It’s not just about Biden.”
Kim said he has been thinking about legislation that could win bipartisan support and facilitate people come together – perhaps investing in civics education or a national service program as the country prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary.
Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, says he sees a difference in Trump’s Cabinet nominees, many of whom he said were chosen because they were devoted to him. His cabinet eight years ago consisted of more “respectable, well-qualified people.”
King attended Trump’s first inauguration and said his most vibrant memory was hearing him utter the words “American carnage.”
In contrast to hopeful inaugural speeches of the past, Trump said then that an “alternative reality exists” for many Americans trapped in poverty, for communities that have lost factories, for schools that have “deprived our young and beautiful students of knowledge,” and “the…” crime, gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much untapped potential.”
“This American carnage stops here and now,” Trump said in his speech. He has repeated these themes over the past eight years.
“It was a very shocking moment,” King said.
