Scenes from the Coronation of King Donald II: A Visual Guide to American Autocracy

Doug Mills/The New York Times

From executive order theater to Elon’s salute, telling moments of Trump’s second inauguration (and yes, Justice Jackson’s eloquent necklace).

By Michael Shaw

“Don’t let the rotor blade hit you on the way out.”

We know the whole ‘waving goodbye to your predecessor’ thing is tradition. But that photo of the Trumps and the Vances sending off the Bidens? You can practically hear them breathing good riddance. Some traditions just hit differently when the players bring that kind of baggage.

Doug Mills/The New York Times

Setting up a fake Oval Office to sign executive orders in front of 20,000 fans? That’s next-level staging. Four years ago, Trump’s photo ops were amateur hour. Not anymore.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Pool

“My judges.”

Isn’t that how Trump regularly refers to the conservative members of the Supreme Court? After all those rulings keeping Trump on ballots and blocking prosecutions, this combined handshake and pointed finger feel less like a lighthearted “you’re the man” than a warning to keep it up. Roberts might be Chief Justice, but Trump’s made it clear who he thinks is calling the shots. And Roberts? Steeled in denial, he’s probably thinking about his next “institutional integrity” speech.

Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images

There has been plenty of buzz about Silicon Valley’s tech titans buying incredible access to Trump. But the staging tells a different story. Standing as close to Trump as his family, he has relegated nearly $1 trillion in combined wealth into props in his theater of dominance.

The optics are delicious: The tech bros thought they were buying influence, but Trump flipped the script. By extracting sizable donations for the inauguration, he has reduced them to run-of-the-mill salespeople. But he’s not just taking their money – he’s forcing them to publicly bend the knee. And as a final insult, Musk—disgracing his cohorts with his cartoonish expression and Trumpian thumbs up—gets to play the accomplice.

Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Laughing all the way to the Colosseum.

The photo captures Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Argentina’s President Javier Milei sharing a giddy moment in the Capitol Rotunda before the inauguration. Their unrestrained laughter feels particularly pointed, given they’ve been dubbed “the unofficial queen and king of the international right.” For these new faces of right-wing populism, Trump’s return isn’t just a victory – it’s also their windfall.

The New York Times

So much for the ceremony, let the roundups begin!

Trump Inauguration Committee

He used his newest official presidential portrait to emulate the ‘mug shot’ taken in Fulton County Jail in Georgia after he was charged with attempting to overturn the 2020 election. With dramatic lighting from below and his trademark glare, Trump isn’t just cashing in once again on the infamous booking photo – he’s proclaiming his vindication with it.

Anna Rose Layden/EPA

This street scene in D.C. reveals the strange power supply of the MAGA universe. A young supporter stands casually, hot drink in hand, wearing Trump’s defiant “fight, fight” photo from the assassination attempt blown up across her chest. But what makes the image is the angular poetry – her two arms and hands forming a rectangle with Trump’s arm and the secret service agent’s hand, creating an almost electric circuit between follower, image, and power. The geometry isn’t just visual – it’s a perfect diagram of MAGA devotion, with Trump’s near-martyrdom flowing through every true believer.

AFP Photo

The composition is striking – the soft hues and harmony of the painting offset by the couple’s practiced disconnect. The hat, which dominated headlines throughout the day, continues its role as both a barrier and statement piece during the intimate inauguration luncheon. Vastly out for themselves, the takeaway here is how much the first couple needs each other for at least another four years to maximize their respective brands.

Graham Dickie/The New York Times

On the subject of headgear, so much for your pussy hats. This scene at the Capitol before Trump took the oath captures the turning of the tables, rows of red caps creating an ironic echo of the Women’s March. Sparked by his victory, the march—held the day after his first inauguration—remains the largest single-day protest in U.S. history. Though we’re merely viewing a youth musical group, the visual shift from protest pink to MAGA red perfectly mirrors the authoritarian turn.

Anna Rose Layden/EPA

With Trump’s legions of fans converging on Washington with the high rollers, who got into the inauguration and the fancy balls, who didn’t, or who got into the public event at the Capitol One Arena and didn’t, seemed a relevant distinction. Still, his followers seem willing to put up with anything for him as this young Trump follower suffers from the frigid winds. By the way, did you notice how the media largely missed the irony of exceptional cold disrupting the inauguration of a complete climate change denier?

AFP Photo

And then there was this: The photo ignited a firestorm of controversy as the resemblance to a Nazi salute, in combination with Musk’s unchecked bigotry and shameless promotion of white nationalists, seemed too fitting to dismiss as mere coincidence.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

At the same time, I prefer to focus on this radiant portrait of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson—an image far more deserving of our introspection. Her stunning cowrie-shell collar, worn as Trump’s inauguration collided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, transcends mere adornment. While it echoes how justices like Sandra Day O’Connor and RGB have personalized their robes, these ancient shells carry a profound spiritual weight: once used as currency in the slave trade, they were also believed to shield their wearers from harm. In African tradition, they remain vessels of protection and ancestral wisdom.

In an era where Trump peddles digital coins and racial division, Justice Jackson’s quiet assertion of cultural memory and protective grace offers a different measure of power—one that no strongman can diminish.

Nick Oxford via Instagram

This photo from The People’s March along the National Mall is distinctive as much for the message as the aesthetic. Despite the prophecy, something is reassuring about seeing this warning through the nostalgic lens of a Polaroid – as if we’ve been here before and also come through.

Haiyun Jiang for the New York Times

Amid the fever-pitched media spectacle at his inauguration eve rally, this quiet photo offers a rare glimpse of Trump unaware of the camera. With his hair and eyebrows eerily lit against the darkness, the starkness reveals something more intimate—and concerning. While he dominates yet another frame, this one offers the head of a much older man. After all the missed signals and misdirection around Biden’s decline, this focus is a must.

The inauguration of Donald Trump delivered an extraordinary collection of scenes and moments, each revealing more profound truths about power, performance, and American democracy in crisis. From tech titans turned courtiers to global authoritarians sharing inside jokes, from sycophancy to unguarded glimpses of age and mortality – these images tell stories that words alone cannot capture. As we face an unprecedented chapter in American politics, reading between the frames becomes more essential than ever. The pictures don’t lie, even when everyone else might.