By Iliya Kusa
Impressions from D. Trump's inaugural speech.
- Minimal programmatic content and deep meanings, maximum simple words for the common people.
- No new big ideas, just a mix of campaign slogans and promises that were already known from the media. Essentially, the speech became a continuation of his election campaign.
- Focus on domestic policy, but not all of it, only the issues that most concern the "core electorate": immigration, economic nationalism, a sense of greatness, a rollback of the woke agenda, nostalgia for "the great country we lost."
- For the first time, territorial expansion was mentioned as a way to achieve greatness and respect in the world. For the first time, I heard from an American president about the need to return true U.S. sovereignty and independence (apparently, it was absent before). Such a sovereign approach was previously mainly adopted by leaders of rising states challenging the American world order: Russia, Turkey, Iran, India, China, South Africa, and others.
- Few meaningful things were said about foreign policy, except, again, for campaign slogans. Russia and Ukraine were not mentioned at all. In general, foreign policy was reduced to promoting the image of a peacemaker while simultaneously announcing trade wars with other countries.
- Priorities were set to highlight feelings of greatness, exclusivity, and revenge. Specifically, this included references to the Panama Canal and "historically just" renaming various places in the U.S., as well as changing the Gulf of Mexico to the American Gulf.
- A commendable pastor who fired up the crowd.
In general, the speech was short, super simple, not burdened with complex meanings and grand ideas, repeating all the key points of Trump's election campaign. No clarifications or elaborations.
What’s on the horizon, according to Trump's first decrees:
- Trade wars with Canada, Mexico, the EU, and BRICS countries.
- The deployment of a traditional energy agenda instead of the green one.
- Deportations of illegal immigrants.
- An attempt to push negotiations for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
- A 3-month suspension of foreign aid, followed by the determination of priority directions for this aid.
- Symbolic decisions in the field of socio-cultural policy, historical memory, and identity, aimed at strengthening the overall sense of America rising from its knees for the American voter.
