The Current - Trump's second inauguration draws celebration — and protest

Episode Date: January 20, 2025

Matt Galloway talks to people who have travelled to Washington for Donald Trump’s inauguration, in celebration — or in protest — of his second term as president. 

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Hello, I'm Matt Galloway and this is The Current Podcast. In just a few hours, Donald Trump will once again become President of the United States. His inauguration has been moved indoors due to extreme cold in Washington DC and the president-elect will now take the oath of office from inside the US Capitol Rotunda. Donald Trump is planning a bold start to his second term with dozens of immediate executive actions prepared for when he walks into the White House this afternoon, including possibly slapping a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods. Katie Simpson is the CBC's Washington correspondent. Katie, good morning. Good morning.

What is the mood aside from it being very cold? What is it like in Washington, DC this morning? I must say as a Canadian, I'm not finding it as cold as I was expecting it to be. Well done. But I'm used to standing outside Rideau Hall for Canadian political events very cold. So the city is largely on lockdown and that is expected for major events like this. I'm actually talking to you from the back of a cab and we're trying our best to drive around the perimeter to try to get me to an entry point so that I can go into the actual

Capitol for today's event. The mood is excited here. Donald Trump supporters from across the country have traveled to the Capitol. Yesterday, when we were out walking around before the president-elect's victory rally, it was a sea of red ball caps, people talking about the changes they're looking forward to most. They're excited about the policy agenda that Donald Trump is going to implement. And I will say one thing, Washington DC is home to a lot of Democratic voters. This is not a really Republican area. And it was easily the largest pro-Trump crowd in this city since January 6th of 2021.

And we all know what happened on that day. What do we know about who's going to be at the inauguration? As I mentioned, it was outside now, it's inside, and that has changed who can attend a little bit, but there is a star studded, if I can put it that way, guest list. Yeah, so Donald Trump is inviting those who we believe who can attend a little bit, but there is a star studded, if I can put it that way, guest list. Yeah, so Donald Trump is inviting those who we believe

are gonna have significant influence on his government, on his administration, expect to see tech billionaires, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, the CEO of TikTok is gonna be there. And those are some of the people who are trying to curry favor with Trump at this really important moment in sort of the development of tech and AI and social media. So those are the kinds of people who are going to be there. Of course, we're going

to see the Trump family. We're going to see members of Donald Trump's cabinet or people who are nominated to be in his cabinet. But really some of the world's richest people who are going to have influence in Donald Trump's, we believe influence, in his next administration, we're expecting to see them sort of front and center. You mentioned this victory rally. This was a huge rally that happened yesterday. He spoke, Donald Trump did. The village people performed. What should we take from what he said yesterday that might inform what we hear today in his inaugural address. Donald Trump really doubled down on his campaign promises, promising, you know, now is the

moment I can actually make good on these promises. He spoke about his plans for mass deportation. He did make one mention of tariffs. As a Canadian reporter, you know, my ears always sort of are listening for is there going to be a mention of tariffs because that could have such a huge Impact on the Canadian economy, but he talked a lot about the social issue changes that he wants to implement restricting transgender rights Talking about changing the military getting rid of diversity and and equity programs in the workplace in the government things like that

So as well as you know doing things to try to make life more affordable for Americans Those are the promises that helped propel him back to the White House and he made it very clear to his supporters He's gonna get to work right away delivering the promises they voted for the Wall Street Journal this morning is Suggesting that his speech will be framed around this idea of a revolution for common sense What is and you've hinted at this but what is the expectation of those who have traveled to Washington DC from this president? This is the second time that he will be in the Oval Office. What do they want from him? Well, they really see him as the voice of what they think is a part of America that

has been ignored. A number of people I spoke to yesterday kept talking about how they feel like they have been censored or if they don't have the right views that they've been shunned from Society and Donald Trump makes them basically feel okay to feel their feelings and talk about them out loud That is what a lot of people are looking forward to You know a lot of the things that Donald Trump says are deeply deeply controversial But the people that we spoke to traveling from all across the United States to get here We spoke to people from Texas, from Florida, people not really enjoying the colder weather.

