President Trump’s Inaugural Address: Learning From The Past
By LEON XIE ‘27
“The golden age of America begins right now.” On January 20th, President-elect Donald J. Trump gave his inaugural address inside the Capitol Rotunda, the speech having been moved there on account of inclement weather. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the way the United States had been run for the past four years, chiefly at how it “refuses to defend American borders, or more importantly, its own people.” The policies Trump said he would enact were ones geared at concentrating resources to efforts within the United States and removing support from operations in foreign countries, all so that, in his words, “We will be the envy of every nation… [and] America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before.”
The overall sentiment of his thirty-minute speech was consistent with his motto in the acronym MAGA, or Make America Great Again. He spoke of returning America to its former glory and stopping “America’s decline” to the tune of considerable applause. The speed with which he secured the election indicates strong agreement from the American populace. However, some of his policies reflect the notion that America must continue to grow in the same way it did in the early stages of development. If the US is to continue racing into the future, simply revisiting its past isn’t enough — America will need to adapt to the 21st century.
An image that Trump brought up multiple times in his speech was that of America’s glorious past. In one instance he listed several major American achievements, citing them as evidence that “the spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts” and that “the call of the next great adventure resounds from within our souls.” Trump’s proposals and words indicated that he believes the resources needed to chase these dreams as Americans have before have been diverted to foreign enterprises. He endeavors to reform the trade system to Americans’ benefit. “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” he said. Since many nations depend on their trade routes with the United States, it’s possible (but, according to economists at the Peterson Institute, quite unlikely) that we might see some short-term economic growth. Regardless, it’s a bold assumption that higher tariffs won’t result in any hard feelings, and raising them will likely hurt the States’ relations with other countries.
The assertion that the US wouldn’t have pitched in tax dollars to aid other countries when it was, as Trump says, “pushing frontiers,” doesn’t hold much water. Being a part of the developed world in the 21st century means engaging in 21st-century diplomacy, and it’s no longer possible for a nation as powerful as the United States to put nothing towards the benefit of global affairs. Neither will cracking down on international trade result in a net gain for the American people — it could come back to bite by impacting the average citizen’s quality of life.
Another part of Trump’s plans for his time in office is to reclaim control of the Panama Canal. In his speech, he aired his grievances against the unfair treatment of American ships: “We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made.” In an earlier press conference on January 7, when asked whether he would refrain from using military or economic coercion to achieve this end, he stated he could not promise to avoid either.
He has expressed similar intentions regarding other interactions with international allies, like the proposed purchase of Greenland, the changing of the Gulf of Mexico’s name to the Gulf of America, and the potential integration of Canada into the US. Trump has already begun making good on his promise to begin reinstating the philosophy of American manifest destiny, and during a time when global tensions are on the rise and it’s not clear when the next great conflict could erupt, it might seem like a good idea to begin beefing up American control over foreign affairs. That said, the ideas Trump is pushing indicate an overall direction for the United States that doesn’t illustrate the stage of development America has reached.
Weakening ties with foreign allies through stricter trade laws could hinder alliances that would’ve bolstered America’s chances in the face of armed conflict. Initiatives like fully tapping into oil reserves and moving to directly oppose the Green New Deal might provide us with more resources in the near future but, on the whole, it could contribute to an uncertain destiny not just for the US, but the world. Issues like climate change and wealth inequality would be exacerbated if the executive branch were to take such a stance. The principles that guided America to the state it’s in today will be much more difficult to employ if it’s in the same way as they were before. Trump’s assertion that Americans are “explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneers” has and will continue to hold true - but if he and his administration are to lead the United States toward untold prosperity, they will need to take the frontier spirit that has already brought America to such great heights and adapt it not to the world we used to live in, but to the one we wish to create.