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John M. Crisp, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, lives in Texas.
President-elect Donald Trump’s Jan. 7 press conference in Mar-a-Lago got me thinking about his upcoming inaugural speech, on Jan. 20. What should we watch for?
To begin, consider Trump’s first inaugural address, delivered on Jan. 20, 2017. This is the speech that’s sometimes characterized as the “American carnage” address, during which Trump promises that the American hellscape he describes elsewhere in the speech “stops right here and stops right now.”
Trump portrayed an America in 2017 where “mothers and children are trapped in poverty,” with national landscapes marred by “rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones,” and where “crime and gangs and drugs” have “stolen too many lives.”
This column isn’t about whether Trump was accurately portraying America in 2017. Maybe he was exaggerating for political purposes. I’ll just let former President George W. Bush, who was seated on the podium behind Trump, sum things up: “That was some weird s—-.”
Also on the podium were former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, along with their first ladies, including Hillary Clinton, whom Trump had just defeated for the presidency. Thus, he had an apt backdrop for the fifth paragraph in his speech: “Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power…”
Well, not every four years. In 2021, Trump refused to attend the inauguration of Joe Biden or even admit that he lost the election. It will be interesting in 2025 to see how Trump handles the awkwardly ironic circumstance that Democrats are once again peacefully relinquishing power, as evidenced by the presence of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
And given the way Obama and Trump were schmoozing at Carter’s funeral, Barack and Michelle will probably attend the ceremony, as well.
But what will Trump say at his inaugural? Undoubtedly someone is already writing his speech, but keep an eye on whether he closely hews to the script, as he appears to have done in 2017.
For someone who is not a huge fan of Trump, I watch an inordinate amount of his speechifying at his campaign rallies and press conferences. His Jan. 7 presser was characteristic of Trump’s speaking style. It can be described in a number of ways: rambling, discursive, off-the-cuff, undisciplined, repetitive, digressive.
Devoted MAGA supporters don’t seem to mind — or even notice — Trump’s meandering incoherence, but it’s so real that Trump himself has conjured a name for it: weaving. He’s probably implying that the thread of his ramblings will always return from its wanderings to a coherent narrative.
But does it really? And if Trump, unable to resist the allure of the weave, veers off track on Jan. 20, where will he go?
It seems likely that Trump will somehow revisit the 2020 election, to reassert the patently false claim that he actually beat Biden. He probably won’t point out his unfulfilled promise to end the Russia-Ukraine war before his inauguration, but he may argue that the war never would have happened if he hadn’t been cheated out of his rightful victory in 2020.
Trump may not note that his inauguration is the supposed deadline for the release of all hostages held in Gaza, but his inaugural speech could provide an opportunity to elaborate on his threat that “all hell will break out” if Hamas doesn’t meet the deadline. But he probably won’t.
Since inaugural speeches are opportunities to talk about an administration’s vision for the future, Trump might use the occasion to clarify his Jan. 7 assertion that he would consider using military force to acquire the Panama Canal or against our NATO ally, Denmark, to acquire Greenland.
I’m guessing that Trump’s speechwriters and other clearheaded Republicans are hoping he’ll stick to the script.
But Trump beat the rap on the most serious charges against him. Thanks to the Supreme Court, he’s probably feeling his immunity. After he’s sworn in, he’ll be the president of the United States, the most powerful man in the world. He’ll be speaking in front of his biggest possible rally. He’ll probably believe that he can say just about anything. Maybe he will.