And those are the kinds of things they're looking for. They fully believe in the Trump agenda, they believe what he said at his rallies, and they want to see those changes. There's a lot of ritual and ceremony when it comes to the transfer of power, and in particular the focus on a peaceful transfer of power. And in particular, the focus on a peaceful transfer of power, given what happened on the 6th of January, as you mentioned in years past. There's a photo op of incoming and outgoing

presidents. There's a letter that's often left on the desk of the Oval Office, kind of a nod to each other. What do we know about what this is going to look like between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, given the history between these two men. Yeah, well, you know, inauguration is supposed to be a celebration about the peaceful transfer of power and Donald Trump's reelection comeback after what happened four years ago when there was not, there was a peaceful transfer of power, but of course we saw some violence

along the way to that with what happened on January 6th. It really speaks to the remarkable political comeback of Donald Trump. He left Washington four years ago and the popular thought at the time was that there was no way that Donald Trump would be able to salvage his political career and look where we are in this moment. Donald Trump has exhibited in the past that he has not won to participate in political traditions. He is known as a disrupter. It

is his brand and that's what his supporters like about him. So if we're going to see, it's unclear if we're going to see those moments, those traditions in terms of signaling and nodding to, you know, this is part of the greater American good. This is the peaceful transfer of power. Donald Trump didn't participate in a lot of those things last time when he was leaving office. Joe Biden has said part of what he wants his legacy to be is sort of protecting and standing up for the institutions that protect democracy. And so his administration has tried to sort of facilitate this peaceful transfer of power, but the Trump camp has sort of complained that they're not making it as easy as it could be. So there's still some political friction there.

And so just finally, as soon as the ceremony is over, Donald Trump has plans to walk into the Oval Office or perhaps back into the rally that he's holding and sign into law dozens of executive orders. What are we expecting to see here? What will his first bits of business be? I would expect some details on how he's going to

carry out this mass deportation that he's promised to Americans. There could be several executive orders around that. There could be some executive orders related to some of the social promises that he's made related to transgender rights and DEI trading those kinds of things about banning certain elements of things like that. And then of course Canada is going to be watching so closely for tariffs. We don't know for sure that the tariffs are going to come today. He said that, you know, if he did not see those changes to security at the border, that he would impose tariffs on both Canada and Mexico. It could take many different shapes and forms. It's just there's from what I understand from talking to my sources, there's no sort of certainty on exactly what he is going to

do. So there's a whole Canadian contingent in Washington today, trying to get no sort of certainty on exactly what he is going to do So there's a whole canadian contingent in washington today trying to get some sort of clarity and certainty But until he starts sitting down and signing these orders and we can start to read them I don't think we're going to exactly know what they are until they actually are signed We'll hear from some members of that canta canadian contingent coming up in the meantime katie I hope your taxi drops you off at the right gate Fingers cross Like who knows? Yolo, as the kids say, we're yoloing out here on the streets of D.C. Katie, thank you very much. Thank you.

Katie Simpson, CBC's Washington correspondent. She mentioned the many, many people who have traveled to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration. Marcus C. Williams is one of them. He's chairman of the Rochester City Republicans Committee. He also started the Black Republican Club of Rochester, New York. He and a few friends made their way to DC over the weekend. Marcus, good morning to you. Good morning, how are you, Matt? I'm well, how are you doing?

You had tickets for the inauguration and now things because of the weather have been kind of moved around a little bit. So what is your plan for today? Matt, I tell you, everything's very fluid. They said the tickets are just now as important as just a commemoration piece. So we're trying to get in line and make sure

that we're close enough that we can actually get inside. Yesterday, we were able to attend the rally, but we were in line from 2 a.m. to 1 p.m. just to make sure that we could secure seats yesterday. Why is it so important for you to line up for so long to see Donald Trump? You know, it's not just Donald Trump, right? It's about the camaraderie and the sense of fellowship with our fellow Americans as we take part in this transition into a new administration, which Lord willing, will start

