Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
TAKING COMMAND
45th president paints stark picture in inaugural speech
President Donald Trump acknowledges the crowd of well-wishers outside the White House on Friday as he arrives after taking the oath of office and delivering his inaugural address at the U.S. Capitol building. Other events in Washington, D.C., included the traditional parade in the afternoon and a series of inaugural balls during the evening.
WASHINGTON — Donald John Trump swore the oath of office Friday as the 45th president of the United States, painting a bleak vision of a country marked by “rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones” as he pledged to deliver prosperity to forgotten Americans.
Trump, one of the most polarizing figures to assume the office, delivered a brief, unusually combative inaugural address matching the nationalist and populist themes he sounded on the campaign trail. The Republican, whose inauguration was met with protests in Washington and around the country, blamed an establishment from both parties for enriching itself at the expense of an ignored underclass.
Under cloudy, threatening skies at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, the celebrity businessman and reality television star promised to stir a “new national pride” and protect America from the “ravages” of countries he says have stolen U.S. jobs.
“Today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another, or from one party to another,” he told thousands of red-cap-waving supporters scattered across the National Mall.
“But we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people.”
The crowd that spread out before him on the National Mall was notably smaller than at past inaugurals, reflecting both the divisiveness of last year’s campaign and the unpopularity of the incoming president compared to modern predecessors.
Trump, who won the presidency by smashing nearly every convention in politics, narrowed his eyes and gave a thumbs up to the crowd as he celebrated one of the most solemn and sober rituals in American democracy, a peaceful transfer of power that culminated with him ascending to an office that few thought was within his grasp.
His 16-minute speech — the shortest since President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural in 1977 — lacked specific policy. In its place was a sense of anger at what he defined as a ruling class that has raided America for its own benefit. He talked of crime, gangs, drugs, poverty, jobs lost to foreign countries and a way of life destroyed by globalism.
“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” Trump said in a blunt, staccato cadence that marked a sharp departure from the soaring rhetoric of his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. “We are one nation, and their pain is our pain, their dreams are our dreams and their success is our success.”
After his inauguration, Trump began the job of president, signing routine papers to nominate candidates for Cabinet secretary positions and a waiver that allows his pick to lead the Pentagon, retired Gen. James Mattis, to serve despite a rule that typically bars recently active officers from holding the post. Mattis and Gen. John Kelly, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, were confirmed quickly by the Senate later Friday.
Trump’s spokesman promised more vigorous action in the coming days.
Trump, in a red tie and black overcoat, made history on many levels as he was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts. At 70, he is the oldest president to begin a first term. The brash business mogul also became the only commander in chief to enter the White House with neither government nor military service. And while his predecessors included a screen actor and several war heroes, none became international celebrities in the era of reality television.
Though no crowd count was announced, the audience was visibly smaller than the 1.8 million people who gathered to witness the nation’s first black president be sworn in eight years ago. Still, many who came on Friday had driven 10 or 20 hours from Texas, Florida, the Rust Belt and elsewhere to see a man they believed offered a starkly different kind of politics than his predecessors.
“It sounded like someone was speaking to us – finally,” said Pam Lazarites, 61. “I’m tired of hearing about the establishment — the government, the politicians.”
She and her husband, Ted, drove to Washington from Dayton, Ohio, to attend the inauguration, wearing matching red Trump hoodies.
Trump’s unconventional qualities, and a promise to bring back jobs lost to outsourcing and automation, helped him compile a historic electoral upset in which he dispatched 16 primary opponents and trampled both the Bush and Clinton family political dynasties. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent who attended the inauguration with husband Bill, looked on stoically as she dutifully made her way through the Capitol to watch Trump take the job she had long hoped would be hers.
The former rivals failed to shake hands as Trump walked to the stage to deliver his address, though Trump later greeted and thanked her during a congressional lunch at the Capitol after the swearing-in ceremony.