DON OF A NEW DAY
Trump arrive to take office a 45th prez
Donald Trump will make history Friday when he is inaugurated as the nation’s 45th president — as the most unconventional nominee ever to reach the White House.
Close to a million people, both supporters and protesters, are expected to descend on Washington, DC, for the ceremony and other events.
Trump will be sworn in at noon by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on the steps of the Capitol, marking the peaceful transition of power from the Obama administration.
Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday that Trump’s inaugural speech will be “a very personal and sincere statement about his vision for the country.”
“He will discuss what it means to be an American, the challenges that we face as members of the middle class — that they face,” Spicer said, adding that “infrastructure and education, our manufacturing base” will be among the topics.
“I think it is going to be less of an agenda and more of a philosophical document — a vision of where he sees the country, the proper role of government, the role of citizens.”
Trump has said he studied the inaugural speeches of Presidents Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy to prepare his own address, and he tweeted out a photo this week showing him working on a draft at his Palm Beach, Fla., estate, Mar-a-Lago.
Spicer said Trump was writing the speech himself, with advice from advisers Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway and incoming Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.
Trump and wife Melania will start the day at St John’s Episcopal Church near the White House, followed by a morning tea with President Obama and Michelle Obama.
The swearing-in will be followed by a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and a luncheon that will feature steak, lobster, choco- late soufflé and ice cream.
The new president and first lady will then celebrate during a series of three inaugural balls.
Performers at festivities, which began Thursday, will include the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Radio City Rockettes, country stars Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood, the band 3 Doors Down
and “America’s Got Talent” singer Jackie Evancho.
Spicer said Thursday that about 50 senior Obama administration appointees will remain in place to ensure a smooth transition.
Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon will stay as acting chiefs until their successors are confirmed by the Senate, Spicer said.
Work will stay at the Defense Department only until retired Gen. James Mattis is confirmed.
At the State Department, Shannon will stay at least until next week, when the Senate is expected to vote on Trump’s pick for secretary of state, former Exx-- onMobil CEO Rex Tillerson.
Others sticking around include Brett McGurk, Obama’s point man for fighting ISIS, and Nicholas Rasmussen, the National Counterterrorism Center director.
When Obama took office in 2009, the Senate confirmed seven Cabinet members on Inauguration Day. But only two of Trump’s — Mattis and retired Gen. John Kelly for Homeland Security — may make it through Friday.
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
After, they celebrated at a Make America Great Again concert at the Lincoln Memorial featuring Keith, Greenwood and others.
For the 44th time in 220 years, the United States on Friday marks the peaceful transfer of supreme executive power to a new, duly elected president. Can Americans set aside our divisions for a moment to appreciate that remarkable achievement?
Yes, Donald Trump is different — a populist given to harsh rhetoric; a man who has never before served in any elected office, nor run anything in the public sector.
And one who assumes the Oval Office with an opposition frothing at the mouth over its unexpected loss, desperate to deny his legitimacy and frustrate his agenda.
By all accounts, Trump will aim at unity in his Inaugural Address — setting out his ambitions in a philosophical (not ideological) context, emphasizing goals that unite the overwhelming majority of the nation. If the new president shows the same grace he did in his victory speech late on Election Night, he’ll hit the mark.
Of course, many will refuse to listen — indeed, will be protesting Trump’s ascension. The only thing he can do about that is prove them wrong, and that work will take time. Tweeting at them certainly won’t do it.
Political passions divided the nation long before Trump came along. Even where his goals have clear majority support, like replacing ObamaCare with something better, success will only anger the diehard haters.
But those same passions make it easy to forget that the haters on either side are actually quite few (if often loud). The overwhelming majority in the nation’s broad center always hopes for the success of every new president, Republican or Democrat — hopes that he (or, someday, she) governs well, bringing peace, prosperity and progress.
From Thursday’s laying of the ceremonial wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns to Friday’s swearing-in, speech and parade, the Inauguration is a national ceremony marking awesome power passed in good order from one leader to the next, in the world’s oldest republic — which remains one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
That much, we should all celebrate.