Trump Takes Office Among Oligarchs Then Signs Project 2025 Executive Orders
Trump delivered a dark inaugural speech in a rotunda filled with oligarchs, then signed executive orders straight from the Project 2025 playbook—including one that blatantly violates the Constitution.
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Eight years ago, Donald Trump began his first term by standing on the Capitol building steps, draped in red curtains, warning of “American Carnage.” It turns out that was not a warning. It was a promise.
By the end of his first term, Trump would be a twice impeached, historically unpopular president who failed to contain a deadly pandemic and incited a deadly insurrection against that very same Capitol building. But this time, it was draped in Trump flags with a noose hanging nearby as the symbol of the attempted MAGA coup. There’s a reason historians rank Trump as the worst president in American history.
Four years later, instead of being a disgraced former President facing consequences for his crimes, Trump is walking into a second term as the first convicted felon President, with a level of wealth he has never seen before. Trump campaigned, fear-mongered, and lied his way out of accountability and into newfound power. This is possibly the worst con in American history.
On Monday, in the same building where the violent Trump supporters assaulted police officers in an attempt to illegally reinstall Trump as president, Trump was sworn in and reinstalled as president. Trump then delivered a dark speech to a backdrop of oligarchs before later signing executive orders that were straight out of the Project 2025 playbook.
Trump pardoned about 1,500 January 6 defendants, attempted to end Birthright Citizenship (unconstitutional), rescinded 78 executive actions from President Biden, declared a national emergency at the border, left the Paris Climate Accords, left the World Health Organization, ended federal DEI initiatives, declared there are only two genders, reinstated Schedule F, and more.
After taking the oath of office earlier in the day, without his hand on the Bible, and promising to protect and defend the Constitution, President Trump signed an unconstitutional executive order.
I watched all the Inauguration Day events, so you won’t have to. Let’s dive into the most important moments and what executive orders Trump actually took.
The Broligarchy Takes Center Stage
Sitting in better seats than Trump’s own Cabinet picks, Trump’s billionaire donors and tech leaders were featured prominently. Trump’s chief billionaire ally Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai sat directly behind Trump’s family. They had better seats than Trump’s own Cabinet picks. Apple CEO Tim Cook was also in attendance.
No congressional spouses were reportedly allowed in the Capitol Rotunda, but Trump’s billionaire donors were allowed to bring theirs.
Notably, these billionaires all run communication and information platforms, which will be key to Donald Trump’s propaganda efforts over the next four years. Musk and Zuckerberg have most overtly twisted their platforms to favor right-wing messaging.
I’ve written extensively about the corruption and cronyism we can expect from the second Trump Administration, as tech billionaires have cozied up to Trump to curry favor and avoid retribution.
There’s something incredibly symbolic about the fact Trump held his swearing-in ceremony indoors, and only the richest and most well-connected people were allowed in. It was a microcosm of Trump’s oligarchy. It shows you who this presidency is for - and who will be left out in the cold.
Trump’s Dark Second Inaugural & Overflow Ramble
President Trump’s second inaugural address was familiar. As he did in his American Carnage speech that kicked off his first term, Trump depicted a dark vision of an America in decline - echoing his 2024 campaign rhetoric. In reality, Trump is inheriting an economy that is the best in the world and a country where violent crime has seen historic declines.
“As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust.” Trump declared early in his speech. “For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair.”
That was an interesting remark, as you could visibly see the richest people in the world sitting behind him.
“We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad.” Trump continued. “It fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens, but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world.”
Trump repeated his fear-mongering lies about immigrants, which I’ve repeatedly debunked in this newsletter.
For the most part, the speech was unremarkable and pretty low energy, although packed with dark themes and announcements of executive orders - which I’ll touch on later in this article. It was like he was exhausted and bored by his own rhetoric. It didn’t feel like the vibe of someone triumphantly returning to the office. We later saw why.
After President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance Trump saw now-former President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris off, they then went to the overflow room in the Capitol Building where more of Trump’s supporters who couldn’t fit into the rotunda watched his speech. Trump rambled about January 6, the people who Biden pardoned, and said the 2020 election was rigged.
