Trump delivered 2913 words in his wild inauguration speech. We’ve deconstructed all of them
Donald Trump waited four years to unleash. His rhetoric was forceful – we break down what it means.
Donald Trump’s 30-minute inauguration speech was slightly less dark than the “American carnage” address of his first inauguration eight years ago, which depicted the United States as a crime and drug-infested hellscape. But it nonetheless cast the US as a country in “decline” and featured a string of swipes at predecessor Joe Biden.
Using Trump’s own words, former US Studies Centre senior fellow Bruce Wolpe, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age columnist Jacqueline Maley and the US Studies Centre’s Economic Security Program director Hayley Channer break down the following abridged speech, its hidden meanings and what may lay ahead for the next four years.