The podium is in place on the west side of the Capitol, set up in front of a field of thousands of chairs and hundreds of acres of standing-room-only space along the National Mall. But Donald Trump won’t be able to gaze at the kind of massive crowd that he relishes when he’s sworn-in Monday as the 47th president. Because of the frigid forecast, he’ll move inside for a relatively intimate inauguration ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda. And the traditional parade along Pennsylvania Avenue will be crammed into the 20,000-seat Capital One Area in downtown Washington. View from the podium Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg “This will be a very beautiful experience for all, and especially for the large TV audience!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. He promised to join the crowd at the arena after he’s sworn in. Even constrained by the weather, Trump will be getting a celebration that distinctly surpasses the energy surrounding his 2017 inaugural ceremony and events, which was marked by protests and distracting over his crowd size. And even though the rich and powerful gathered in Washington then, it’s far from the same echelon of tycoons expected to descend on the capital in the coming days. Those expected include Apple’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. Trump raised a record-breaking amount for the festivities — at least $200 million — much of it from corporate America, with some of the biggest names in the S&P 500 giving million-dollar donations. It’s a turnaround from Trump’s first term, which the president-elect acknowledged when I asked about a private meeting with Cook at Mar-A-Lago during his first post-election press conference: “In the first term everybody was fighting,” he said. “In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.” Other developments this week: TikTok ban: The Supreme Court upheld a law that would ban TikTok in the US unless its owner, China’s ByteDance, sells the video-sharing platform to an American company. The deadline is Sunday, but Trump is looking for ways to stave off the ban, possibly giving ByteDance a chance to find a buyer. Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping today and the TikTok situation came up. "My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation," Trump wrote on Truth Social. FBI hack: Officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation believe that hackers stole months of agents' call and text logs after breaching AT&T's system last year, my colleagues Jake Bleiberg and Margi Murphy report. The revelation adds another complication to Trump's relationship with China, as he seeks to compete with the fellow world power without creating fresh conflict. Outgoing FBI Director Chris Wray warned in an interview that China has been increasingly targeting US telecommunications. Confirmation hearings: Several of Trump's most high-profile Cabinet picks had their confirmation hearings this week, and after much anticipation, it appears most — if not all — of his appointees are on the path towards being confirmed, even controversial selections like Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary, who sat for his hearing on Tuesday. There's still plenty of key hearings left to go, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary and former US Representative Tulsi Gabbard for intelligence director. Paperwork delays have prevented some hearings from being scheduled. |