Trump said that J.D. Vance and Melania Trump convinced Trump to make his main inauguration speech more unifying, so he said what he wished he had said during his speech to those in the overflow room. Trump said he liked his second remarks more than his main speech.
Trump then went to a private bipartisan luncheon with lawmakers and other key guests of the inauguration.
Meanwhile, thousands of Trump supporters waited at the Capitol One Arena for Trump to arrive. When he did, he unleashed a series of executive orders.
Trump’s Day One Executive Orders
After Trump arrived at the Capitol One Arena and watched his inaugural parade, he was introduced to the crowd by a group of families whose loved ones are currently Hamas hostages.
These were the very first words out of Trump’s mouth when he got to the podium:
“Tonight, I'm gonna be signing on the J6 hostages, pardons to get them out. And as soon as I leave, I'm going to the Oval Office, and we'll be signing pardons for a lot of people. A lot of people.”
Trump literally heard the word hostage, and his brain immediately jumped to January 6 pardons.
Trump wasn’t lying. When he finished signing executive actions in front of a roaring crowd of supporters, Trump went to the White House and signed pardons for January 6 defendants. Here are some of the key executive actions Trump took on Monday at the Capitol One Arena and later in the Oval Office.
Pardoned and commuted the sentences of approximately 1,500 January 6 defendants - didn’t carve out violent offenders
Attempted to end Birthright Citizenship
This proposal is blatantly unconstitutional. Full stop. The 14th Amendment protects “all persons” born in the United States. Section 1 is pretty clear:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Rescinded 78 executive actions from President Biden
Reinstated Schedule F to make it easier to fire nonpartisan civil servants
Declared a national emergency at America’s Southern Border
Implemented a regulation freeze and hiring freeze in the federal bureaucracy
Implemented a requirement that federal employees return to in-office work
Withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord
Designated Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
Ended DEI initiatives in the federal government
Established the DOGE commission
Signed an extension for the TikTok ban
Declaration of a National Energy Emergency to promote domestic drilling
“Unleashed” energy production
Withdrew from the World Health Organization
Declared there are only two genders, male and female
Some of these are simply memorandums, and others are executive orders. It’ll be worth scrutinizing the feasibility and legal standing of many of these.
Trump’s immigration orders, reinstating Schedule F, the rollback of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the gender executive order, and the environmental regulation changes are straight out of Project 2025’s playbook. I spent the past year in articles and MSNBC appearances warning about how Trump’s official Agenda 47 directly aligns with Project 2025, and we’re now seeing that play out in real time. These executive orders come after President Trump picked about a dozen Project 2025 authors, contributors, and advisory board members for top jobs.
This is just the beginning. We need to be on the lookout in the coming days. Some executive actions will be part of public efforts to disorient Americans, while some moves will be made more quietly. That’s according to Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller’s strategy, according to The New York Times:
“The first is to flood the zone. He believes that those he regards as Mr. Trump’s enemies — Democrats, the media, groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and portions of the federal bureaucracy — are depleted and only have so much bandwidth for outrage and opposition. Mr. Miller has told people that the goal is to overwhelm them with a blitz of activity.
“The second lesson has been to operate with as much secrecy as possible to prevent anyone from finding ways to obstruct the Trump agenda. As a congressional staffer, Mr. Miller was freewheeling in his digital communications. But since working for Mr. Trump, who doesn’t use email and regards people who take notes with suspicion, he puts almost nothing in writing. Instead, he works through emissaries."
What will the administration try to do behind the scenes? With an administration filled with loyalists, there will be less pushback against Trump’s agenda and fewer leaks to the press about their internal maneuverings. Needless to say, journalism will be more important than ever.
Stay tuned. There’s a lot of work ahead of us.
I am so grateful that you are writing in this space. Thank you for all your work. This is so clear and concise and I am so glad for the information. I am sharing it with all the people. You are amazing. Keep going.
Unfortunately, EOs are all that he has to make it appear that he’s doing something to his base. The House GOP factions can’t seem to get a consensus on his agenda being passed with GOP votes alone (from what I can see).