Trump readies for triumphant inauguration

Reuters :

Donald Trump will complete an extraordinary comeback on Monday (20 January) when he is inaugurated for a second term as US president, apparently stronger and more unpredictable than ever.
The 78-year-old Republican will be sworn in at the US Capitol in Washington amid high pomp and ceremony before making a triumphant return to the White House that he left in disgrace four years earlier.
The day before he will host a star-studded “Make America Great Victory Rally,” reportedly featuring the world’s richest man Elon Musk, and a performance by the Village People, the band behind his signature song “Y.M.C.A.”
For billionaire Trump it will cap a remarkable journey that saw him defy two assassination attempts and a historic criminal conviction to seize back the presidency from Joe Biden.
Trump’s official photo as the 47th US president — and the first to be a felon — even bears a striking resemblance to a viral 2023 mugshot taken in another criminal case.
The only thing that could spoil Trump’s party is the weather, with a potentially lethal “polar vortex” threatening to make his inauguration the coldest in 40 years.
Extreme weather could force the ceremony indoors.
America and the world will be watching Trump’s inaugural speech at the Capitol where he will set the tone for a presidency that many expect to be even more volatile than his first.
Since the election that tone has veered between promises of a “golden age” and vows of vengeance against his enemies — coupled with outlandish territorial threats against Greenland and Panama and promises of sweeping tariffs.
He is also expected to quickly issue executive orders on key topics including migration, and to pardon some of the pro-Trump rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
But the guest list for Trump’s inauguration underscores how the man whose 2016 victory shocked the world has now become the new normal for American politics.
Musk and fellow billionaires Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta will all reportedly attend, highlighting the tech moguls’ efforts to court Trump.