Trump Denounces “Corrupt Establishment” as Bezos, Zuckerberg, Cook, Pichai, Brin, Musk Look On

“Mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal”

President Trump smiles and embraces Melania Trump, seconds after being sworn into office as the 47th president. Former President Biden and Former Vice President Harris are at right. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Vice President Vance are also visible in the photo.

President Trump, in his second inaugural address, paired a scathing denunciation of America’s prior leadership with an optimistic vision of a dramatically improved future.

Visible on the inaugural stage with Trump inside the Capitol Rotunda were some of America’s wealthiest and most powerful technology industry leaders—Tesla’s Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai and Sergey Brin, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

The ceremony also featured blessings for Trump from the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Judaism’s Yeshiva University, and also from representatives of evangelical Protestantism (Rev. Franklin Graham) and the black church (Lorenzo Sewell of 180 Church in Detroit).

“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump began, vowing “to create a nation that is proud, prosperous, and free” and “a thrilling new era of national success.”

Trump introduced the harshest section of his speech by explaining what he said was a need to “be honest about the challenges that we face.”

He named “a radical and corrupt establishment” that he said has “has given unlimited defense to foreign borders” but not American borders. He also mentioned an education system that “teaches students to hate our country.”

This was pretty awkward with President Biden and Vice President Harris sitting right there, along with other establishment members such as President George W. Bush and Laura Bush and President Clinton and Hillary Clinton.

“All of this will change starting today,” Trump promised, declaring “a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal.”

“From this moment on America’s decline is over,” Trump said. “I was saved by God to make America great again.”

“For American citizens, January 20, 2025, is liberation day,” he said.

Trump offered a special thanks “to the black and hispanic communities,” who he said had fueled his election victory.

“Today is Martin Luther King Day. In his honor we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true,” Trump said, later promising, “We will restore a society that is color blind and merit based.”

Much of the address tracked Trump’s campaign stump speech, with talk of immigration and inflation, and, on energy, a promise, “we will drill, baby, drill.”

On trade, Trump vowed, “We will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.”

“We are establishing the external revenue service,” he said, a contrast to the internal revenue service.

On foreign policy, Trump spoke of “wars that we end and perhaps most importantly wars that we never get into.”

“My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and a unifier,” Trump said. The most bellicose language was directed toward Panama and China. “China is operating the Panama canal, and we didn’t give it to China…and we’re taking it back,” Trump said.

He said he’d send “astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars.”

Mentioning his own “remarkable political comeback,” Trump said, “In America, the impossible is what we do best.”

“We stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history,” Trump said.

The best speech delivered at the inauguration came from Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota.

She spoke of the peaceful transfer of power at the heart of democracy and said:

President Kennedy, who at one point worked as a senator in this building and would often walk through this very rotunda, once said, ‘In a democracy, every citizen, regardless of interest in politics, holds office. Every one of us is in a position of responsibility.’ With that responsibility of citizenship comes an obligation not to seek out malice, as President Lincoln once reminded us, but to view others with a generosity of spirit despite our differences.

Trump’s opponents tried to lock him up. There were at least three known attempts to kill him. In Butler, Pennsylvania, a would-be assassin’s bullet grazed Trump’s ear. The “millimeter miracle,” Lorenzo Sewell called it. “Look what God has done,” Franklin Graham said, surveying the scene with Trump preparing to take the oath of office. “We have been given a gift by God today,” Trump’s pick to be FBI director, Kash Patel, said at an official inaugural event after Trump was sworn in.

Given what Trump’s enemies tried to do to him, any difficulty the politician himself has summoning generosity of spirit may be understandable. Still, with Biden and Harris sitting there on stage, it seemed almost cruel of Trump not to find something appreciative to say about them. Trump may figure that he’s already won over his enemies in Silicon Valley, and that the Democrats are deplorables. Or he may figure, based on his experience, that the key to winning over opponents or doubters is not so much generosity but ferocity and success.

Klobuchar’s “generosity of spirit” world is one I find attractive, yet God, or the voters, or some combination of the two, have put Trump back in the White House.

Rev. Frank Mann of the Roman Catholic diocese of Brooklyn offered a “make America great again” prayer while also reminding that “Americans kneel to God and to God alone.” For all the talk at the inaugural ceremony of Trump being an instrument of God—including the talk from Trump himself—Mann’s reminder was well timed.

There will be plenty of opportunities over the next four years for Americans to see how Trump is no divinity. His presidential predecessors arrayed at the ceremony—Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden—all fell well short of perfection.

Klobuchar noted that the inaugural ceremony “marks what will soon be 250 years of our democracy.” Even those skeptical of Trump’s personal status as a messenger of God may perceive some providence in America’s design, offering as it does every four years an opportunity for renewal.