to make a difference by stripping back the overwhelming government overreach and re-empowering us as everyday citizens in different aspects of society. I mentioned that you were part of starting the Black Republican Club in Rochester. And we know that in the election, Donald Trump made inroads with young black male voters in particular. What do you think he is saying to your community that perhaps Republicans in the past weren't or the Democrats didn't say this time around

that didn't get your vote. What does he say to you? Well, he's actually talking to black Americans, which has been a chronically neglected group by Republicans for years because black Americans have been voting Democrat pretty much for the last 50, 60 years almost since Lyndon B. Johnson and the whole agenda that Lyndon B. Johnson pushed with the expansion of social welfare.

So the Republicans have turned away from them, but now Trump's coming back with this message of conservative family values, small government, empowering you as a citizen and if you want to start your own business and encouraging people to be able to be upwardly mobile and chart their own course in life. And is that what got your vote? Those sorts of, as you said, self-empowering kind of promises, the idea that you could do this yourself and that the role of government would be stripped away? Yes. Government right now, I'm a small business owner myself, and government is really repressive. But we've also seen a lot of censorship, just talking about general conservative and traditional family

values. As black Americans, we have strong family ties and strong family values, which are the foundational values of the Republican Party. We also have strong religious ties and Christianity, again, which are the foundational values of the Republican Party. So him talking to us directly and not giving us some cherry picked message like we saw from the Democrats who tried to pander. He just said, listen, this is what I want to do. This will help you and here's how it's going to help you. And that's exactly what we want. One big thing for many people was the deportations.

People are very happy in the black community about deportations, many of us, because it's as though our government is prioritizing foreigners instead of its actual citizens who are often overlooked, especially when you look at the service and treatment for black Americans in America. many of those folks I mean they're talking about 11 million people possibly being deported many of those undocumented folks in the United States Have children that were born in the u.s. People who have smart start started small businesses. Maybe they're part of the economy Maybe they pay taxes as well. Why do you think they should be? part of of that deportation effort

Well, it's not a think, right? It's a prioritization of American citizens, right? That's the whole concept of this MAGA movement, this make America great again. America was great by focusing on its citizens. So to return that focus on our citizens instead of foreigners, we need to make sure that the illegal aliens, people who did not come here legally, are returned to wherever it is that they have come from. Most of the people who are seeking asylum

aren't actually asylum seekers. They've been coerced and told to do that. And when their cases do go before court, which most of them are 15 years out now, because there are so many, they will end up being denied. It's something like 87 to 94% are denied when they do actually go to immigration court. We're going to hear more about this coming up from some of the people who work with some of those folks who may be on their way out of the United States. Let me just ask you about Donald Trump himself.

Do you have concerns about the man himself? He is somebody who has faced corruption charges, accusations of sexual assault. People have called him unfit for office. These are people who worked with him very closely. There was chaos that followed Donald Trump last time. Do you worry about Donald Trump, the man, being in charge of the United States again? No, we've already lived through one term of his and it wasn't that bad.

But what we did see is people from the entrenched bureaucracy, you know, they call it the deep say call it what you want. But really it is it's bureaucrats that are funded by lobbyists that are have their own special fiefdoms and their own interests that they want to prioritize. So they tried to push back against Trump's agenda. We saw the Democrats try to slander him at every single turn and fight every piece of legislation that he was trying to do to better our country and our nation. So with that being said, everybody's flawed, right? But as a leader, as a president in office, as his service was, his focus was correct. And the effort that he was putting in to push America

forward in a positive way was good. Nobody's perfect, but in the job, he was very good in that role, even though the Democrats tried to fight him and paint him very badly. I'm going to let you go, but what's one thing that you want to hear from Donald Trump today? As somebody who has supported him, but as I mentioned, also traveled to see him, what's one thing that you want to hear from him today? That he's going to take action on what he promised and deliver on the promises that he made starting immediately after he is inaugurated. Marcus, good to speak with you. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Matt, for having me. Glad to have you here. Marcus C. Williams is founding member of the Black Republican Club of Rochester and chairman of the Rochester City Republican Committee. Canadians have plenty of reasons to pay attention right now, but not everyone has a daily news habit. So, if you're hoping to build one, we're here to make that really easy. I'm Marcia Young. I'm John Northcott.

