Analysis: Donald Trump’s inauguration address had no surprises but he wanted to let rip

Donald Trump had been talked out of the darkest parts of his speech by his wife Melania and JD Vance, his Vice President. But he still wanted to let rip, says Tom Minear.

Eight years ago, after Donald Trump’s first speech as the 45th US president, his Republican predecessor George W. Bush muttered to those sitting near him: “That was some weird shit.”

Mr Trump’s words to mark his return as America’s 47th president came from the same book – if not the same page – as what became known as his “American carnage” address.

This time around, however, that was no surprise. Even though his aides had promised a positive start to his second term, Mr Trump inevitably dwelled on what he called America’s decline.

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC. Picture: AFP

Children taught to “hate our country”. The “vicious, violent and unfair weaponisation” of the justice system. America’s weakened presence in an “angry, violent and unpredictable” world.

“My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal,” Mr Trump declared, “and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and, indeed, their freedom. From this moment on, America’s decline is over.”

The 78-year-old seemed uncharacteristically serene as he spoke in the grand US Capitol Rotunda. But his speech was nonetheless a scorching repudiation of Joe Biden’s record, to which his predecessor could only listen with an occasional wry smile.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump walking into the inauguration ceremony together. Picture: AFP

This, of course, is how Mr Trump orchestrated the greatest comeback in modern political history. He convinced voters to look past his many flaws by ruthlessly identifying the problems that upset them and then unashamedly promising forceful solutions.

“The American people have spoken,” Mr Trump said, as he reeled off a business-like list of executive actions he pledged to immediately implement to deliver on his promises.

He even vowed to reclaim the Panama Canal, although he did not mention Greenland, the other target of his recently unveiled “Donroe Doctrine” for territorial expansion.

Perhaps he had heard the jokes – how could he be tough enough to control the freezing Greenland when it was too cold for him to hold his inauguration outside during Washington DC’s winter?

Unusually for Mr Trump, he diligently followed the script on his teleprompter, which eventually led him to the more optimistic theme of “a thrilling new era of national success”.

“Sunlight is pouring over the entire world and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before,” he boasted.

“In America, the impossible is what we do best … We are going to win like never before.”

The crowd cheered, the national anthem was performed, and then the second Trump presidency had begun. Not too weird, right, Mr Bush?

Well, no. Because, as it turned out, Mr Trump had been talked out of the darkest parts of his speech by his wife Melania and JD Vance, his Vice President. But he still wanted to let rip.

After the ceremony, Mr Trump marched into the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall – an overflow room for his supporters – and unloaded the outtakes of his inaugural address.

Donald Trump’s family members in the first row during the inauguration ceremony. Picture: AFP

He promised action to free the criminals he called “hostages” after they were jailed over the January 6 riot. The real “thugs”, he said, were the members of Congress who investigated the attack on the Capitol that was designed to stop the transfer of power four years ago.

Mr Trump blasted Mr Biden’s last-minute pardons for the January 6 congressional committee, calling its most senior Republican member Liz Cheney a “crying lunatic”. And he continued to maintain, without any evidence, that the 2020 election was “totally rigged”.

“This was a better speech than the one I made upstairs,” he concluded. It was longer, too.

Mr Trump won the presidency, the popular vote, the battleground states, the House and the Senate. He is at the peak of his political powers. And yet, to borrow a phrase from his vanquished opponent Kamala Harris, he is still not quite unburdened by what has been.

Originally published as Analysis: Donald Trump’s inauguration address had no surprises but he wanted to let rip