Delivering a muted stump speech for his inaugural address, 70-year-old Donald Trump took his oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts and promised to put America first in domestic and foreign policy. Promising to strengthen U.S. borders, bring back factory jobs, defeat terrorism and repair crumbling U.S. infrastructure, Trump returned to the same themes that won him the presidency. Sitting near Trump, overlooking the vast West view of the Capitol, was former Democratic nominee Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton wearing a white pantsuit. As Trump told the audience he was returning Washington to the people, Hillary could only wonder where she went wrong. Spending the time between the Nov. 8 election blaming FBI Director James Comey and Russian President Vladimir Putin for her defeat, Hillary can only ask why she failed.
Listening to the speech, Trump addressed the same disenfranchised voters that Hillary missed during the campaign. “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” said Trump, referring the Upper Midwest where unemployed steel, auto and factory workers only dream about a better life. “The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer,” said Trump, telling his audience he hasn’t forgotten who voted for him in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. While former President Barack Obama could hardly hide his disgust, Trump continued painting the country in dire straits. “America will start winning again—winning like never before. We will bring back jobs, we will bring back our borders, we will bring back our wealth and we will bring back our dreams,” Trump said, repudiating much of the Obama’s eight years in office.
Trump’s critics complain that he spent too little time on high-minded themes, boiling his speech down to a brief 16 minutes. Yet with a light rain falling, Trump spared the audience the kind of highfalutin speech-making practiced by Obama and Clinton, dazzling audiences with rhetorical flourishes—and no substance. Trump kept his speech short-and-sweet, speaking to his constituents. Speaking almost directly to Obama, Trump talked about eradicating radical Islamic terrorism. “We will reinforce our alliances and form new ones, and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth,” Trump said. Obama refused to call the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] or al-Qaeda radical Islamic terrorism, calling it instead “violent extremism.” Trump’s speech rehashed many of the same themes that got him elected.
With protests, demonstrations and rioting around D.C. and the country, Trump takes office with minorities protesting his promise to clean up the borders and deport illegal alien criminals. Illegal immigrants largely from Latin American fear mass deportations under Trump, something promoted by the Hillary campaign. Much of Trump’s demonization came from the Hillary campaign, calling him a racist, misogynist xenophobe and sexual predator. Even FBI Director James Comey and CIA Director John Brennen had trouble ferreting out Hillary’s propaganda from dubious intel about Trump’s dealings in Russia. Neither Democrats nor Republicans like Trump’s insistence on politicians delivering results for the American people. “We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action—constantly complaining but never doing anything about it,” Trump said.
Trump’s biggest challenge going forward in Congress are not Democrats but Republican war hawks trying to sabotage his attempt to improve relations with Russia. Trump sees the benefit of working with Putin to deal with hotspots around the globe, including China, North Korea and defeating ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Obama and Hillary saw eye-to-eye with Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), both want more sanctions on Russia, not improved relations. “The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action,” said Trump, referring to elected officials throwing roadblocks in the way of domestic and foreign policy. “What truly matters is not which party controls our government but whether our government is controlled by the people,” putting the GOP on notice that controlling two branches of government still requires doing the people’s business.
Signaling that he won’t deviate from campaign promises, Trump told the audience that Washington must take a backseat to the work of the people. “For many decades, we enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry, subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing the very sad depletion of our military,” Trump said, insisting that the U.S. was entering a new era. “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first, America first,’ signaling a change from the Obama administration relying heavily on the United Nations for U.S. foreign policy. Trump mentioned nothing about repealing-and-replacing Obama’s signature legislation: Obamacare. Trump finds himself, like with foreign policy, at odds with the Republican Party on repealing-and-replacing Obamacare. He’s wants to make sure that all citizens with Obamacare get something better.
