- The Knowledge
- Posts
- Trump’s promise of a “golden age”
Trump’s promise of a “golden age”
🥐 Croissant butter | ⛷️ Digital snowmads | 🖼️ Monet or Manet?
In the headlines
In the first 12 hours of his second term, President Trump has pardoned 1,500 of the January 6 rioters, declared a “national emergency” at the Mexican border, withdrawn the US from the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organisation, and renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”. He has also returned the bust of Winston Churchill to the Oval Office, along with a red button to summon a Diet Coke. Keir Starmer has announced a public inquiry into last year’s Southport terrorist attack, in which three girls were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. The PM says the government may update terrorism laws to match the new threat from “extreme violence carried out by loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms”. Japanese boffins have created a robotic exoskeleton for budding pianists. The device (pictured) fits over a player’s hand and can flex and extend each finger four times a second, increasing musicians’ speed and accuracy, even when the gizmo is removed.
Comment
President Trump at his inauguration yesterday. Greg Nash/Pool/AFP/Getty
Trump’s promise of a “golden age”
Donald Trump’s second inaugural address was never going to unite America, says The Wall Street Journal. But the 45th and now 47th US president delivered a speech of “aspiration and optimism” that most of the country will welcome. His broadly upbeat message – “the golden age of America begins right now” – marked a stark contrast to his dark and gloomy “American carnage” address eight years ago. It was “more Elon Musk and much less Steve Bannon, and all for the better”. Of course, this being Trump, there was the usual list of grievances about the administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (who, unlike him four years ago, deserve credit for “showing up after a defeat”). But if his uplifting address truly captures what he wants to do with his second term, Trump “has a chance to leave office in four years as a success”.
That’s a big “if”, says Karen Tumulty in The Washington Post. The contradictions within his speech were glaring. He promised to “stop all wars” yet also doubled down on his threat to take back the Panama Canal. He pledged to bring down prices while also promising steep tariffs that most economists agree will be inflationary. And for all the excitement over his executive actions, many of them will face “formidable” legal obstacles. His push to end “birthright citizenship”, for example, under which anyone born in the US is granted citizenship even if their parents are illegal immigrants, involves reinterpreting the Constitution. Trump’s political opponents – and, yes, the media – shouldn’t repeat the mistake from his first term of following him “down every rhetorical rabbit hole”. This time let’s measure him by what he does, not what he says.
💰🙄 Democrats have been complaining that Trump and the First Lady are “grifters” for raking in billions by launching cryptocurrency meme coins shortly before the inauguration, says Maureen Dowd in The New York Times. But accusations of corruption rather lack punch when Biden used his last few minutes in office to issue pre-emptive pardons to five family members, to go with his earlier pardon for his son Hunter. “The news broke just before Trump started talking.”
Advertisement
Vintage Acquisitions specialises in Scotch Whisky Cask investment, offering clients a unique opportunity to own part of Scotland’s liquid gold heritage. They provide a comprehensive service that includes access to award-winning distilleries, HMRC-licensed storage, insurance, and flexible exit strategies. In 2025, this is an attractive investment for its tax advantages and potential for appreciation in value as the whisky matures. Clients benefit from personalised guidance, ensuring their portfolio aligns with their financial goals, making it a sophisticated choice for collectors and investors alike. To find out more about investing with Vintage Acquisitions click here.
Nice work if you can get it
Probably on their way to a Zoom meeting. Getty
A growing band of British digital “snowmads” are electing to spend winter working from the Alps, says The Times. Some “jump on the first lift of the day before heading back to their laptops”; others log into Zoom meetings from chairlifts. Julian Ludwick gave up his job at a London prep school to tutor online from Courchevel each winter. “It has honestly been transformative,” he says from a gondola. “The work-life balance is astounding.”
Gone viral
Elon Musk raised eyebrows at a post-inauguration rally by appearing – twice – to perform a Nazi salute. The Guardian called the gestures “back-to-back fascist salutes”, while a writer for USA Today declared it “sure looked like a ‘Sieg Heil’ to me”. Musk responded by saying that his opponents needed “better dirty tricks”, and that the “everyone is Hitler” line is “sooo tired”. To be fair to him, the Anti-Defamation League, the NGO that specialises in fighting anti-Semitism, thinks it’s a lot of fuss about nothing. Musk “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute”, they said. As we enter a new era, we ought to “give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt”.
