Trump Returns

Trump is back.  He is now the 2nd president to have non-consecutive terms, repeating the feat of Grover Cleveland: 1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897.  Trump's inaugural address was a long list of Biden policies that he will reverse or his own former policies that he will restore.  He spent a good portion of his speech decrying the damage done over the last 4 years and his intent to repair it.  Not one to shy away from hyperbole, he declared that the Golden Age of America was beginning now, and that the best four year of American history would follow.  Some of the highlights:

1. We're taking back the Panama Canal
2. Stay in Mexico policy restored
3. Gulf of Mexico is now Gulf of America
4. There are only two genders
5. Military ejected for failure to take COVID vaccine will be reinstated with back pay
6. No more wars.  He will be a peacemaker
7. Weaponization of DOJ will end
8. Denali in Alaska will once again be called Mount McKinley
9. Speaking of McKinley, he liked tariffs.  Let's do that again
10. External Revenue Service - collect taxes from other countries
11. Drill, baby, drill.  Let's get that liquid gold
12. End the electric car mandate
13. DOGE: the Department of Government Efficiency
14. Let's go to Mars!

America is the greatest country and every other country envies us.  They will envy us more now.

It was a practical speech that set out goals and expectations.  Here is the initial blueprint for America's future.  It was a call to arms against the powers that be.  It was missing the line: "There's a new sheriff in town," but it communicated that message loud and clear.  It lacked the soaring rhetoric of Reagan or Obama.  It had the subtly of a cudgel.

President Trump

At noon today (Eastern Time), Donald John Trump took the oath of office as President of the United States.  He then delivered a brief speech.

 

It was a simple speech, the sort of speech a high school student might write.  It was very like an outline, a skeleton of a speech that lacked the muscle and flesh.  There were no oratorical flourishes, no poetry to it beyond the 'Make America [insert word] Again,' whether that be safe, strong, wealthy, proud, or great.  When one considers how fond Trump is of gold-plating everything he builds, this was a log cabin of a speech.  It was oddly both inclusive - Trump used 'we' 50 times in one of the shortest Inaugural Addresses - and exclusive - Trump hammered the 'establishment' from which 'we' had wrested power.  It was a speech that continued the campaign themes of attacking the government and offered no reconciliation.  He reasserted that "Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families."  The calculus is not as simple as that line proposes but it is a good line for public consumption.  The pacing of the speech was not good.  About 3 quarters of the way through the speech, he said 'Finally' and I thought he was about done.  Nope.  It is not a bad speech but it is not uplifting.  It has some optimism to it but it is also combative.  It was in the style of Hemingway, not Shakespeare.  As such, it fits the man who gave it.