Trump is back in the White House with other allies and enemies

More than 30 kilometers are being built across the nation’s capital. Concrete blocks are placed on the main branches. Some roads have been closed to traffic. The skies are flooded with surveillance drones.

But if Washington looks like a war zone again, it doesn’t have to be. Unlike the last time President-elect Donald J. Trump took the oath of office eight years ago, heated tensions and angry defiance have given way to accommodation and concessions. The resistance of 2017 has decreased until the resignation of 2025.

The attitude leading up to Trump’s second inauguration represents a major shift since Trump’s first inauguration. Most of the world, it seems, bows before the future president. Tech moguls flocked to Mar-a-Lago to pay their respects. Billionaires sign seven-figure checks and fight for space at the inauguration ceremony. Some companies pre-empt climate and diversity programs to gain favor.

Some Democrats are talking about working with the newly restored Republican president on specific issues. Some press organizations are thought to be leaning towards showing more respect. The grassroots protests that put hundreds of thousands of people on the streets of Washington to protest Mr. Trump just a day after his 2017 inauguration had some of that in store for Saturday.

“Hashtag resistance has turned into a hashtag,” said David Urban, a longtime Republican strategist and Trump ally. “The pink hat is gone, replaced by a MAGA hat worn by blacks and browns.”

The determined protesters who turned out for Saturday’s People’s March said they refused to give up, but there was sympathy for those who expressed exhaustion at the victory of mr. The last Trump.

“Why do we have to keep doing this?” said Lisa Clark, 65, of Akron, Ohio, who attended the 2017 Women’s March. We’ve been here before, and we’ll be here again if we have to.

For both the progressive left and the Never Trump right, this second inauguration changed all perceptions after eight years of fighting Mr. Trump. Their strategy and message did not prevent them from being in power. And many of them become tired and discouraged.

“Democratic leaders know that focusing all their energy on one man is not going to work,” said Donna Brazile, former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. “Swallowing is bitter, but not the end.” We will rebuild. Anti-Trumpism will never go away, but it will manifest itself differently during Trump 2.0. “

For Trump’s team, it was a time of triumph and celebration. After Mr. Trump left office four years ago, defeated, impeached twice and facing the possibility of multiple criminal investigations, it seems unlikely that he will return to the White House four years later. later. So for his camp, it brings a sense of justice this weekend.

And this time, Mr. Trump arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue instead of the Electoral College winner who lost the popular vote. He was sworn in on Monday with a blowout victory in the popular vote, albeit by the smallest margin of victory since the 19th century rather than a landslide. where he said.

“If you were someone who was there in 2015, 2016, 2017, and you’re here today, you feel vindicated,” Mr. Urban said.

Some of the current portrayals of Mr. Trump from the world of politics, the media and business are from a broader perspective but perhaps public opinion is biased. Mr. More Trump than he thought. Perhaps, from this point of view, Mr. Trump, however imperfectly, has understood something important in suggesting that the country needs to rethink some of its internal practices.

A new poll published by The New York Times and Ipsos on Saturday found that even many Americans who dislike Mr. Trump agree with some of his views on the country’s problems. and some of his signature policy measures, including the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.

And so the frustrated opponents face a period of observation before returning to the field. “The humbling reality of winning the public for itself requires a lot of introspection and introspection,” said Patrick Gaspard, president of the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank.

The attitude toward this second presidential run is different, he said, because progressives were surprised when Mr. Trump beat former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2016 but were less surprised when Vice President Kamala Harris beat him in the month of November.

“The activist response usually comes from physical shock – something happens, people are shocked by it or confused by it or angry about it, and there’s this visceral reaction that goes viral, ” said Mr. Gaspard. ”It usually comes from shock. Nothing happened here that was shocking.”

Indeed, he added, President Biden’s political difficulties and his insistence on running for a second term have long drained supporters. “For the center-left, it’s been the slowest train we’ve seen in a long time,” Mr. Gaspard said. “From the minute Joe Biden announced he was running for a second term, you felt it in the house Our leaders and the coalition government believe that there is immediate deflation.”

Even as the opposition ponders its approach, the powerful settle for a returning leader. The eagerness of tech tycoons such as Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg to judge Mr. Trump may not reflect new personal affection for the incoming president, but it certainly underscores the analysis of the changing social- living and calculating the best way to protect themselves from war. bully, vindictive. Companies that have abandoned diversity, equality and inclusion policies without even being questioned are waiting for the future.

Once back in office, Mr. Trump finds that he does not need to take action to force his adversaries to conform, back down, or bend to his own defense strategy. He’s just getting his way with who he is.

News networks are shaking up their lineups, editorial pages are rejigging their actions at the behest of wealthy owners and media parent companies are filing lawsuits together. to Mr. Trump or considering doing so. Mr. Zuckerberg’s Meta has abandoned fact-checking by challenging the president.

Unlike his predecessor, James B. Comey, in Mr. Trump’s first term, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray did not wait to be fired but resigned on his own. Special counsel Jack Smith did not wait to be ordered to drop the investigation into Mr. Trump but did so on his own.

Democrats like Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan preaches the virtues of cooperation. Seven congressional Democrats who boycotted Mr. Trump’s 2017 inauguration told Politico they would attend this one. Republicans who stood by Mr. Trump at times at the start of his first term are now bending over backwards to confirm nominees he personally rejected.

Meanwhile, beneath this wave of acceptance lies fear in Washington. Many of those threatened with retaliation against Mr. Trump are spending this weekend fearing what’s to come. An FBI under the control of Kash Patel, a pro-Trump campaigner awaiting Senate confirmation, could become a bureau of revenge. Mr Patel in his book published a list of 60 people he believed to be “deep state” actors to target and vowed to “go after” the media for what he believed to be lies.

The wait changed the environment. Some critics who have spoken out against Mr. Trump are staying off television, not posting on social media and refusing to speak to reporters on the record to avoid drawing attention to themselves. If they are low, they think that he may not follow them.

But pockets of resistance in Washington remain. Sarah Longwell, a Republican political strategist who is now the publisher of The Bulwark, a conservative online publication and haven for the remaining Never Trumpers. He sees a “great desire” for heterodox views, “if more and more people accept defeat.”

One reason Washington will be different at the start of Trump’s next term, he said, is that this time he’s a lame duck under the 22nd Amendment. in the Constitution can no longer engage – although he sometimes jokes, if they. joke, about finding a way to stay in office even after four years.

“There are a million reasons why it’s different,” Ms. Longwell said, “but no one is trying to prepare to beat Trump for a second term. They’re trying to figure out how to make themselves whole, how to win again in two years and four years.”

In some ways, he said, it’s a question of not just fighting it but waiting it out: “People are just thinking how are you going to cope for the next four years?”

Aishwarya Kavi contributed to the report.