POLITICS

Trump inaugural speech: President rips past leaders, makes promises; hosts react

Jan 20, 2025, 5:39 PM | Updated: Jan 21, 2025, 2:50 pm

Image: President Donald Trump finishes his inaugural address as Vice President JD Vance applauds du...

President Donald Trump finishes his inaugural address as Vice President JD Vance applauds during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Pool photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson via AP)

(Pool photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson via AP)

President Donald Trump’s second inaugural address sounded a lot like his first, with a sweeping indictment of the country he inherits and grand promises to fix its problems.

Eight years ago, Trump described “American carnage” and promised to end it immediately. On Monday, he declared that the country’s “decline” will end immediately, ushering in “the golden age of America.”

Trump added a long list of policies that sounded more at home in a State of the Union speech than an Inauguration Day address. But the broad themes were fundamentally Trumpian, setting himself up as a national savior.

Breaking tradition, the Republican president delivered his remarks from inside the Capitol Rotunda due to the bitter cold outside. He spoke to several hundred elected officials and pro-Trump VIPs, tech titan Elon Musk among them.

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Here are some of The Associated Press’ takeaways from the speech:

A promise of an American ‘golden age’

From the start, Trump’s speech tracked his campaign rally approach: big promises of national success due to his leadership, with plenty of sweeping indictments of the status quo.

“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said after ticking through the requisite nods to former presidents and other dignitaries. He added several more promises: The ”start of a thrilling new era.” A nation “greater, stronger and far more exceptional than ever before.”

“Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced,” he continued. “Our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free.”

The underlying presumption, of course, is that Trump is inheriting what he called throughout the 2024 campaign “a failed nation.”

He vowed to send troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, boost domestic oil production and impose tariffs to “enrich our citizens.”

Trump calls America’s past leadership corrupt

Trump described America’s leadership over the last four years as incompetent and corrupt, echoing some of the darker rhetoric he used daily on the campaign trail.

He did not mention his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, or any other Democrats by name. But there was no question about whom he was talking.

“We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad,” Trump charged.

He said the current government protects dangerous immigrants instead of law-abiding citizens, protects foreign borders at the expense of American borders and “can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency.”

“All of this will change starting today, and it will change very quickly,” he said.

As of Monday, Republicans control all three branches of the federal government.

Inauguration Day coverage: Trump returns to power, promises a ‘golden age of America’

A perceived triumph over dark forces

Even before Trump began to speak, a religious and political ally, the Rev. Franklin Graham, touched on one of the new president’s most common themes – how he’s been persecuted by unnamed evil forces.

Graham talked of Trump’s “enemies” and the “darkness” of the last four years for Trump personally.

When Trump spoke, he tied attempts to prosecute him for trying to overturn his election loss to Biden into his allegations of “weaponization” of the Justice Department, referencing the federal and state indictments against him. Trump then linked those cases to the attempt to assassinate him in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July.

“The journey to reclaim our republic has not been an easy one, that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and, indeed, to take my life,” Trump said.

The shooter was an apparently disturbed local 20-year-old man who had no documented ties to the Biden administration, the federal government or any other opponents Trump has criticized.

Trump then used striking language to explain how he survived. “I was saved by God to make America great again,” Trump said to applause.

Lying about wildfires

Trump’s lament about the state of the nation included disbelief that the fires around Los Angeles were still burning “without a token defense.”

That’s false. Firefighters have been battling the blazes since they erupted and have made significant progress. The Eaton fire is 87% contained, and the Palisades fire 59% contained, according to CalFire.

A peacemaker and a conqueror

Trump has vowed to stop foreign wars and celebrated his role in helping implement a ceasefire in Gaza. “A peacemaker and a unifier, that’s what I want to be,” Trump said.

Moments later he was vowing to regain the Panama Canal from Panama. “We’re taking it back!” Trump declared, having previously declined to rule out using military force.

He pledged to pursue policy that “expands our territory” and to put U.S. astronauts on Mars — a promise undoubtedly popular with Musk, a major Trump supporter who has long pursued the same goal.

That cuts to the heart of one of the many contradictions in Trump’s movement. The new president revels in a confrontational, macho approach that revved up his support among young men. His political career has been built on seeking conflict and tearing down rivals. Yet Trump has also positioned himself as someone who’ll end conflicts and usher in peace.

Ursula and Angela saw more positivity in this Trump inaugural speech

Ursula Reutin, one of the hosts of “The Gee and Ursula Show,” and guest co-host Angela Poe Russell went on the air right after Trump’s inaugural speech Monday and shared thoughts about what they heard.

