The triumphant return of Trump

Tomorrow, Jan. 20, 2025, at exactly noon, Donald John Trump will make history with his triumphant return as the 47th president of the United States of America.

Presidential inaugurations happen every four years, and this one would have been very different because of the level of security that was originally planned for such a historic and much anticipated event with an estimated 250,000 ticketed guests going to Washington, DC, and thousands more flocking to the National Mall to watch history unfold.

As Trump Inaugural Committee co-chairs Steve Witkoff and Kelly Loeffler had described it, “The 60th Inauguration will herald President Trump’s triumphant return to the White House and the start of the great American comeback. These special events will honor the rich history and tradition of our great nation, the American people and the promise our country holds for future generations.”

Traditionally, both the president-elect and his vice president would be sworn in at the West Front of the US Capitol, followed shortly by the traditional Presidential Parade along Pennsylvania Avenue down to the White House.

But the dangers posed by the bitingly cold weather has compelled president-elect Trump (who described the weather as an “Arctic blast”) to announce via his Truth Social platform that he has “ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather.”

The Presidential Parade is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated events during inaugurations, and a lot of planning had gone into this event that would have originally featured about 7,500 participants representing various groups that include the US Army, the Marines and the Air Force, veterans, marching bands, equestrians as well as the first responders (police and pre-hospital emergency teams) during the assassination attempt on President Trump at a campaign rally in Butler County in Pennsylvania.

“I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of Law Enforcement, First Responders, Police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th,” President Trump emphasized in his post, adding that people should dress warmly should they still decide to go out.

According to President Trump, Capital One Arena – the multipurpose indoor entertainment venue in Washington, DC that also serves as home to the NBA’s Washington Wizards and can accommodate over 20,000 spectators – will be opened on Monday for Americans to view the inauguration ceremony. Supporters of President Trump had also planned a big “victory rally” on the eve of the inauguration at the Capitol One Arena. Security preparations had been planned for several months with the US Secret Service as the lead agency supported by the DC Metropolitan Police, the US Capitol Police as well as the Joint Task Force with over 25,000 military and law enforcement personnel tasked to deal with potential threats.

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies said it will “honor the request of the President-elect and his Presidential Inaugural Committee to move the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies inside the US Capitol to the Rotunda.”

As advised earlier by the State Department, no foreign dignitaries are invited except members of the diplomatic corps serving in Washington, DC and the heads of state that were verbally invited by the president-elect himself. I, of course, will be attending the inauguration of President Trump and Vice President Vance as the representative of our country and President Marcos.

The inaugural balls will still take place. President Trump said he would be attending all three – the Commander-in-Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball and the Starlight Ball – where he will also deliver remarks. I have received invitations for two of the inaugural balls and I’m looking forward to attending because it will be an opportunity to interact with the members of the new administration.

The last time I attended a Washington inaugural ball was in 1989 when President George Bush Sr. was sworn into office. It was the late Republican party strategist and presidential adviser Lee Atwater who invited me, and I had the opportunity to engage with Bush Sr.’s White House chief of staff John Sununu and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel during the inaugural balls that lasted until three in the morning.

The triumphant return of Donald J. Trump to the White House has been dubbed as a governing “trifecta,” with the president having control of the Executive branch, and the Republican party gaining majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Republicans have certainly returned and have gained the upper hand, but political analysts say the very narrow margins in the Senate and the House of Representatives (which the Pew Research Center described as the “smallest margin of control in modern history”) will pose a challenge to the Trump administration in passing legislation and pushing their agenda forward.

Speaker Mike Johnson initially faced difficulty from some Republican partymates who refused to vote for him – but eventually relented when President Donald Trump talked to them – showcasing his power and influence.

But perhaps for the Philippines, one of the positive developments was my conversation with President Trump himself last Dec. 31 in West Palm Beach, where he expressed support for the Philippines and additionally from his incoming Secretary of State Marco Rubio who said, “We will continue to build on our strong relationship with the Philippines not only on defense but economically as well.”

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