Remembering Trump's First Day;

A great OAN panel and adventures gone awry

On Inauguration day, the interview below was filmed with Mike Benz, John Matze, Chanel Rion, and myself. I think it was a critical panel discussion and one worth viewing:

The Inauguration Day Journey

The morning started early, with writing a Substack, and then we caught a cab to the OAN TV headquarters, where I was to be on the panel, above.

To get to the OAN headquarters on Constitution Ave, DC, we were required to be dropped off about a mile away, and then, we had to follow the barricade perimeter that stretched around the Capital building and all the essential buildings of the Federal government. Some might say that this barricade represents what the new outskirts of DC should be, as the founders intended.

Once we finished taping at OAN - which was great fun, Jill and I headed over to the Waldorf-Astoria for an important meeting with RFK, Jr.. This walk should have been about a half mile away. We left at 3:30 PM, thinking this would give us over an hour to get there. Even with the barricades, how long could it be? Have this meeting and then we would go back to the Gaylord via Uber to change for the MAHA ball, which was also being held at the Waldorf-Astoria. What could go wrong?

The lockdown of DC was not weather-related.

What the threat was? I don’t think we will ever know. But a government does not erect miles and miles of ten-foot fencing, jersey barriers, and thousands of National Guard troops over a clear sunny day, albeit temperatures in the twenties.

So, back to our day’s adventures - at 3:30, we started walking and walking and walking. At every street corner, we were met with another barricade, another set of national guardsmen, and another set of military vehicles. It took us two long hours of walking in well-below-freezing temps, then rides in a rickshaw and a golf cart to find a way to the meeting.

In the meantime, the meeting was moved to the Ritz-Carlton- a different direction entirely, so we started walking towards that point on the GPS. Then the meeting got moved back again to the Waldorf - so we set out in the opposite direction. Then the meeting got pushed from 4:30 to 5:30 (whew).

We met up with other team members, who were also waylaid by the weather-related presidential security details. They had managed to rent rickshaws for us all, followed by a golfcart rental - but still we barely made it on time.

The streets of interior DC were deserted except for the Capital police and Guardsmen, the few residents that had managed to gain clearance, and the National Guard units. This is a little video from a rickshaw:

Then there was the security at the Waldorf. They had heavy governmental security to enter from the street, then more security to enter the building -where the MAHA people were already milling. Then, more security. Finally, we met up with the security team for RFJ, who ushered us up to the suites where the meeting was to be held.

The third set of barricades to get into the Waldorf

The meeting - was finally held at a little past six PM. By the time we finished, there was no way to get back to our hotel to change before the MAHA Ball.

We had walked almost ten miles that day in below-twenty-degree weather; needless to say - it took us a minute to readjust to the heady atmosphere that engulfed the Waldorf!

But there we were. I was in a business suit, and Jill was in street clothes. Luckily, Jill was dressed in all black - she likes to say she blended in well with the wait-staff.

So, we went rather informally to a formal Ball. So don’t look for photo ops of us that night.

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PIRATE VIDEO

A few short videos before I sign off.

On Sunday Morning, I went to a WarRoom event with Steve Bannon, to honor our fellow international warriors. Steve gave a great speech, as did others - and I filmed a bit of them. As usual, it was a bit of a mob scene.

For those who don’t usually watch Steve, he is a true orator - in the best sense of the word.

Enjoy!

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On January 28th, I head to Brussels for a Make Europe Great Again conference, so with luck, I will come home with more insights into EU politics.

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