The ceremony was a tapestry of America. Patriotism, religion, history, tradition woven together. Iconic. The peaceful transfer of power in this great democracy.
But the inaugural speech was Trump through and through. It was the speech his supporters expected. It was the speech his critics expected too.
A humbling reflection of the awe of the Office of the President, it was not so much. But it was a pledge to fix America, his way.
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Donald Trump gives his inaugural speech while Joe Biden watches on. Pic: Reuters
Was it the “American carnage” speech he delivered in 2017?
It was a “carnage” speech reformed certainly, but peppered with hope and promises of change.
But his tone was precisely what his supporters want.
Effectively he said America is chaos, it’s broken, it’s lawless, it’s leaderless, it’s corrupt. And Joe Biden had to sit through it all, a metre or two away, wondering surely “How did all this happen?”.
“For American citizens, January 20th 2025 is liberation day,” President Trump said to roars.
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Mr Trump being sworn in. Pic: Reuters
Campaign catchphrases
All the campaign catchphrases that propelled him to power were there. “Fix the southern border”, “fix the economy”, “drill baby drill”.
He pledged to remove ‘woke’ from America. “A society that is colourblind and merit based…. Only two genders, male and female.”
He said he would sign an executive order to restore “common sense”. Biden, behind him, laughed.
The only time I spotted Joe Biden standing with applause was to a mention of the Middle East ceasefire.
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Joe Biden was seen making the sign of the cross at Trump’s inauguration.
Mr Trump said he would “measure success by the wars we end and the wars we never get into… I want to be a peacemaker and a unifier”.
A fact check was useful for parts of the speech. American ships are not charged more at the Panama Canal, and the canal isn’t run by China.
President Trump said he would lead through “dignity, and power and strength”. The first of those may be hard, at times, to square with the second two.
Bodyblow speech to liberals
Certainly for liberal progressives who thought they were the future, this was a bodyblow speech.
The stripping of social protections, the gender stuff, the rhetoric against foreigners.
If the 2017 speech was “American carnage”, today’s was purer.
It was delivered with a confidence he didn’t have in 2017 – the confidence of delivery: the total belief in the superiority of a United States led by President Donald Trump.
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