With the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States of America today, in the 60th US Presidential Inauguration ceremony, people have noticed his influence through his mere election to the most powerful civil office in the world.

Trump’s first days as the President-elect has had significant effects. Before Donald Trump ever became President, he was having significant influence.

Trump threatened unspecified trouble if the 2023 Gaza-Israeli war did not show signs of resolution by the time of his inauguration. Voilà! yesterday three more hostages were released in a new reactivation of the next phase of negotiating a resolution.  I cannot call it peace because the Lord says that “there is no peace to the wicked” Isaiah 48:22, repeated by Him to emphasize it Isaiah 57:21.

As early as 28 Nov 2024 the Mexican president had fallen into line, long before Trump’s presidency began [at 21:50 hrs]. He was soon joined by Mark Zuckerberg reversing the woke agenda of Facebook, and others such as Google and Bill Gates woke up and “smelled the coffee”. The anti-Trump balloon has been pricked and shown to be the hot air that it was, which began to inflate from the first day of his former victory. However, London’s petulant mayor Sadiq Khan has missed or objects to the new mood and he is still ‘warning’ about right-wing politicians and about “resurgent fascism” which he conveniently resurged days ahead of Trump’s inauguration.

The effete leadership in the West had been replaced by “a strongman” and if people don’t like it they can blame themselves for not supplying effective leadership in recent years. During the weakness of Biden’s term, several international conflicts broke out, in contrast to Trump’s first term when no wars began and some were stopped.

Further, Joe Biden allowed the Mexican-American border to leak like a sieve, reversing Donald Trump’s significant progress in controlling the border during his first term. Biden’s handing the issue to Kamala Harris showed how little he cared about illegal and criminal migrants coming into America. This was one issue leading to the current Trump victory.

As for personal, mental strength, how few would have been able to withstand what the majority American public has judged his multiple court cases to be a Democratic weaponizing the legal system? Biden’s ‘warning’ about Trump weaponizing the judicial system is not only a bit rich but very rich.

How many remember that Donald Trump called out Fake News long before social media demonstrated his foresight. Social media cancelled from Twitter not only the President himself but also many signficant public commentators. Mark Zuckerberg has publicized that Facebook’s cancelling was politically motivated, not only concerning COVID-19, but also in the suppression of the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop, because of pressure from Biden’s White House and the FBI. To call Trump a strong man is not hyperbole.

Just as Trump was accurate and correct to call out “Fake News”, similarly his recent assessment that politicians in California were incompetent in handling the wildfires in Los Angeles, probably viewed by many as simply another perjorative Trumpism, might be a very accurate assessment, which Californians would do well to consider.

First Actions

These first actions are like Freudian slips, showing what they consider to be the most pressing needs of our time. It has become common to assess a new administration’s first hundred days.

Donald Trump had a series of executive orders as soon as he became US President in his first term of office in 2017 and then Joe Biden reversed many of Trump’s policies and made twice as many executive orders in his first hundred days than Trump had done. This may have provoked Trump to issue about 100 executive orders on the first day of his second term.

Already Trump has promised to undo former president Biden’s policies using executive orders. This follows Biden doing the same when he came into office in 2021.

The priorities of US Presidents can be seen in these first acts upon becoming President. One of Bill Clinton’s first acts was to allow homosexuals to serve in the US military. These priorities can be seen in the first hundred days of Donald Trump and of Joe Biden. Tucker Carlson recalled Joe Biden’s first hours in office.

In his presidential campaign Robert J. Kennedy said that his first act would be to pardon Julian Assange but this is now passed.  Donald Trump had the opportunity to do so as his first Presidential term came to an end, but he missed the opportunity to correct this persecuting spirit and manifest injustice.  In the final hours of his presidency in 2021, Trump pardoned 74 people and commuted the sentences of 70 others, although overall, Trump granted less clemency than many modern presidents. For clarification, a pardon wipes out a conviction, commuting reduces or shortens a sentence. It will be interesting to see what he makes of his next opportunities. At least he has nominated Robert Kennedy to the Department Health as he builds his team. It has been suggested that Trump was not fully prepared for winning his first term as President, but there is no doubt that he is better prepared this time with a significant team.

Richard Nixon acted within his first 24 hours in the White House to promote his China policy, which nevertheless took time to implement because of his public image of being anti-communist.

End of term behaviour

This draws attention to the end of term behaviour of US Presidents. The first hundred days has been noted, but what about the last hundred days? Out-going presidents are not as lame duck as might be thought.

Joe Biden used his last months in office as US President to issue pre-emptive pardons for several figures “threatened with criminal prosecutions”, including Dr Anthony Fauc and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley. Notably and surprisingly he gave “an unconditional pardon” to his own son Hunter Biden, to avoid prison sentences, hoping the American public would understand a father’s behaviour towards his son, publicly demonstrating the nepotistic spirit of the Biden administration. Only 10 minutes before the end of his presidency, Biden issued pre-emptive pardons to six members of his own family.

Joe Biden also upset the balance in the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war with a hostile provocation of Russia with American weapons to make it more difficult for Trump to promote the peace that Biden would not achieve. Some speculated that this was to interfere with Trump’s claim that he could stop the war. Biden’s war-mongering was one of the poorer features of his presidency. Biden tried to gain some credit in his concluding weeks through the overthrow of Assad in Syria, hoping to have some international legacy out of the Syrian War.

As if this was not enough, Biden removed Cuba from the list of terrorist states.

