Donald Trump is President of the United States. Again. His inaugural address Tuesday wasn’t quite as dark as the ‘American carnage’ speech he gave eight years ago. This time around, Trump promised the beginning of a “golden age of America” before reading off a laundry list of policies he plans to pursue during his presidency that will, almost certainly, not usher in a golden age. Standing behind Trump were some of the richest men in the world: Tech CEOs Sundar Pichai of Google, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and X’s Elon Musk. Longtime D.C. reporter and friend of the pod Todd Zwillich helps us break down Trump’s inauguration speech. 

Later in the show, Eugene Daniels, White House correspondent for Politico, walks us through the many executive orders Trump signed Tuesday.

And in headlines: Joe Biden spent his final hours as president issuing a bunch of preemptive pardons for members of his family and Trump’s political enemies, Vivek Ramaswamy may leave DOGE, and China said it’s open to selling TikTok.

Show Notes: