Trump's Inauguration and the Old-Fashioned Future of American Mythmaking

Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2025, marks the consolidation of a hybrid imaginary blending archaic and novel elements, effectively erasing the previous Democratic cultural and political world. The event is characterized by a revival of 19th-century frontier mythology, including the Manifest Destiny ideology and references to President William McKinley. Trump's speech invoked pioneers, cowboys, and miners—exclusively white and male figures—while also projecting a retro-futuristic vision of space exploration, including planting the American flag on Mars. This future, described as 'old-fashioned' by Bruce Sterling, merges nostalgia with technological ambition, supported by figures like J.D. Vance (representing hillbilly culture) and tech tycoons such as Elon Musk. The administration's rhetoric emphasizes return and repetition: Trump's return to power, a symbolic return to the 1980s, and the return of a pioneer ethos. The article argues that this imaginary, while seemingly contradictory, effectively combines repetition with novelty, creating a powerful political narrative that draws on both historical myth and contemporary tech-driven futurism.