Trump's Schizophrenic Inaugural Address

Even in Trumplandia, His Declarations Don't Work

The Oligarchs in Their Places of Honor. Courtesy, Getty Images.

I worked on two presidential inaugurals, watched Trump’s first with quickly-dashed hope, wept with joy through Joe Biden’s and skipped viewing today’s ceremonies. I saw a clock reading just past 10 am Mountain Time and knew the new era had begun.

But…I did force myself to watch Trump’s inaugural address. Below is my analysis of what he said and what it means.

Tone, Tenor and Setting

Unlike the “American Carnage” insanity of eight years ago, Trump’s speech was contradictory, twaddle-filled, and low-energy. He’s never at his ‘best’ on a teleprompter and today wasn’t any different. Trump is now the oldest person ever elected president, let’s not forget that.

Much of what Trump had to offer was recycled. His speeches are typically built around things he likes to say, promises he’s broken before, and items that are sure to send the chattering class into orbit. Denali? Nope. Mt. McKinley is back. Gulf of Mexico? Nay. The Gulf of America!

These are more epic trolls. Don’t fall for them. Pick your battles and your outrage.

The choice to move Trump’s swearing inside very well might have been a weather call. The smaller space also allowed for a hand-picked, controlled crowd, that dutifully offered standing ovations for every syllable.

I believe we’ll see less of Trump outside the White House in this term. When we do, we should expect the crowds to be far more restricted and screened for political reliability in addition to increased security protocols. Expect ‘security’ to be a catchall excuse for a lot actions to come.

Talking Out Both Sides of an Ugly Mouth

Since the 1854 founding the GOP, individual liberty has been a key tenet and talking point. That liberty and freedom were scattered throughout his remarks is not surprising. In the span of just one sentence, though, he vowed to remove affirmative action from ‘all aspects of public and private life’ while simultaneously vowing to ‘forge a society’ based on merit.

Social engineering is something Democrats and leftists are typically accused of. In his speech, Trump is telling us what we need to know: His administration will use its authority to not just run a government or enforce laws, but to shape culture.

That concept is many things. Conservative isn’t one of them.

No Wars, Except the Ones We Want

Trump also claimed that his administration has the “power to stop all wars.” I’m all for stopping wars. But how do we square that with his recitation and resuscitation of Manifest Destiny, proclaiming that he’ll take actions that ‘expand our territory.”

He said the US would retake control of the Panama Canal. If we’re going to stop all wars, how are all the isolationists going to feel when we begin sending young men to fight and die in a central American country for a waterway? The loss of life is only the beginning. What kind of economic disruption will result from such an act?

That’s right! Raise prices for American consumers! More on this momentarily.

First, vamos a Mexico. Trump will declare Mexican drug cartels terrorist organizations (which they are) as part of his border control emergency. Sending American active duty troops to an area where a bunch of county sheriffs and Texas cops are already itching to get in on a border war, can turn this into a Sicario-like scenario in a hurry. What happens when American civilians on American territory fall victim to cross-border violence? Are we due for a second Punitive Campaign?

Putting that many heavily armed people on opposite sides of a physical border and an ideological divide is a recipe disaster. Maybe they’re only wars if they don’t occur on another continent?

More Government Control?

In the economic section of his speech, Trump blamed inflation on overspending (which started with his massive Covid giveaway) and that his government would take steps to ensure prices come down. What does this mean? Are we talking Nixon-era wage and price controls?

Lucky for us, though, America will get ‘rich’ because of all the tariffs he’s about to enact (25% on Canada and Mexico as of February 1.) So riddle me this economists: How do you keep prices artificially low while the inflationary pressure of tariffs and mass deportations (not to mention more wars) push them higher?

All of it, again, is antithetical to any sort of ‘conservatism.’

Pictures are Worth 1,000 Words

Trump’s remarks concluded (mercifully) with an homage to American workers. Claiming to represent everyone who built highways, sky scrapers, cars, and rockets, he conveniently ignored the near $1 trillion of net worth sitting just steps behind him.

Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pinchai of Google, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Jeff Bezos, with fiance on his arm, occupied places of honor, ahead of elected officials and prospective Cabinet members.

The Oligarchs’ presence and position should serve as a wake-up call to the American working class that they’ve only ever been a means to an end for Donald Trump. These men both possess and control more wealth, status, and economic power than many small countries.

Their names will go down in history like those of another thuggish boss. Bezos and Musk will be listed alongside Abromovich, Derepaska, and Prokohorov. What Elon, Jeff, and Mark should understand, but probably can’t believe, is that there is a non-zero chance that one or several of them end up like Mikhail Khodorovsky, the Russian oligarch stripped of his wealth and imprisoned after challenging Vladimir Putin.

So It Begins…

As I’ve been writing this, Donald Trump has been busy issuing executive orders, pardoning January 6th insurrectionists (all of them,) and pulling the country out of international agreements. He signed some of them during a post-inaugural rally in front of 20,000 screaming fans.

We’re a day into this. We should not live under the illusion that things will get better or slow down or be less ‘shock and awe’ in coming weeks. History shows us that when movements like MAGA take power, they move quickly to consolidate authority. Trump’s opening gambit will be no different.

Now we wait, watch, and prepare. If luck is the definition of when preparation meets opportunity, we have a lot of work to do.