The 2025 Presidential Inauguration capped the incredible journey of the luckiest man in the history of mankind.

He was born fabulously rich, got richer and famous for hosting a TV show, the easiest and fun job in the world, entered the political arena at the time the nationalistic emotion galvanized the electoral forces to catapult him to the pinnacle of American political power. And he now seems to have reeled into his orbit someone closest to being a son he wished for but did not have, Elon Musk, youthful, energetic, focused, fun, and, especially, extremely intelligent, who was shouting laughingly and gestured wildly at the Capital One Arena, a short distance from the Capitol Rotunda where the Inauguration was taking place. He seems to have finally found an advisor he trusts like no one he had ever worked with before, including his own children.

MAGA has convinced the population they could do the job of cleaning up, in their opinion, the mess of immigration, preventing foreign countries from bleeding the U.S., and making America more formidable than it is now. That is the plan. Project 2025 is just a prologue.

At the time this article was written, the president had pardoned all 1500 January 6 defendants, a sweeping order even for his Vice President who publicly stated that the rioters who had been convicted of violence should not be pardoned.

But, I believe, the second Trump presidency will take a more reasoned course. The president Trump we saw and heard during the Inauguration is not the recalcitrant and uncompromising candidate during the four years prior. He seemed benign and moderate. Surprisingly, he was articulate and had a perfect grasp of the facts when he was signing the Executive Orders and answering multiple questions from the reporters at the same time.

There is a stark difference between his first presidency, the run in 2020, and this one: he is now beholden to no one, MAGA or Non-MAGA, millionaires or billionaires. He has the opportunity to do as he wishes to build up his legacy as a statesman. He can afford to go against the extremists and that is the key to successfully achieving that goal.

But in any movement, there is always a faction trying to fish in troubled water to pursue their own goals. The extremists in the MAGA Movement are those fishermen. With Mr. Musk in the (possibly West) wing, the Trump second administration would probably not disappoint the Non-MAGA Republicans who have believed in his crusade and even the Democrats who have opposed him.

A few observations from the Inauguration that could provide fodder for the New York Post. There was a lady in black right behind the president when he was signing some documents. She was standing tall and erect, but her rather wide-brimmed black hat covered her face for most of the ceremony. For several minutes, I thought she was a ceremonial official standing guard over the president during the signing. It turned out it was the First Lady. Pager Six, please find out who advised her on her ensemble.

Eric Trump sat with his wife, Lara but Jared Kushner sat at one end of the dais, away from his wife Ivanka who sat at the other end, and not even in the presidential family’s row but a different row. At first, I thought the family’s row did not have enough seats so he had given his seat to Melania’s father. When the camera panned across the dais, it showed several empty seats.

Don Jr. was there by himself, no former nor current girlfriend.

Tiffany is expecting her first child.

The Vice President sported a long red tie, a show of how Trumpian he was. It turned out that Trump himself wore a purple/brown tie.

The last item was Ivanka’s face that looked as if she were woken up too early in the morning.

JOHN P. LE PHONG

For the last eight years, MAGA has had a firm grip on the Republican Party whose members and leadership including elected officials have moved in lockstep with no opposition of any kind, a clear sign of an intolerant and un-democratic political organization.
So, when Elon Musk stood up against their steadfast but ill-informed position against H-1B visa program, it is newsworthy and MAGA-shaking. Many of its leaders are foaming at their mouth; it is first and small but a crack, nevertheless.

Mr. Musk does not stop there. He endorses Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House. The Speaker has shown some backbone, albeit with flexible cartilage. He is an ultra-conservative with principles. He has shown his love for the country beyond and above partisanship. He is quiet but gets the job done. He stood for stability during the fight over budget against MAGA’s determination to create chaos – fish in troubled water. They are trying to deny him the Speakership.

Of course, Mr. Musk’s success depends, in large part, on the support of the President-elect. As previously suggested, politics was probably the last frontier for Mr. Musk to conquer. Finally, he did enter politics – to help the Republican Party when it was seemingly shaky. It was also suggested that the President-elect think about repairing his populist image and bolstering his legacy as a statesman. It’s time for him to resist the urge of having fawning people around him. He must push out of his circle those selfish calculating heartless ass-kissers, whose appearance in front of the camera with a smile is enough to offend our national decency.
The President also supports Mr. Johnson as Speaker. Let’s see if they succeed again tomorrow.

JOHN P. LE PHONG.