What a difference 8 years makes
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President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office today for a second time in a country hugely transformed since his first swearing in.
So much has changed in the eight years since his first inauguration it's difficult to put into words – it's as though an evil spell banning Spring has been broken and the ice has begun to thaw – despite freezing temperatures in DC today.
THE DIFFERENCE AT A GLANCE
Compare photos of Trump as the 45th president and as the 47th to gauge just how much the man – and the nation – have changed.
The 2017 version shows a conventional portrait of Trump. He is smiling broadly; he looks presidential, yes, but nondescript, almost bland. True to the expectations of the time, it is a typical portrait.
In short, he looks like a well-wishing, benignly appropriate statesman.
Look now at the 2025 version. The benign and bland is gone; it exudes an unmistakable "I-mean-business" message.
The fierceness of the president's infamous Fulton County mugshot takes over. It's clear Trump has embraced the "gangsta" persona the America-last, deep state operatives foisted on him in an attempt to separate him from his supporters.
It backfired; and in this photo Trump wears the persona like a badge of honor, emerging as a "don't mess-with-me," can-do hero history books are written about.
Indeed, Trump does more than wear the image his enemies constructed to defeat him. True to his talent for trolling, the photo shoves it in the face of those who persecuted him using it as his official inauguration portrait.
Lots of online posts say the version presents him as a "mighty lion." Granted, he is no king, says one, but he is nevertheless reminiscent of the Lion in the Narnia Chronicles: "He's good, but he's wild ... [he's] not a tame lion."
Above all, he looks wiser, less naive, than when he stepped into office in 2017. His eyes, post many, are focused on the do-or-die business at hand – on the drug cartels controlling the Southern border, on Tren de Aragua and the other violent gangs on schedule for deportation.
"He has that look that he is going for all those who are against making America great again," says one YouTuber.
STEPPING INTO A LANDMINE
The 2017 photo shows Trump unaware of the dangerous full-court press the deep state was set to launch against him as he stepped into the White House.
It's painful to remember how his cabinet was a rigged recipe for his destruction. Then-FBI director James Comey, in collusion with former CIA director John Brennan and former NI director James Clapper, and a slew of other deep state never-Trumpers, attempted to neutralize Trump and his efforts starting on day one.
They launched Crossfire Hurricane, the code name for the anti-Trump FBI investigation, designed to manufacture evidence that Russia had aided and abetted Trump’s campaign and eventual victory.
Adding to Trump's misery, remember, the nation's attorney general Jeff Sessions abandoned the president in his hour of need, recusing himself from the “Russia-gate affair.”
With a press and social media apparatus cooperating with the white collar thugs, the Mueller investigation, impeachment proceedings, trumped up criminal cases brought against him – even assassination attempts – came up in short order to tie him in political knots or outright destroy him.
BUT WHAT A DIFFERENCE 8 YEARS MAKES
Compare the corrupt DC politicians surrounding Trump in 2017 – flailing around the Steele dossier – to the stellar roster of loyal America-first cabinet nominees in 2025.
To date, they include:
Secretary of State: Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida
Treasury Secretary: Scott Bessent
Defense Secretary: Pete Hegseth
Attorney General: Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi
Interior Secretary: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum
Agriculture Secretary: Brooke Rollins
Commerce Secretary: Howard Lutnick
Labor Secretary: Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon
Health and Human Services Secretary: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary: Former Texas state Rep. Scott Turner
Transportation Secretary: Former Rep. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin
Energy Secretary: Chris Wright
Education Secretary: Former Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon
Veterans Affairs Secretary: Former Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia
Homeland Security Secretary: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem
Other key roles and positions include:
Chief of staff: Susie Wiles
FBI director: Kash Patel
CIA director: Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe
Director of National Intelligence: Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii
Border czar: Tom Homan
Department of Government Efficiency: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
Office of Management and Budget director: Russ Vought
Environmental Protection administrator: Former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin
National security adviser: Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida
Ambassador to the U.N.: Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York
Administrator of the Small Business Administration: Kelly Loeffler
Counselor to the President: Alina Habba
"Crypto czar": David Sacks
Surgeon General: Dr. Janette Nesheiwat
White House press secretary: Karoline Leavitt
Each individually and collectively represents a different world compared to Trump's first crack at office.
DAY 1 EXECUTIVE ORDERS
On the first day of his first term, Trump signed just one executive order (EO) – targeting Obamacare.
Following today's swearing-In ceremonies (scheduled for 12 p.m. ET), Trump will be in the oval office to sign off on a number of EOs, the top ten of which pertain to –
Beginning Mass deportation program
Ending birthright citizenship
Pardoning Capitol Hill rioters
Ending the Russia-Ukraine War
Implementing tariffs for Canada and Mexico
Ending Biden's electric vehicle mandate
Increasing drilling for oil
Banning transgender athletes from women's sports
Ending gender-affirming care practices
Revitalizing the Made-in-America auto industry
CELEBRATIONS GALORE
The difference of the eight years can also be seen and felt in the celebrations and festivities now lighting up the nation's capitol – with previous never-Trumpers like CEO Mark Zuckerberg wanting in.
