Inaugural address:
Presidential scholars offer advice on what Trump should say in his speech.
WASHINGTON — Having smashed convention at every step of his unorthodox path to the presidency, Donald Trump will stand before the world Friday as heir to a 228-year tradition handed down from George Washington, in a setting steeped in the most cherished rituals of American democracy.
The centerpiece of the day is the inaugural address. Trump’s speech will be the liftoff point of his journey in office, defining its contours and tone, and setting a course for the nation.
Trump offered a preview Wednesday, tweeting a photograph of himself holding a pen above a legal pad as he gazed sternly, from a bizarre tableau of Persian tiles and an eagle sculpture, meant to show him writing the speech himself from his “Winter White House” at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Presidential scholars were at a loss to predict what Trump would say Friday. But they had ideas on what he should try to do.
“This inaugural address will be carefully watched around the world, and the slightest little language usage could set his administration off on a very bad course,” said San Francisco State political science Professor Robert Smith. “It’s not clear he’s capable of becoming, not a politician, not a candidate, not a showman, but a statesman. The whole world is watching to see if he can at least, at the inaugural address, make the transition.”
Here are five things experts said to watch for: Conciliation: Trump takes office with a record low approval rating, after losing the popular vote by 2.8 million votes, a record for a winning candidate. He instills fear among some, and has alienated many women, Latinos, African Americans, Muslims and immigrants.
“If he wants to appear to be more presidential, he needs to try to reach out to all of America, not just to his more conservative followers,” said David Caputo, president emeritus of Pace University in New York. “That, I think, is his most difficult task, and his most difficult task during his presidency.” Promise keeping: At the same time, Trump must also reassure his supporters. “Most of the things he has proposed are profoundly controversial and divisive,” Smith said. “I don’t think he can abandon those promises, but he has to couch them in such a way as to ... reassure the country that he’s not going to go off in any kind of radical new way.” Vision: Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump will be “philosophical,” giving “a very personal and sincere statement about his vision for the country.” He also will mention infrastructure, education and manufacturing.
“We need to see a clear message as to what his priorities are,” said James Thurber, a presidential scholar at American University. That’s because Trump’s Cabinet nominees, in congressional testimony, have contradicted many of his positions, some of which also are at odds with the GOP majority in Congress.
Trump “is very adept at reading the mood of the country,” Caputo said. “He now has the opportunity to come up with a message and programs that meet that mood.” Ad libs: Trump campaigned by holding rallies where he rambled extemporaneously, dropping insults, boasts and prevarications along the way that would have sunk a normal politician. Even on a teleprompter, Trump is prone to ad lib. He speaks in the vernacular, using a limited, hyperbolic vocabulary.
The question remains as to whether he can adapt this style to the occasion or adopt something with more heft. Aides said the speech will be short and Trump is reviewing previous inaugural speeches for style.
“He wants to be a combination of Reagan and Kennedy,” Thurber said. “I don’t see him doing that. I see him, in fact, probably going off cue, maybe trying to wing it. If he does, it would be a major problem.” Foreign policy: Foreign leaders will be searching for signs of reassurance. Trump has alarmed foreign leaders around the globe with some of his statements, upsetting decades of U.S. policy on China, nuclear proliferation, NATO and other areas. “All of us are scared and so are the Europeans and so are the Asians,” said Richard Abrams, professor emeritus of American history at UC Berkeley. “He’s very unpredictable.” What not to look for: Trump defies comparison with previous presidents. The interesting question, Caputo said, is whether “the Trump presidency is a transition to a new type of president and a new way the executive branch functions in the United States.”