On Jan. 20, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States, marking a return to office after his first term concluded in 2021. In the week following the inauguration, members of the Dartmouth community have expressed both fear and excitement.
Trump’s inauguration — which was moved indoors due to cold weather for the first time since 1985 — drew an estimated 24.6 million viewers across 15 networks, according to Nielson. Many Dartmouth students tuned into the historic event, which was quickly followed by a host of orders and actions. On Inauguration Day, Trump rescinded 78 of former President Joe Biden’s executive orders and implemented 26 new executive orders, including an order limiting birthright citizenship and an order withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Accords.
Alejandro Menendez ’27, who tuned into Trump’s inaugural address from Hanover, expressed excitement for Trump’s presidency. While Menendez said the address was initially “combative” toward the Biden administration, he thought Trump quickly turned to “optimistic rhetoric” — something Menendez said has been “lacking … since Obama’s 2008 run.”
“The U.S. has been missing some of that optimism and some of that exceptionalism when it comes to its position on the global stage,” Menendez said. “I think his comments in the second part of his speech were great in sort of trying to cultivate that sense of optimism.”
Other Dartmouth viewers were less impressed. Some community members were skeptical, for example, of Trump’s claim that “the golden age of America begins right now.” Dartmouth Democrats president Prescott Herzog ’25 said he is “not buying” the president’s “grand statements.”
“When it comes to it, is he actually going to deliver for everyday Americans?” Herzog asked.
Government professor John Carey also said he does not think “there’s a lot of substance” to Trump’s language.
“[Trump] speaks only in exaggeration and exaggerated terms, and ‘golden age’ certainly would be one [phrase] that fits with his style and his grandiosity,” Carey said.
According to government professor Sean Westwood, Trump’s “rhetorical grandiosity” may have contributed to the recent ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hamas. Westwood explained that Trump has been “very clear in his support for Israel,” noting that his “militaristic view of the situation” may have “motivated” Hamas to release Israeli hostages.
“It is actually quite reasonable to think that Hamas was afraid of what might happen under a new Trump administration, what might Trump permit Israel to do, and then that could have led to the ceasefire and the release of hostages,” Westwood said.
In addition to noting Trump’s rhetoric, some Dartmouth viewers commented on the inauguration’s crowd — which featured several tech CEOs, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon executive chair and former CEO Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, seated at the forefront. Ben Campion ’28 said the “prominence of billionaires” in the new administration is “scary.”
“I think seeing the heads of the business world, the heads of the tech world, being so prominently featured at the inauguration was definitely a bit ominous for the next four years,” Campion said.
Tess Hunter ’28 added that she thinks the “very rich people behind [Trump]” may contribute to an “oligarchy of America.”
While Menendez said Trump’s relationships with tech CEOs are “interesting,” he said he does not believe Trump would “allow himself to be influenced by Musk and others.”
“In his first time in the White House … top figures in his administration tried to corral him and affect his policy,” Menendez said. “He was really autonomous and really independent from those people, so I think Trump is someone who trusts his gut.”
Community members also reacted to the transition of power. Herzog, for example, said he was “grateful” to see a peaceful transfer of power. He recalled the previous presidential transition from Trump to former President Joe Biden in 2021 when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn the election.
“The fact that we were able to at least see that respect and commitment to democratic principles [on Jan. 20] was really powerful,” Herzog said.
Carey — who co-directs Bright Line Watch, an organization that polls political scientists and the public to gauge their views on U.S. democracy, with government professor Brendan Nyhan — said Americans have demonstrated increased trust in elections since 2020, which he called “good news.” However, Carey added that the change in electoral trust was “overwhelmingly concentrated among Republicans” and may come with an “asterisk.”
“Trust in American elections seems to be back up, … [but] if that’s only because that group only trusts elections and supports election results when they win, that’s not really a robust form of trust,” Carey said.
Nyhan said trust in U.S. elections is “in a fragile state,” adding that Trump’s sweeping pardons for Jan. 6 defendants during his first day in office set “an ominous precedent.” Carey added that he “does not support those pardons.”
“The fact that you’ve got a bunch of people who rejected the election results at the time and have been unwilling to update their conclusions is a real problem,” Carey said.
In addition to Trump’s Inauguration Day actions, the president has authorized the military to assist with deportation flights and has shut down diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government. Moreover, several of Trump’s nominees for cabinet-level positions — including controversial Fox News host Pete Hegseth for the Secretary of Defense role and former Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for the Secretary of State role — have been confirmed by the Senate in the last week.
Carey said Bright Line Watch “will be trying to tap into people’s opinions” on the “initial rounds of executive orders and policy announcements” from the new administration. He noted that “all signs point” to the Trump administration implementing “some pretty dramatic changes in policy,” which he said may “impact people’s trust in the government.”
“In the next few years, [we’ll] know whether or not there’s a genuine and sort of robust increase or restoration of trust in American institutions or not,” Carey said.
A representative from Dartmouth Conservatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment by time of publication.