Patriots are partying, celebrating not just the inauguration of their president but a hard-bought, years-long victory against the dark powers of the swamp.
They are enjoying a litany of superstars – country star Carrie Underwood, classical tenor Christopher Macchio, Grammy-winning country legend Lee Greenwood, country-rap rocker Kid Rock, and disco band Village People, riding the coattails of Trump's magic.
Even rap entertainers like Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Nelly and Soulja Boy who viciously resisted Trump first time around have turned up for the man.
"The whole country gets it now," said one social media influencer.
Question their motives (I do), but what was considered political poison in 2017 is now haute cuisine.
Contrast that with the president-elect's difficulty in booking performers in 2017. Trump, in effect, was a persona non grata at his own party.
Remember the celebrities who froze Trump out, refusing to perform out of fear of being canceled or blacklisted. Performers like Andrea Bocelli, Elton John, Céline Dion, Garth Brooks, KISS, and Marie Osmond, some of whom had prior personal relationships with Trump, shunned the opportunity.
Adding insult to the rejection, hundreds and thousands of pink pussy-hatted protestors – and their male allies – took to the DC streets to protest Trump’s unsettling victory.
Woke leftists like Amy Schumer, Katy Perry, Scarlett Johansson, Cher, Ashley Judd, Debra Messing, and many more so-called feminists came out in force; disrespecting not just Trump, but the presidential office.
Who can forget pop singer Madonna casting a profanity-laced spell over the protestors in a speech filled with F-bombs. "I have thought / an awful lot / about blowing up the White House,” she rapped.
“It took this horrific moment of darkness to wake us the f–k up,” she told the crowd.
Ironically, it is now the patriots who are emerging from THEIR moment of darkness, waking up and removing the scales from their eyes.
The mood is definitely different now – people are joyful – even surprised by their own joy. They have hope that food and fuel will be affordable, and that America will be great once again. They believe Spring is making a comeback.
BYE BYE DEI AND THE OPENING FIRMAMENT
Another indicator of the change is the dissolution of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices – Marxist units that have robbed employees of happy workplaces, and advancement based on merit.
Just one month after Trump won the election, the still Christopher Wray-run FBI quietly closed down its DEI office.
The FBI's move follows a slew of major US corporations including Amazon, Boeing, Caterpillar, Ford, John Deere, Lowe’s, McDonald’s, Meta and Walmart announcing they’re rolling back or, in most cases, eliminating their DEI programs.
And in just the past few days, states such as Indiana and West Virginia have announced they’re doing the same.
The swing of the pendulum from a point of unhappiness and hopelessness under the Biden-Harris regime to a moment of promise is dizzying.
It's not just DEI offices closing, but on a global scale, America's geopolitical imagination is opening up.
Trump talks about allying with the good people of Canada and Greenland, wresting the Panama Canal from the control of the CCP, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and reclaiming Mt. McKinley's name.
To the appeal of British patriots, Trump is advising unpopular leftist UK prime minister Keir Starmer to open up the North Sea oil and gas basin and get rid of the windmills.
War hostages are being released; Ukraine peace talks are of the first orders of business in the oval office today. Trump supporter Elon Musk is sending starships to Mars.
It is clear that a revolution is now underway in America that will go, and is already going, down in the history books.
Biblically-minded folk might call it a Red Sea moment – God has freed His people from the tyranny of Pharaoh and has parted the sea, making a dry walkway for them to escape.
We are on that walkway now, having escaped the Marxist slavery of a Harris-Waltz regime by 86 electoral votes, but not yet having reached the other side.
But judging from Trump's 2025 Inauguration photo alone, it appears we have a powerful and determined political leader to guide us.
Dr. Barbara Toth has a doctorate in rhetoric and composition from Bowling Green State University. She has taught high school in Poland and Oman and at universities in the US, China and Saudi Arabia. Her work in setting up a writing center at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahmen University, an all-women's university in Riyadh, has been cited in American journals. Toth has published academic and non-academic articles and poems internationally.
Editor's note:
HOW SOULS AND LIBERTY WILL MOVE FORWARD THE NEXT FOUR YEARS
There can be no doubt we have witnessed an extraordinary moment in the history of the United States and the world. The election of Donald Trump to a second Presidential term is a great victory for Christian patriots, but it is not a complete or final victory. Rather, it is a reprieve from the ceaseless assaults on life, liberty and faith we have had to endure for four years.
Donald Trump is president once again. Even now, his decisions, Cabinet selections, and force of personality are shaping the United States and the world in ways we could only dream of.
We have a Heaven-sent opportunity to step up and ensure this victory is not merely a one-off, but the first of many and the foundation of a lasting legacy of patriotic, Christian, pro-family policies.
Souls and Liberty will be part of that effort, but we cannot do it without you. It will require reporting and activism of which YOU can be a part.
Can you step up and support us? Just once – a one-time donation is very valuable. Or, better yet, support us every month with a recurring donation. Thank you, and may God bless you.
Stephen Wynne
Editor-in-Chief, Souls and Liberty
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