This Presidential behaviour is drawing attention in recent years to Presidential behaviour in the interregnum period. Such a transition period is inevitable and has been formalized in Presidential Transition legislation such as the Presidential Transition Act of 1963

2023 Gaza-Israeli war

The intractable negotiations in this conflict have come to a head this month, at the very changeover of the US Presidency, possibly demonstrating the influence of outgoing and incoming US Presidents. Biden’s and Trump’s envoys worked together during the transition period and Trump has said he wants this solved before he became President or “there will be heavy prices to pay”. Trump’s unpredictability during his first administration frustrated people, but this proved to be one means of securing results, and this may prove beneficial again [at 15:27 hrs].

UK Behaviour

This unpredictable Presidential behaviour used to be associated with small-time dictators but it is spreading through the western world.

Concerning out-going Prime Ministers, one of Tony Blair’s last acts as British Prime minister was to give the green light to a nuclear power station, to the annoyance of the Greens and others like them, knowing that it would be difficult to get it through Parliament.

The current UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Stammer, does not feel the need to consult Parliament to implement his (unpublicized) policies and seems to covet the US Presidential ability to issue executive orders. He tried to hand over the Chagos Islands at great cost to the UK and at military cost to the USA. In a recent visit to Kiev he announced that he had signed a 100-year pact with Ukraine. The Speaker of the House of Commons often reproves Members of Parliament for making significant announcements in public before telling the House of Commons. What about this one?

As for his first 100 days and his priorities, Labour’s first action was to take away Winter Fuel Payments from pensioners and Labour’s first deal was a 15% pay rise with the Unions 19:34 hrs who then came back for more within six months.

Keir Stammer’s first 100 days were so chaotic that he has the lowest polling in the shortest time as Prime Minister, since Britain began this measure, with resignations from his Labour Party and calls for him to resign. Labour’s first deal was a 15% pay rise with the Unions 19:34 hrs who then came back for more within six months.

Sir Keir Starmer is already considering a Reset after only 150 days in office. Mark Dolan considers his Government to be “the worse Government in history” [at 20:02 hrs and 20:06 hrs and 20:09hrs] on Day 162 of his Government and Starmer himself is reckoned to be the worst Prime Minister in modern history.

There is something wrong when significant matters can be legislated without proper parliament scrutiny, such as going to war. Boris Johnson used his own bypassing-Parliament-procedure in provoking the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war.

At 78 years old, Trump is now the oldest person to be sworn into the US Presidency. However, Moses was 80 years old when his life’s work began in delivering the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. Although Trump’s speech was lucid, challenging and informative, yet his theology is still defective, stating: “If we work together, there is nothing we cannot do and no dream we cannot achieve. … Never believe that something is impossible to do.” This false optimism needs Christian moderation and proper Christian optimism. The BBC coverage moved away from “the religious bit” at the end, although truly some of it needed Christian correction anyway.

“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in heaven” Mat 6:10 and Lk 11:2.

Updates:

9 Nov 2024: Trump is promoting the King James Version of the Bible in America. It is his favourite book. “Make America Pray Again.”

21 Jan 2025: Trump’s executive orders on Day One.

21 Jan 2025: a video of the hand-over period.

21 Jan 2025: President Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance attended the inter-faith service of prayer [at 16:12 hrs] in Washington National Cathedral as a standard part of the post-inauguration-day prayer service. The speakers came from Christianity, judaism, islam, hinduism and bhuddism. One speaker spoke her mind, thinking and claiming that she was speaking “in the name of our God”. It would be good if she listened to what the Word of God says. Trump’s response was: “I didn’t think it was a good service. They could do much better.” Will Trump’s religious advisers teach him about false Christianity? Are they able to do so? Will they not only keep his two feet on the ground but also his knees, and teach him the unique claims of the Lord Jesus Christ?

23 Jan 2025: Trump’s first interview. Like Margaret Thatcher, he explains things to his hearers. He thinks as well as creates mantras. He speaks of “putting out a truth” instead of tweeting, but I have not heard the mainstream UK media refer to this.

24 Jan 2025: Trump has revoked Fauci’s security protection, as well as Mike Pompeo, John Bolton and officials associated with Hunter Biden’s laptop. Fauci has spoken about “immeasurable and intolerable distress” on his family.

27 Jan 2025: Trump gets his way with Colombia within 24 hours. Tariffs did not initially move the Colombian president but the threat to revoke US Visas for Colombian politicians seems to have done the job.

29 Jan 2025: Peter Mandelson, the proposed UK Ambassador to the USA, has eaten humble pie about Donald Trump. He has now decided that his previous assessment of Trump in 2019 as “a danger to the world” was “ill-judged and wrong”. Further Trump has “won fresh respect” from Mandelson, now described as “a nice person, a fair-minded person”, who “could become one of the most consequential American presidents” in Mandelson’s lifetime. Not only does this show “the Trump-effect”, but it also shows how Mandelson is able to change his tune to please the constituency to whom he wishes to appeal. I heard decades ago about “those who tell you what you want to hear” and it appears that Mandelson is well-skilled in this art, although it takes a measure of humility to put on the record his change of public stance. If Trump can achieve this with world leaders, it will make his Presidency significant.

30 Jan 2025: Trump has spooked the illegal immigrant criminals in America [at 22:06 hrs] by announcing that there are 30,000 beds available in Guantanamo Bay to detain the worse criminals. The result? Mexico is complaining that it cannot cope with the sudden surge of migrants fleeing America into Mexico. Trump knows how to get things done.