by José Ernesto Nováez Guerrero, published on Resumen English, January 25, 2025
Yes, Donald Trump has taken office as the 47th President of the United States. Due to the freezing temperatures, the ceremony had to be held indoors, which made the list of attendees even more select. Trump begins his second term with a majority for his party in the Senate and Congress, as well as the backing of an electoral victory in which he won not only the electoral vote but also the popular vote, even though his voters represent barely 30 percent of the total possible votes in the United States.
Like everything surrounding Trump, his inauguration was a great spectacle, full of bombastic phrases, threats and promises that are difficult to keep. His inaugural address was a denial of the Biden administration, an attack on what he called a “radical and corrupt system that has extracted power and wealth from our nation” and he pledged to increase the country’s wealth and expand its territory.
After being sworn in, the new president went to the Capital One Arena in Washington DC to meet with thousands of supporters and guests. There he signed his first executive orders and answered several questions from journalists, highlighting moments such as the confusion of Spain with a BRICS plus country.
Of all the media and symbolic spectacle that makes up the inauguration of a new president, and which Trump has certainly taken to a new level, it is worth dwelling on three fundamental questions. The first is who attended the inauguration of the new president, because it gives an idea of his system of political alliances and the nature of these, then the executive orders signed on his first day in the Oval Office, because they can help to get an idea of where the United States might be heading in national and international politics in the coming period, and the last is the international reactions to the inauguration of the new president, as well as to the statements and decisions made on his first day in office.
The guests
A curious representation of the American and global elites gathered at the indoor ceremony held in the Capitol Rotunda. In addition to the living former presidents of the United States and former first ladies minus Michelle Obama, there was the family of the incoming president and vice president.
In Latin America, Javier Milei, an enthusiastic Trump fan who almost cried when he met him in early 2024 at the Conservative Political Action Conference in the United States, was invited to attend the inauguration. Invitations were also extended to right President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador and Daniel Novoa of Ecuador as well as to the puppet Edmundo González’, thus demonstrating the new US administration’s willingness to re-enact the charade of a Guaidó 2.0. The former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was also invited, although he was unable to attend. Other governments in the region did not attend due to lack of invitation, as is the case of Mexico and Colombia, where presidents of a progressive persuasion govern.
Some of the guests who attracted a lot of attention were the American Big Tech moguls. At the head of them all is Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet and owner of Tesla, SpaceX and the social network X, who also invested more than 250 million dollars in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Musk has been confirmed as head of the new Department of Government Efficiency, at the head of which he is supposed to advise the President of the United States on what measures to take to cut spending and reduce the deficit. Given his nature, it is likely that the proposals will aim to reduce the state’s social investment, while leaving untouched the multi-million dollar contracts with which NASA subcontracts to his company Space X and the huge military budgets. In addition, an excited Elon Musk attracted a lot of attention during the celebrations for Donald Trump’s inauguration by repeating more than once a gesture reminiscent of the old Hitlerian SS salute.
In addition to Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, delegate of Meta, administrator-marketer of the data of more than a billion people and who has had a tense relationship with Trump, who went so far as to threaten to imprison him, was also in the room. As a sign of the times to come, as soon as Donald Trump’s victory was finalized, Meta Platforms announced that it was eliminating its fact-checking program in the United States and reducing the limits on debates on issues such as immigration and gender identity.
Another attendee was Jeff Bezos, magnate and owner of the Blue Origin rocket company, CEO of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post, a media outlet that refrained from supporting any candidate in the recent presidential campaign and which could presumably take an even more conservative line in the near future. An excellent example of what American elites understand by “journalistic objectivity” and “freedom of expression”.
Also present was Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, a company owned by Alphabet, which donated more than a million dollars to Trump’s inaugural fund, with which the company undoubtedly hopes to avoid being subjected to the harsh antitrust laws in the United States, which it has already received threats about in the past.
Also present at the ceremony were other millionaires such as Miriam Adelson, born in “Israel” and a fervent supporter of Trump since his previous term, Indian millionaire Mukesh Ambani and the powerful French Arnault family, owners of several luxury brands and chains.
Perhaps never before has the rule of the corporatocracy been so evident at an inauguration ceremony in the United States.
The measures
On his first day in office, Trump has left no one indifferent. The measures taken so far have a clear emphasis on the issue of immigration, one of the central themes of his campaign, but they are also aimed at eliminating regulations on labor, social and sexual rights, reducing investment in health, science and the environment and withdrawing from international organizations, something he had already done in his previous term.
A large number of the executive orders signed today are aimed at overturning provisions of the previous Biden administration. In total, 78 provisions of the previous administration were revoked. Broadly speaking, the revoked orders can be divided into four main groups. The first are those associated with citizens’ rights. Here, for example, provisions such as Executive Order 13985 of January 20, 2021, for the Promotion of Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government, were revoked. 13988 of January 20, 2021, for the Prevention and Combating of Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation or 14070 of April 5, 2022, to Continue Strengthening Americans’ Access to Affordable, Quality Health Coverage; all revoked.
Another large group are those associated with labor protection. Here, among others, 13999 of January 21, 2021, for the Protection of the Health and Safety of Workers, and 14003 of January 22, 2021, for the Protection of the Federal Workforce, were revoked.
