James Oliphant
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In his inaugural address, President Donald Trump promised a new golden age, casting himself as a unifier. But for a speech that heralded a bright future, it often echoed the past.
Much of Trump’s rhetoric echoes his words eight years ago, when he was first sworn in as president and spoke of a country with a failing economy and cities ravaged by crime. On Monday, he presented himself as a victim of the armed justice system under Democratic former President Joe Biden.
Trump said he had a mandate to implement his vision for the country after winning the election in a stunning political comeback that culminated in his swearing-in at the same building his supporters stormed four years ago in a failed bid to oust his 2020 election loss.
“From this moment forward, the decline of America is complete,” Trump said, speaking in the US Capitol Rotunda. – Our golden age has just begun.
He promised to be a “peacemaker and unifier”.
However, Trump then quickly announced sweeping policy changes on issues that have divided the country. He promised to end federal diversity initiatives and said he would sign an executive order declaring there are only two sexes.
He called for a “common sense revolution” on issues of gender and racial diversity as he defines it, one that includes some and excludes others.
He thanked black and Hispanic voters who supported his campaign and in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Daya said he wants to make the slain civil rights leader’s dream come true.
Trump’s idea of that dream appears to be what he has called a “colorblind” America that is pure meritocracy.
Despite narrowly winning the 2024 election by just over one percentage point, Trump suggested his victory gave him license to pursue his hard-right policies, adding that he believes last year’s assassination attempt was a matter of divine intervention further fueling his resolve. .
“God saved me to make America great again,” Trump said.
After contested elections, new presidents often tone down their campaign-style rhetoric and refrain from attacking their political opponents. Not Trump.
With Biden sitting nearby, Trump delved into the outgoing president’s policies on everything from immigration to foreign affairs. He claimed that his victory had given him “a mandate to completely and utterly reverse the appalling treason”.
“It was a campaign speech,” said Lindsay (NYSE: ) Chervinsky, historian and executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library. “He’s blaming the same people for the same things. It’s the same complaints.”
Rather than a detailed list of lofty goals for his administration, much of the short-term agenda Trump outlined involved simply reversing Biden-era policies.
Trump has spoken aspirationally at times, referring to the country’s “manifest destiny” and suggesting he wants to expand its territory.
Trump also called for unity when he first took office in 2017. However, his subsequent presidency has been marked by divisiveness, both in rhetoric and policy.
To move forward, Trump may need to show in the coming weeks and months that he can shake off the grievances that have fueled him for so long — his two impeachments and his 2020 loss to Biden.
“Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history,” Trump said. “And I learned a lot along the way.”
Trump did not say what he learned, but in his inaugural speech and two others he gave to supporters throughout the day, he sounded like the same exasperated Trump Americans have come to know well over the years.
