Filenews 22 January 2025 - by Timothy L O'Brien
President Donald Trump's inauguration speech on Monday looked more like a campaign speech than a celebration of a higher cause. This was, however, to be expected. Trump abhors poetry and clings to the prose of practicality and persuasion, even if it is unattainable and incendiary.
Before the speech, some predicted that Trump might emphasize "unity." Similar predictions had been made before his speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July. But "unity" made little appearance on the RNC, and in his speech on Monday, Trump invoked that word but not emotion — promising to bring a "new spirit of unity" to the world and preaching "the return of national unity to America," even when in its essence, his speech offered every indication to the contrary.
Trump is who he is. He gave the speech he wanted to give and we must take him seriously. He is determined to reorganize the U.S. government, reassert U.S. dominance in the world, crack down on immigration, repeal diversity initiatives, ignore the climate crisis, loosen the yoke of federal regulations, and prioritize his version of economic growth. He also proceeded to recast the story. He repeated the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him in statements to supporters after his speech, and then pardoned nearly all the defendants and convicts involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, in the same building where he was sworn in for his second term.
By the end of the day, Trump had signed a series of executive orders that, among other things, sealed off the southern border as part of a declaration of emergency aimed at stemming immigration, abolished the right to citizenship for U.S.-born people, withdrew the U.S. from global climate and public health initiatives, and delayed TikTok's ban and launched investigations for alleged misconduct at various federal agencies. It overturned more than 72 executive orders from President Joe Biden — including those that lowered prescription drug prices, banned offshore drilling at specific locations and allowed transgender military personnel to be in the armed forces. He froze federal hiring and urged government employees to return to their offices. He also hinted to reporters later in the evening that he could impose punitive tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Executive orders are directives that guide the actions of federal agencies. They are not legislation, and much of what Trump is pushing for may be challenged in court. Even so, they represent an early manifesto.
While he did not invoke the spectre of the "American carnage" that defined his first inaugural address eight years ago, Trump's second effort was embroidered with images of a weakened and threatened America, trapped to such an extent that only a miracle could save it. To that end, he reminded his audience in the Capitol Rotunda and around the world that he survived a gunshot last summer because "God saved me to make America great again."
Trump is moving into familiar territory. He routinely referred to himself as "the chosen one" during his first term in the White House, knowing full well that while he couldn't walk on water, his trick resonated with evangelical voters. And if his sky-high self-promotion was good enough for press conferences and social media posts, it was certainly good for an inaugural speech. After all, the more people believe they are mired in chaos, the more they tend to rely on a deity — or an authoritarian who declares various emergencies — to save them.
Trump, the negotiator, also merged yesterday with today. He recalled the colonization of the American West and the "Manifest destiny" of the 1800s, while promising to claim the Panama Canal, rename the Gulf of Mexico and Denali, and plant the American flag on Mars (something that delighted Elon Musk, with his audience applauding). He cited William McKinley's presidency as a model for a tariff path to prosperity. He noted that Americans ended slavery, while overlooking that many of them once prospered from it—and fought to preserve it. He promised to use the Foreign Enemies Act of 1798 to target foreign gangs and criminals operating in the U.S., which he also sees as a useful tool in his broader plan to deport millions of immigrants.
He always thrived and survived in a field of distortion of reality and did not let reality invade even his inaugural speech.
He said he would ensure the U.S. "becomes a rich nation again." (U.S. GDP is now larger than the next three richest countries combined.) He said he plans to declare a national energy emergency. (U.S. oil production is at record levels, and the industry is worried about oversupply.) He said it would beat inflation and "quickly reduce costs and prices." (His tariff plan, if he follows suit, is likely to have the opposite effect.) He said he wants to stop "all government censorship" and "restore free speech in America." (He's used to suing the media, and his incoming administration has already turned its regulatory sword on the press.)
He defended a 'rule of law'. (He is a felony convicted and helped incite the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.) He decried a crisis of "corruption" in the federal government. (He plans to grant federal support to a crypto industry in which he and his family have a lucrative stake.) He said he would build "the strongest army the world has ever seen." (U.S. military spending is already at record levels.) He said his presidency would allow the U.S. to be a "free, sovereign and independent nation." (They already enjoy this status.)
He also praised American workers, "peasants and soldiers, cowboys and laborers, steelworkers and miners, policemen and pioneers" who protected the American economy. A significant part of these workers helped him get re-elected. Trump is a former casino impresario who specialized in distinguishing people from their coins in slot machines, and much of his interest and genuine devotion to working Americans in his political life followed suit. He told those voters and others on Monday that he would embrace "freedom," "the Constitution," and "our God," and confided, as in the science fiction film "Independence Day," that "January 20, 2025 is Liberation Day."
Trump likes to compare himself to the presidential titans who preceded him, and Ronald Reagan is a common choice. But Reagan's two inaugural speeches extended a hand to tolerance and unity in a way Trump could never afford. "How can we love our country and not love our countrymen — and by loving them, reach out a hand when they fall, heal them when they are sick, and provide them with opportunities to become self-sufficient," Reagan said in 1981. "Let us decide that we, the people, will build an American society of opportunity in which all of us—white and black, rich and poor, young and old—move forward together, hand in hand," he said in 1985.
To extend the hand? When we say "hand", do we mean hand? No, no, no. Trump wants a bar fight — and he has reconstructed the Republican Party in his image. He is also outspoken about policies and values that Reagan-era politicians believed in but tried to keep hidden. Trump has taken off the mask, and his supporters find it refreshing.
Trump turns 79 in June. He is old enough to know that with speeches, whether rooted in prose or poetry, presidents only go so far. The real action lies in making [their promises] to voters and entering the legislative trenches. "I am with you, I will fight for you and I will win for you," he said on Monday.
We are late.
Performance – Editing: Lydia Roumpopoulou
