The promise and peril of Trump’s inaugural address

Donald Trump, who returned to power on a wave of voter dissatisfaction with the status quo, promised a new “golden age” for America in his inaugural address.

The speech was a mix of promises — and contradictions — that highlighted some of the opportunities and challenges the new president will face in his second term.

He paid particular attention to immigration and the economy, issues that polls showed American voters cared about most last year. He also pledged to end government-promoted diversity programs and noted that official US policy would recognize only two genders, male and female.

That last line drew an enthusiastic response at the Capitol and wild cheers from the crowd of his supporters gathered in a nearby sports arena. It’s a sign that cultural issues — where he drew the sharpest contrasts with Democrats in last year’s election — will continue to be one of Trump’s most powerful ways for the new president to connect with his base.

But before outlining what this new era would entail, Trump painted a bleak picture of America’s current political climate.

While his predecessor Joe Biden and other Democrats sat stony-faced to one side, Trump said the government was facing a “crisis of confidence.” He condemned the “vicious, violent and dishonest arming” of the US Department of Justice, which investigated him and tried to prosecute him for contesting the results of the 2020 election.

He claimed a mandate to reverse “horrible betrayals” and attacked a “radical and corrupt nature” that he said was extracting power and wealth from America’s citizens.

It was the kind of populist, anti-elitist rhetoric that has been a staple of Trump’s speeches for a decade. Unlike when Trump first began his ascent to the heights of US political power in 2015, however, Trump represents the current emerging establishment as much as any individual. And behind him at the podium sat a collection of some of the richest and most powerful corporate leaders in the world.

On Inauguration Day, Trump has the attention — and the initiative. His aides have promised hundreds of executive actions — on a range of topics, including immigration, energy, trade, education and hot-button cultural issues.

In his inaugural address, he detailed a handful of them. He promised to declare a national emergency on energy and immigration, which allowed him to put the US military on the border, drastically limit the rights of asylum seekers and reopen large swaths of federal land for energy extraction. He reiterated his promise to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” ​​and to reclaim the Panama Canal.

He made a baseless claim that China controls the key waterway and said that US ships, including naval vessels, pay too many transit fees – perhaps a hint at the real goal in future negotiations with the Panamanian government.

“The United States will once again be considered a rising nation,” he said, promising to increase American wealth and expand “our territory.”

That last part may catch the ear of US allies, who are already worried about Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland and quips about making Canada the 51st US state.

During the campaign and in this speech, Trump made a series of big promises. Now that he’s president, he’ll be challenged to deliver — and show what the “golden age” he heralds really means.