And we host World Report. Give us 10 minutes every morning, and we'll give you the biggest stories happening in Canada and around the globe. Whether you're tracking wildfires, leadership races, or threats to our national sovereignty, we'll help you understand what's going on. You can find and follow World Report wherever you get your podcasts. While Donald Trump's team prepared for today's events, thousands of protesters were gathering in Washington on Saturday for what was known as the People's March.

The people united will never be divided. The people united will never be divided. Trump, Trump the man's repulsive, self-absorbed and lacking brains. Our democracy is dead and the blame beyond his head. He cares nothing for the world we tried to build. The People's March was the largest permitted protest in the days surrounding the inauguration, organized in part by the people behind the historic Women's March during Trump's last presidency. Saturday's crowds though were just a fraction of the size compared to eight years ago. Tamika Middleton is the managing director of the Women's March. She helped organize the demonstrations. Tamika,

hello to you. Hello, good morning. Tell me about the atmosphere over the weekend. I think the atmosphere was an atmosphere that balanced a feeling of hope around what we could build together if we work together in community, what we could achieve in collective unity, and then also an atmosphere of defiance, a feeling of fighting back, of resisting what we see coming. What are you worried about what you see coming? I mean, I think the attacks on communities

that are most marginalized, that are most at risk, are our biggest, you know, the biggest fear for us. We've already, we already know that there are deportations planned in the coming days. We can anticipate attacks on trans communities. We can anticipate the dismantling of the social safety net. So by extension attacks on poor communities and communities of color. And, you know, we've also been told that there

will be the extension of these attacks on reproductive rights and on reproductive health care. How strong do you think that sense of resistance is? As I mentioned, the women's march after Trump's first inauguration was enormous. And the one this weekend was a good deal smaller. A lot of people out, but still a good deal smaller. So how would you characterize the movement this time around? I think the movement has shifted. We have experienced a Donald Trump presidency before.

I mean, that first time, I think there was this feeling of shock, this sense of outrage that a figure like a Donald Trump with this sort of blatant misogyny, blatant anti-immigrant, blatant racist sentiment, and the folks who were behind him, that that could be accepted in the role of the presidency. And so that shock and that outrage is what led to this spontaneous outburst and outpouring

of resistance at that time. And it was really a momentum that you could not have predicted and you could not have curated. It just sort of happened, and I think we're in a different space. Eight years later, folks have had some practice in the administration and the aftermath of a Trump administration, and so a lot of things have been built.

But also a lot of what people feel this time is a mixture of outrage, but also a lot of what people feel this time is a mixture of outrage, but also a feeling of loss, a feeling of grief, and a feeling of fear because of the conditions and the environment that the Donald Trump presidency and campaign has cultivated. I just have a minute or so left, so let me ask you, I'm not sure whether you were listening closely to Marcus earlier, who is a Black Republican who spoke with great excitement about what he thinks is going to happen and why he, why he threw his vote behind the Democrats or the Republicans instead of the Democrats, who he believes took his community for granted. How do you, how do you understand that? How do

you understand what that says about your country right now? I think there's a lot of division. I think, you know, I will quote Dr. Martin Luther King since it is Martin King holiday here in the US. Dr. King called for a radical revolution of values. And he talks about in particular, a trend towards towards greed and towards thing and material materialism. And that we needed to shift from a thing-oriented society to a people-oriented society. And I think the fervor with which folks feel excited about attacks on immigrant communities concerns me, especially as it relates to a push for more money, more material goods.

And so the focus for us will be how we support and protect poor people, how we support and protect workers, how we support and protect our immigrant brothers and sisters. Tameka, good to speak with you. Thank you very much for being here this morning. Thank you. Tameka Middleton is managing director of the Women's March. She helped organize the People's March in Washington, DC, protesting Donald Trump's presidency.

That happened in Washington on Saturday. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.