Simon Marks: US correspondent ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration

Famous faces are appearing in Washington DC - just 12 hours until Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President. 

The blisteringly cold weather has moved the event indoors for the first time since 1985.

Elon Musk and other billionaires - Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos - will be there, alongside all living former presidents.  

US correspondent Simon Marks says, notably, Michelle Obama won't be there. 

"I think it's not so much the climactic conditions that have kept her away from those events, but the inevitability of her having to rub shoulders with the Trumps at them."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Donald Trump is taking right the keys to the White
House tomorrow, So his inauguration kicks off at six o'clock
tomorrow morning, New Zealand time, six am. Breakfast entertainment, breakfast entertainment.
Instead of an outdoor of n though, the ceremony will
be held indoors at the Capitol with all living former
presidents and numerous world leaders in attendance. And also watching

(00:21):
on will be our US correspondent Son and Matt, who's
back with me now.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Good evening, Simon, Good evening to you, Andrew.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
So it's pretty cold. It's the first time indoors since
eighty five.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yes, absolutely, and it's been a mad scramble here in Washington,
DC over the weekend to change all the arrangements. Speakers.
Of course, everything's ready for the President elect, President Donald Trump,
as he will be on the stroke of midday here
on Monday to take the oath of office up on
Capitol Hill in the outdoors in time. On a tradition,

(00:54):
we are not going to break minus five degrees celsius
on Monday day here in Washington, d C. They made
the decision on Friday to move everything indoors, so there
are now two central locations the Rotunda of Congress inside
the Congressional Building where Donald Trump will take the oath

(01:15):
of office. That is the same rotunda that his own
supporters ransacked back on January sixth of twenty twenty one.
And then the second location is the Arena, the Capital
One Arena in the Chinatown district of Washington, d C.
Where Donald Trump actually addressed a pre inauguration rally on

(01:38):
Sunday evening. Instead of a capacity of two hundred thousand
people able to watch everything from the National Mall, it's
going to be taking place inside the Rotunda on Capitol Hill,
which can accommodate about one thousand people, and then at
the Capital One Arena, which has a seating capacity of
twenty thousands.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Michelle Obama is not attended, despite the fact her husband
is as a former president. Is that spiked or was
she just busy?

Speaker 2 (02:07):
I think it might be a bit of both. You'll
remember that Michelle Obama also did not attend Jimmy Carter's
funeral a few days ago. With regard to both appointments,
she says that she's got scheduling difficulties. She's in Hawaii,
and frankly, who wouldn't want to be in Hawaii, given
the state of the weather here in Washington, d C.

(02:29):
But I think it's not so much the climactic conditions
that have kept her away from both of those events,
but the inevitability of her having to rub shoulders with
the Trumps at them.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
So what about Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg? Will they
be there?

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yes, they absolutely will be there, and in fact, they
are already adhering themselves to the President Elect's side. Elon
Musk was called upon by Donald Trump to speak briefly
at the pre inauguration rally that was held on Sunday
evening here, and he insisted head of that as the
head of this new Department of Government Efficiency, which is

(03:06):
not really a government department, it doesn't exist as a ministry,
but he said that he was absolutely determined to go
about his task of eliminating federal government waste wherever he
can find it. Mark Zuckerberg has already arrived in town.
He's been attending a variety of inaugural events over the weekend.
Jeff Bezos is also coming here, of course, the Amazon founder.

(03:30):
And you know, I think Donald Trump is really resplendent
in the fact that the three of them, who at
all in varying degrees, expressed hostility to Donald Trump in
the past, have like so many other people, since November
and the election win, bent to the knee to Donald Trump,
pledged fealty to him. And that's one of the reasons

(03:52):
why Donald Trump has returned to Washington, d C. With
First Lady Milania Trump absolutely thinking that they are in
the bird seat, I mean will when he's sworn in.
He will immediately become the most powerful president this country
has ever had. Not simply because he controls the White House,
Republicans control the House of Representatives and the Senate, and

(04:16):
of course Republican nominated Supreme Court justices are in a
six ' to three majority at the Court, but also
because of that immunity decision by the Supreme Court which
says that no fitting or former president can be prosecuted
for any actions that they take in line with their
official duties. It gives him sweeping amounts of power. And

(04:40):
he made it absolutely clear in that inauguration Eve rally
that he is going to deliver to his supporters the
central planks of policy that he promised he was going
to deliver during the election campaign.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
So I'm a Marx. Thank you this as a fascinating
against it. Of course, as I say, the inauguration is
at six a m. Tomorrow morning.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
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