Regulations on health, science and technology were also revoked, mainly related to post-COVID measures of the Biden administration, investment in public health and tackling climate change. We can point, for example, to 13990 of January 20, 2021, for the Protection of Public Health and the Environment and Restoration of Science to Address the Climate Crisis, 14057 of October 30, 2023, for Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability. Also 14110 of October 30, 2023, for the Safe and Reliable Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, the latter revocation loosening Big Tech’s grip on the use of AI possibilities.
The last major group of revocations are those associated with the Biden administration’s immigration policy. Among others, 14010 of February 2, 2021, for the Creation of a Comprehensive Regional Framework to Address the Causes of Migration, Manage Migration in North and Central America, and Provide a Safe and Orderly Process for Asylum Seekers at the United States Border stands out.
Additionally, the president took another series of highly controversial measures. He revoked Cuba’s exclusion from the infamous List of State Sponsors of Terrorism and designated Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, appealing to an 18th-century law and opening the door to a policy violating Mexico’s national sovereignty. He also withdrew the United States again from the World Health Organization, claiming that Washington paid the organization more than $500 million a year. Trump also signed a pardon for more than 1,500 people arrested for the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and declared a national emergency on the southern border of the United States, which will increase resources for the immigration issue and militarize the border with Mexico.
The reactions
In the days leading up to and during his inauguration, Trump’s speech was full of threats to countries and organizations, including some, such as NATO, that are old political hangers-on of Washington. Likewise, the initial measures taken directly or indirectly affect several nations. This, of course, has generated various international reactions, which are interesting to review.
The Cuban government has strongly denounced the country’s return to the List, a decision taken on this occasion without even appealing to any minimum pretext. As former President Biden declared six days ago, there is no evidence to support the claim that the island supports terrorism. The Cuban president reacted on X and the Revolutionary Government released a statement affirming that: “This new act of aggression by the United States government against the Cuban people shows, once again, the true, cruel, ruthless objective of these and so many other measures of encirclement and asphyxiation, which are applied against Cuba for purposes of domination.”
Trump also said that they are going to take back the Panama Canal, which he claims is currently under Chinese control. In this regard, the President of Panama rejected the statements made by the Republican magnate and stated that the Canal is, and will continue to be, Panama’s. However, it was also announced that the Panamanian authorities had begun an investigation into a Hong Kong company operating in the Canal.
With regard to NATO, Trump was as critical as he was during his previous term. He pointed out that the organization’s member countries will have to increase their defense budget spending to five percent of their GDP. He added that the United States has spent 200 billion more on the War in Ukraine than the rest of NATO. The reaction of the main European countries has ranged from enthusiasm to caution. While Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni makes no secret of her delight at the new northern president, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has diplomatically pointed out that the United States is a “very close ally”. Netanyahu, for his part, is among those celebrating the tycoon’s arrival.
The president of Mexico chose not to overstate Trump’s threats and statements. She emphatically reaffirmed her willingness to defend her country’s sovereignty against any threat that may arise.
Some considerations
Trump’s return to the White House has the air of spectacle that characterizes the Republican magnate. From concrete steps and decisions to vague threats and promises, which seek more to generate scenarios of tension on which to negotiate advantages for the United States than to be called to action. However, there is a perspective that could be described as neocolonial and expansionist, which understands that the interests of the United States require the assimilation or influence of the country over specific territories that have a marked geopolitical weight. Although it is unlikely that there will be a direct annexation of Greenland, the Panama Canal or Canada, it is probable that privileges for US companies will be aggressively negotiated in those countries, with special emphasis on natural resources, many of which are beginning to be accessible in Greenland, for example, as a result of global warming, which Trump and his allies deny.
This second stage of government promises to be more aggressive in terms of the concentration of wealth in the nation, freedom of action for capital within the framework of the US national state and a greater direct symbiosis between the holders of capital and the power structures of the state. In particular, the alliance with Big Tech configures a universe of hegemonic possibilities for the far right, which will now be able to make use of networks and services, as well as the massive sources of data and possibilities for influence and shaping of social consciousness that these technological giants have at their disposal.
The removal of restrictions on the dissemination of fake news and the development of AI makes the potential developments of these technologies very alarming, especially considering their application against counter-hegemonic projects such as China or in the Latin American region, projects such as Venezuela and Cuba.
Trump intends to govern in alliance with the far right, the corporate and media powers that be, and to do so stripped of the “woke” subtleties that characterized previous Democratic and some Republican administrations. In this sense, his government is a stark expression of imperialism in this historical phase. The appeal to conservative values, the emergence of fascist ideology, the criminalization of migrants, militarization and the disregard for gender identity are all expressions of the crisis of a model of domination and an attempt by a sector of the American political elite to reconfigure the international geopolitical scenario and return it to a balance that is once again advantageous for them and their interests.
*Featured Image: Former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally in Waterford Township, Michigan, on February 17, 2024. Paul Sancya/AP
José Ernesto Nováez Guerrero is a Cuban writer and journalist. Member of the Hermanos Saíz Association (AHS). Coordinator of the Cuban chapter of the Network in Defense of Humanity. Rector of the University of the Arts
Source: Network in Defense of Humanity – Cuba, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English