Angela went first and was struck by Trump’s speech contained a lot about what he planned on doing.

“The thing that I take away first is that the speech felt less inspirational and more tactical,” Angela said. “Obviously … a newly elected President, you want to say some inspirational words. Sometimes it can lean that direction. But it felt felt less focused on the fluff and more focused on the work.”

She didn’t feel encouraged by the speech. But she came out of it knowing what Trump wants and expects to accomplish.

“”It just it didn’t leave me (feeling) ‘Oh my God, I feel inspired!’ But I definitely was left very clear about what he’s going to do,” Angela said. “And that’s one thing about Trump that I’ll say, he will always tell you what he’s going to do.”

Ursula responded by noting this was a marked departure from his last inaugural speech in 2017.

“I thought this (speech) for Trump was more inspirational … He started saying ‘the Golden Age of America’ begins right now,” Ursula said. “The thing that was not present this time around, I didn’t hear name calling, which I thought was refreshing. He talked about all the things that are going to change and all the things that that were wrong with the United States during the previous administration. But he didn’t resort to any kind of name calling, which I think was a positive.”

‘Trump will deliver a strong message:’ KIRO, KTTH hosts offer Inauguration Day thoughts

Later, Angela said she was struck by a clip of Trump talking about Martin Luther King Jr. and the day that honors him.

“In his honor we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true,” Trump said in the speech.

“That is, that was that was a beautiful moment for me,” Angela said in response to that portion. “I mean, when you have someone who’s elected who makes that kind of of pledge, you want to believe that to be the case. And I have to take it, you know, at his word right now.”

Head here or tap on the player below to listen to more of the Ursula and Angela’s conversation about Trump’s inaugural speech, including a portion discussing Trump’s position on DEI initiatives and issues surrounding transgender people.

Jake and Spike provide different perspectives about what they heard from Trump

Jake Skorheim, one of the hosts of “The Jake and Spike Show,” offered his analysis of Trump’s speech and he started off by saying he agreed with Angela’s views.

“It really felt like This speech was more about, ‘Listen, here’s what I’m going to do,'” Jake said. “It felt less flowery to me like his 201 speech felt more like, I think he was more surprised in 2016 that he won. Then this speech felt more like, ‘Alright, here’s my agenda.”

The other “Jake and Spike” host, Spike O’Neill, approached his analysis of the speech differently. While Spike liked some portions of the speech, he had issues with other parts.

“I love the the Golden Age of America. (But) within the first 45 seconds he referred to the corrupt Biden administration. He referred to the corrupt Justice Department,” Spike said. “For those who are keeping track at home, the number of indictments for the Trump Administration officials: 335; (for the) Biden Administration: 0.”

Spike then noted that Trump talked about unifying America, but completely left out transgender people in his remarks — an issue important to him because he has a transgender child.

“This is a day of unity, this is a day of coming together. I loved what he said about unifying America,” Spike said. “He used the word ‘unity’ twice in the speech. ‘All Americans, the brown and the black Americans.’ That’s wonderful. Then he said that there are two genders, male and female. You know, disqualifying my child, civil liberties and rights. That’s his intentions to make just two genders again …”

Head here or tap on the player below to listen to more of Jake and Spike’s conversation about Trump’s inaugural speech and more topics surrounding Inauguration Day.

Jason Rantz appreciated the Trump inaugural speech

Jason Rantz, host of “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH, opened his show Monday discussing Trump’s speech and in addition to praising it, he called it “necessary.”

“It was an inspirational speech. It was a critical speech. But it was an appropriate speech and in a lot of ways it was a necessary speech because it was about the future of this country,” Jason said at the beginning of his show Monday. “(It was about) reaching our potential, reaching or reaching our greatness. Because we once were able to have a strong and thriving economy with crime and a border under control.”

Later, Jason took on former President Joe Biden for his policies over the last four years and the disorder he believes was caused by those policies. Jason thinks Trump’s speech acted as a vow of sorts to undo all of those policies.

“We think we have a general sense of the chaos and I don’t think we’re going to truly know until it all is undone, which is what Donald Trump has vowed to do as president,” Jason said. “This was a speech that was vowing to undo the damage of the last four years. (It’s) a speech I would say was made even better with Joe Biden (and) Kamala Harris, seated right behind him.”

Head here or tap on the player below to listen to more of Jason’s analysis of Trump’s inaugural speech and more.

Contributing: The Associated Press; Steve Coogan, MyNorthwest

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