Art
To mark 150 years since the Impressionists shocked Paris with their avant-garde Société Anonyme show, The New York Times has compiled a 16-question quiz to see how well you know your Monet from your Manet, your morning light from your evening light, and so on. Take “Le Quiz” here.
Comment
Giorgia Meloni (R) with US representative Kat Cammack at the inauguration. Kevin Dietsch/Getty
Europe’s leaders still cling to their “World of Yesterday”
And so farewell to the last of the transatlantic US presidents, says Wolfgang Münchau in UnHerd. Donald Trump’s election marks the end of an era – Zeitenwende, the Germans call it. “And no, the Europeans won’t be alright.” Most are in denial, like German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who is in pole position to win next month’s election. He said over the weekend that Trump represented a “great opportunity for Germany”, and claimed he could entice the new US president into agreeing a trade treaty. “I wish him luck.” Trump hates Germany – the low defence spending, the reliance on US security, the abolition of nuclear energy, “pretty much everything Angela Merkel ever did”. He still remembers being laughed at by German diplomats at the UN when he “correctly” pointed out the risk of the Nord Stream II pipeline connecting Germany to Russia. They’re not laughing now.
To see what lies in store for Europe more broadly, just look at who was invited to yesterday’s inauguration. Heads of state don’t generally attend, but, in a break with tradition, Trump asked Italy’s Giorgia Meloni (the only European leader on the list). Nigel Farage was invited, along with Tino Chrupalla, the co-leader of Germany’s AfD. The far-right politician Éric Zemmour came from France. What this reveals is how Trump plans to deal with Europe: not as a transatlantic alliance of countries, but as a series of bilateral relationships with specific parties. By primarily dealing with these political entrepreneurs, rather than with governments, he may bring down the “perma-coalition” of European centrists that has been running the EU from its inception. They are clinging on to their “World of Yesterday”, and they are toast.
🇮🇪🤑 The Europeans who should really be sweating are the cheapskate Irish, says Dominic Lawson in the Daily Mail. Despite enjoying a budgetary surplus last year, the Emerald Isle spent just 0.2% of its GDP on defence, has sent no military aid to Kyiv, and does nothing to secure the undersea cables that supply its booming tech sector. Trump knows a freeloader when he sees one.
Food and drink
Instagram/@pollenbakery
Hipster bakers are tarting up the humble slice of toast via upmarket “super-spreads”, says Grace Cook in the FT. Recent additions to the luxury larder include a rich and indulgent “Malaysian coconut kaya”, “Black sesame praliné”, “Whipped halva and pumpkin seed tahini” and something called “Croissant butter”, which is made by beating bits of caramelised pastry into butter with toasted white chocolate. “Peanut butter, jam or Marmite… are so mundane,” says Natalie Lee-Joe from Delli, an online grocer for independent food makers. She’s right. These new alternatives are so “disgustingly moreish” it’s hard not to “batch eat them with a spoon”.
On the way out
One millionaire left Britain every 45 minutes last year, says The Daily Telegraph. Data compiled by the analytics firm New World Wealth shows that 10,800 high net-worth individuals – defined as those with liquid assets of more than $1m – moved overseas in 2024, up from just 4,300 the previous year. The only country that lost more millionaires was China.
Snapshot
Snapshot answer
It’s a Neighbourhood Electric Vehicle – part of a new scheme launched in Fulham, southwest London, to reduce congestion and pollution. The 20mph golf carts can be rented through an app – like Lime e-bikes – cost 20p per minute and can be parked anywhere in the local area free of charge. The firm responsible, Yo-Go, currently has 10 vehicles in operation, soon expanding to 50. Sensibly enough, users must be 25 or older.
Quoted
“For most normal people, politics is a distant, occasionally irritating fog.”
Tony Blair
That’s it. You’re done.
Let us know what you thought of today’s issue by replying to this email
To find out about advertising and partnerships, click here
Been forwarded this newsletter? Try it for free
Enjoying The Knowledge? Click to share
Reply