Curtains Up, Crisis Offstage: Trump’s Inauguration as a Divisive Spectacle

Last week, the Oscar nominations marked the official start of awards season. However, another theatrical performance from the week demands further attention, one defined not by artistry, but by calculated divisiveness: Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration. A meticulously staged event steeped in controversy, it ignited fierce debates over hateful gestures dismissed as “Roman salutes” and inflammatory rhetoric like “crises of trust”. While theatrics dominated headlines, the event exemplified Trump’s core strategy: the deliberate use of spectacle to distract from pressing national issues.