Donald Trump: Speech had no soaring rhetoric, but Americans want action

As a speech it had no soaring rhetoric, but Americans elected Donald Trump to improve their lives rather than make speeches.

President Trump’s inaugural speech painted a dark picture — “American carnage.”

There were few attempts to unite Americans — which has been a common theme of many inaugural addresses.

In 1801, Thomas Jefferson rang out with the following words: “Let us, then fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind.”

Donald Trump inauguration

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In 1865, Abraham Lincoln, uttering his immortal words that “with malice toward none, with charity for all”, said there was a need to “bind up the nation’s wounds.”

John F. Kennedy’s famous phrase is taught to every American child: “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

But the growing number of Americans who cannot find jobs and who fear their children may never work do not care about rhetoric — they want action.

In this sense, President Trump re-heated the themes that had helped him defeat the powerful Clinton machine.

He made clear that his focus will be on America, not intervening in the world’s problems — “America first, America first.”

His pitch to rebuild American industry echoed through the speech — “Buy American, hire American.”

He continued his election theme that “a small group of people” in Washington had governed for themselves while Rome — or rather Detroit — burned.

“The factories closed,” he said. “The establishment protected itself but not the citizens of our country.”

He talked about “rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones” and “the crime and the gangs and the drugs ... This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”

While the speech disappointed the elites, he stayed true to his campaign pitch to Middle America — the political and business elites have been benefiting from globalisation, but the benefits have passed by many Americans.

“The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer,” Trump said. “Together we will determine the course of America, and the world, for many years to come.”

While it was appropriate for President Trump to re-state his themes, I thought he should also have reached out to Americans rather than pitch again to his base.

The office of the President has enormous prestige in the US, and he could have used this address to give all Americans a sense that they have a stake in his success.

To make real achievements, Trump needs to bring people with him — particularly the Congress.

He needs to “bind the wounds” inside the Republican Party after a highly-acrimonious election campaign.

Trump needs to change his mindset from campaigner to governor, from Tweeter-in-Chief to Commander-in-Chief.

If he can work with the Congress, he has the ability to change America.

He has the ability to begin repairing the US’s parlous budgetary situation.

But talking about “American carnage” is not the way to go.

Donald Trump could learn from an earlier Republican president who went on achieve more than most people thought he could — Ronald Reagan.

Reagan won over Americans by giving them a sense that the future held better prospects than the past — “It’s morning in America.”

It’s one thing for a candidate to talk about “carnage”. It’s a completely different thing for a President to do so.