On a rainy and overcast winter day, Trump promised with his hand on the Holy Bible to uphold the American Constitution as president.

Much of the pomp and pageantry that ensued followed Inauguration Day protocol, but the new commander- in-chief’s first address to the nation and the setting in which he delivered it were quite unlike those in recent memory. Protestors and counter-protestors demonstrated in the streets, while bombastic rhetoric poured forth from the presidential pulpit outside the Capitol. Washington resembled America at large: politically divided with opposing sides seemingly unable or unwilling to understand each other.

You might think President Trump would set out with a call for reconciliation and settlement after losing the popular vote by some three million ballots and having the lowest public approval rating for an incoming president in modern times. However, the newly inaugurated president painted a bleak picture of the US as badly damaged and more willing than ever to aggressively and unapologetically pursue its economic and security interests around the world. Unlike former President Ronald Reagan’s bright vision of the US as a “shining city upon a hill,” or former President Obama’s call for hope and change, Trump described “American carnage:” the impoverished citizens, rusted factories, gang warfare and drugs that came about under the previous administration. He decried how the US has given too much money to foreigners and spoke of the need to protect American borders “from the ravages of other countries.” It was an ominous start to a presidency many are uncertain about.

“It’s going to be only America first.”

Other notable mentions and non-mentions from President Trump’s inauguration speech included how in front of Washington’s assembled elite he railed against the political establishment, to which he now belongs, for not protecting the average American citizen and not sharing the country’s wealth. Also, Trump did not give a nod to his defeated opponent, Hillary Clinton, and her long public service during the speech or the concerns of her millions of supporters. On the international front, the new president bluntly put the world on notice that “it’s going to be only America first” and went on to vow that Islamic radical terrorism will be “eradicated from the face of the Earth.” After Trump’s inauguration speech two pastors and a rabbi stepped forward to bless his soundness of presidential decision-making.

Many on the streets of Washington during Friday’s official inauguration festivities and the weekend were not in town for parades and balls but to protest America’s 45th president. Unlike swearing-in days for former President Obama there were thousands of protestors representing diverse causes and movements. Most realized they could not stop the Inauguration but at least they had a right to protest and for their voices to be heard in public. A majority of protestors demonstrated peacefully shouting slogans like “Not My President. ” More than 200 however were arrested for throwing rocks and bricks, smashing storefronts, damaging cars and lighting trash cans on fire. Riot police used peppergas and flashbangs against some unruly demonstrators and several officers were reportedly injured in an effort to turn them back. Participants of the well attended Women’s March on Washington protest on Saturday vowed that their movement for gender equality, reproductive rights and more would be just the start of a civil movement to resist Trump’s agenda.

Former President Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden did not stick around for the celebrations and chaos and quickly exited Washington for much needed vacations. For the American people however the holidays are now over and in the middle of cold January there are no vacations ahead. We will need to work hard to ensure that the extreme political partisanship witnessed across America during the election and in the capital on Inauguration Day does not carry forward. We will all be rendered deaf if one side is protesting and the other in righteous celebration.