Over Here, Over There

Trump's Inauguration - What It Means Over Here, Dan Harris BBC Radio Interview

• Dan Harris and Claudia Koestler • Season 3 • Episode 9

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Summary

In this conversation, Dan Harris reflects on the surreal nature of Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th US president with BBC Radio Gloucestershire host Nicky Price, discussing the implications of executive orders and the divided political landscape in America. He also explores how world leaders might navigate their relationships with Trump, emphasizing the personal dynamics at play.

Takeaways

  • The inauguration felt surreal given Trump's past actions
  • Trump's executive orders allow him some leeway in implementing legislation
  • Executive orders can be reversed by future presidents
  • America remains deeply divided post-election
  • Urban areas lean heavily Democratic, while rural areas support Trump
  • Democrats are soul-searching after the election results
  • World leaders will need to adapt to Trump's personal style
  • The UK must navigate its relationship with Trump carefully
  • Trump's authoritarian tendencies will shape his presidency
  • The political landscape will continue to evolve in response to Trump's actions

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Nicky Price (00:00.142)
Let's get some reaction here in Gloucestershire because Dan Harris is from Charlton Kings, originally from upstate New York, hosts the podcast over here, over there. And basically he's been glued to all the coverage. Morning, Dan. 

Dan Harris
Morning, morning, Nikki. Hello. Yeah, and plenty of coverage as well, of course. What did you make of the last 24 hours? It was all just beginning, wasn't it, this time yesterday? 

Dan Harris
Yeah. Well, you know, I thought it all rather surreal, to be perfectly honest. mean, like his speech in 2017, it wasn't a typical inaugural address by an incoming president. I mean, looking at it like from a macro and micro sense, Donald Trump was standing in the same spot where he led an insurrection about a little over four years ago. And to see that decorum and everyone sitting at attention and being on good behavior, it just seemed a bit surreal given what we know what happened in the past.

and also what he has been through over the last four years, through the court cases, through his felony conviction, his civil trials and his convictions there. So there was a lot of history over the last four years for him personally as well. And there though, he stood, putting his hand on the Bible and being sworn in as US president for the 47th US president.

Nicky Price
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. There was a lot to take in, wasn't there, yesterday. And we've heard that the term executive orders, I've mentioned a few things that he wanted to do on day one. And there was even at this sports arena, there was a desk, wasn't there, and a pen, and he was there signing the executive orders in front of everyone at the sports arena. What exactly is an executive order? 

Dan Harris
Executive order really is the power the president has. He's carrying out his job. He's implementing the legislation that Congress passed, but it gives him the authority to a little bit of leeway to interpret how he does that, how he implements it, and how he executes that order. Cause he's the chief executive in the United States. So he can make this fiat or proclamation or decree that yes, I'm going to send troops down to the border, you know, to enforce the legislation that's on the books or whatever.

Dan Harris cont. (02:18.99)
So it's really kind of an extension of the legislation. He doesn't get any more money or budget to implement that. He just has to spend what Congress has approved, but he has the prerogative to do these executive orders. And, you know, they can be reversed as well. These executive orders can be then reversed by the next president who gives their interpretation of what an executive order should be on that subject that he's just, that he's just proposed. so yeah, it's a little bit of a gray area, but it's an added power that it feels like he can actually determine legislation with that executive order, doesn't it? I mean, the way he's making all these pronouncements last night in his speech. But no, he can't go beyond what the legislation has, what's been approved. Interesting. 

Nicky Price
Yes. And as you say, it can be reversed by the next incoming president. And he was doing some of that with Joe Biden's policies as well. right. 

Dan Harris
Yeah. 

Nicky Price
Which we also heard about last night. You were over in the US in the lead up to the election. We heard you on the radio there. Lots of talk then about how divided the country is. Would you say anything's changed since then? 

Dan Harris
Not at all. No change. No change. In fact, I know a lot of folks who, I think half the country turned their TV sets off and the other half watched. If they had, and those who had turned their TV sets off, I know a lot of people I know who left the country or did something different yesterday. They just didn't want to see Trump being inaugurated. what we witnessed, I was there with David Smith and my podcast colleague, Claudia Kussler, and we just witnessed a very divided America. Very divided America. mean, in the urban areas, very heavily democratic. When we were in Philadelphia, it seemed like Kamala Harris was a shoo-in. It seemed like wall to wall, she was just going to win by not a comfortable margin, but she was going to win. Well, that was, that was not the case. Rural America and some of the suburbs and a lot of demographics went Trump's way. And I mean, there's a lot of, soul searching now going on, on the Democratic side is why that happened and what to do going forward. But, it still remains a very divided country. And to, to hear that Trump wants to be the peacemaker and unifier, but then  (04:41.91)
hear what he had to say with these executive orders and what he's going to do as far as wokeism and things like that. I don't think there's going to be much change in that. 

Nicky Price
That's interesting, isn't it? Yeah. How do you think world leaders are going to react? You they're to be scrambling to get a plane to Washington to go and have a meeting with Trump as soon as possible. 

Dan Harris
Well, I think after the election, think they hopefully all game-plan it as to how they're going to deal with Donald Trump this time. What's going to be different or what have they what did they learn before?

And like, for instance, as we were talking offline, the UK special relationship, how special is it? It's going to be tested. And how do you deal with Donald Trump? Well, I think that really, if you want to talk about a special deal or policy, no, no, no. What you really got to do is understand how to deal with him personally. It's a very personal thing. He's very much an authoritarian, anti-democratic figure now. He's going to do things his way. He's going to project power based on his personality and wants and likes. So you got to know how to deal with Donald Trump. So whether that's be flattery or just trying to get on his good side in some way or another, that's how you really should deal with this president. it's going to be a tricky proposition for the UK being between Europe and the United States now that we're out of the EU and how we deal with a US president the likes of Donald Trump. So it's going to be a real test for Keir Starmer and his government. 

Nicky Price
It'll interesting to watch how all world leaders react actually in the coming days. Much to talk about. I'm sure we'll talk about it again. Dan, thanks for joining us today. 

Dan Harris
Thank you, Nikki.

Nicky Price
Thank you so much. Dan Harris from Charlton Kings, originally from upstate New York, hosting a podcast called Over Here, Over There and just taking in all of the theatre, I suppose, and drama of yesterday. Also interesting to watch all the body language when all the former presidents get together and a lot of eyes trained on them and their reactions to various things that Donald Trump was saying there. On day one of the second term as president of course and yes all the theatre I'm sure will continue in the days and weeks ahead. Thanks to Dan for joining us today, just gone 20 past 10.