Skip to main content
The Morning Star Shop
Trump put in his place during inaugural prayer service
The words of compassion by Bishop Budde were ‘a lesson in moral leadership and courage that our government would do well to listen to,’ says Jeremy Corbyn. LINDA PENTZ GUNTER has more on the sermon heard around the world
US President Donald Trump (left) watches as Reverend Mariann Budde (second right) arrives at the national prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, January 21, 2025, in Washington, DC

ABOUT the only satisfying sight to emerge from President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday was the picture of progressive independent Senator Bernie Sanders sitting grumpily with his arms folded while others around him stood to cheer.

The image was reminiscent of the Sanders photo that went viral after Joe Biden’s chilly outdoor inauguration in January 2021, when Sanders sat in a similar pose wearing a pair of large, woolly mittens. 

Sanders didn’t need the mittens this time because Trump’s inauguration was moved indoors, even though expected temperatures were scarcely lower than those during the inaugurations of John F Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama’s first, all of which took place outside. The decision to go inside rightfully elicited an outpouring of scorn directed toward Trump’s aspirations as a machismo-fuelled strongman.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
The main buildings of Shifa Hospital lie in ruins after Israeli air and ground offensives, with the hospital administration estimating that 70% of the facility has been destroyed, in Gaza City, July 4, 2025
Features / 16 July 2025
16 July 2025

Funds are being raised to bring the bombed al-Shifa hospital back from the ashes, reports Linda Pentz Gunter

Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a rally at the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council headquarters in New York, Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Politics / 14 July 2025
14 July 2025

From Labour’s panic over the Corbyn-Sultana formation to Democratic Party grandees distancing themselves from Zohran Mamdani, centrist cliques on both sides of the Atlantic are quick to throw the same old insult, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER

President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House, July 7, 2025, in Washington
Features / 9 July 2025
9 July 2025

Trump’s cruel Bill will deprive millions of essential medical support while escalating deportations and rewarding the super-rich, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER

Previously unissued photo dated 28/6/2025 of Bob Vylan crowd surfs during his performance on the West Holts Stage, during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset. The performer led crowds on the festival's West Holts Stage in chants of
Media / 2 July 2025
2 July 2025

Despite declining to show Kneecap’s set, the BBC broadcast Bob Vylan leading a ‘death to the IDF’ chant — and the resulting outrage has only amplified the very message the Establishment wanted silenced, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER

Similar stories
President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House, July 7, 2025, in Washington
Features / 9 July 2025
9 July 2025

Trump’s cruel Bill will deprive millions of essential medical support while escalating deportations and rewarding the super-rich, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER

Us President Donald Trump waves to supporters from his limou
Features / 1 April 2025
1 April 2025
Bizarrely, Trump’s latest attacks now include the National Zoo, but his real and racist agenda is to strip everything black from the country’s cultural institutions, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
COURAGE OF CONVICTIONS: Democratic Congressman for Texas Al
Features / 12 March 2025
12 March 2025
Student Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest and threatened deportation are terrifying — but the moribund Democrats are still failing to mount any meaningful resistance against the slide toward autocracy, reports LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
Republican vice presidential candidate Senator JD Vance take
Features / 4 September 2024
4 September 2024
JD Vance’s bitterly misjudged ‘childless cat ladies’ broadside broke the internet — but lightweight, bizarre or even downright dangerous vice-presidential picks are the norm for Republicans, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER