Steve Bannon said he sees the presence of billionaire CEOs and tech moguls at President-elect Trump’s inaugural events as a white flag of surrender from “the oligarchs,” Axios reports.

“The $TRUMP memecoin — a financial asset that didn’t exist on Friday afternoon — now accounts for about 89% of Donald Trump’s net worth,” Axios reports.

“The coin (technically a token that’s issued on the Solana blockchain) has massively enriched Trump personally, enabled a mechanism for the crypto industry to funnel cash to him, and created a volatile financial asset that allows anyone in the world to financially speculate on Trump’s political fortunes.”

“I think it’s gonna be shock and awe. He’s going to parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, swing those doors open at the Oval Office, and sign 100 or more executive orders that overturn the damage of the last four years.”

— Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN), quoted by CBS News.

Peter Baker: “More than 30 miles of anti-scale fencing are being erected all over the nation’s capital. Concrete barriers are being placed at key junctures. Certain roads have already been closed to traffic. Surveillance drones will flood the skies.”

“But if Washington looks like a war zone again, it does not necessarily feel that way. Unlike the last time President-elect Donald J. Trump took the oath of office eight years ago, the bristling tension and angry defiance have given way to accommodation and submission. The Resistance of 2017 has faded into the Resignation of 2025.”

“President Biden warned in his farewell address to the nation last week that an oligarchy is taking shape in America. In Washington, the oligarchs are already here, buying big houses,” the New York Times reports.

“Counting President-elect Donald Trump himself, there are at least a dozen billionaires among his cabinet picks and those headed for senior roles in the new administration. Elon Musk tops the list with a $429 billion net worth, according to Forbes, making him the world’s richest man. Mr. Trump weighs in with an estimated $6.8 billion.”

“It is an extraordinary concentration of wealth in a city where power has always been more important than money, but is now more than ever intertwined with it. Mr. Trump campaigned as a populist defender of the American working class, but he has put some of his richest donors in commanding roles in the top reaches of government. A number will oversee the very industries that produced their fortunes.”

NPR: Steve Bannon says MAGA populism will win — as Trump is surrounded by billionaires.

“The president-elect’s immigration advisers have warned Republicans that it will take time and money from Congress to carry out the mass deportation effort he has promised to execute immediately,” the New York Times reports.