Trump’s address is defiant

President depicts U.S. as land of dystopian ‘carnage’

Perhaps it should be no surprise that a presidential candidate whose campaign was unprecedented in so many ways would deliver an inaugural address that was as well.

In his first words to the nation and the world after being sworn in, President Donald Trump on Friday delivered a populist manifesto that depicted the United States as a land of abandoned factories, economic angst, rising crime and dystopian “carnage.” He promised a new era in American politics.

“January 20th, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again,” the 45th president declared in a speech that was shorter in length, darker in tone and blunter in language than any inaugural address in modern times. He vowed: “From this moment on, it’s going to be America first.”

The 16-minute address echoed the campaign speeches he has delivered since he launched his unlikely bid in the lobby of Trump Tower 19 months ago, and he was cheered by the supporters who were arrayed along the west front of the Capitol and spilled down the National Mall.

But the crowds overall were notably smaller than those that celebrated his predecessor’s swearing-in ceremonies, and the protests were bigger. Hundreds of thousands of protesters were expected Saturday for the Women’s March on Washington.

Toward the end of his remarks, Trump appealed for unity and solidarity. “A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights and heal our divisions,” he said. The primary message, however, clearly was designed to appeal to the Americans who voted for him and included little to reach out to those who didn’t.

The speech was reminiscent of the apocalyptic language he used in his acceptance address at the Republican National Convention, claiming a nomination that few had expected him to win. It had less in common with his relatively conciliatory remarks on election night, when he won against all odds.

At the beginning of the address, Trump thanked former President Barack Obama for his “gracious aid throughout this transition,” but he didn’t express appreciation for anything Obama did during his presidency — for instance, for working to avert a depression after taking over amid financial calamity in 2009.

And Trump didn’t acknowledge the presence on stage of his vanquished rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, although in his remarks at the congressional luncheon that came after he did thank her for being there. “I’m here today to honor our democracy & its enduring values,” she wrote in a tweet posted shortly before the ceremony.

As Clinton walked on the dais for an event she once thought would be her historic inauguration, her expression was set and unsmiling. As Michelle Obama walked off the dais, as she and her husband were leaving for a California respite, she looked visibly pained.

Trump’s remarks were a rebuke not only to the outgoing Democratic administration but to the Washington establishment in general. “For too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost,” he said. He said he was leading “a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before.”

The policies he extolled were more populist and nationalistic than they were conservative — potentially creating heartburn among the GOP congressional leaders who sat behind him — and he never referred explicitly to the Republican Party. The picture he painted of the nation he will now lead was dire, despite an economy that is in recovery and an unemployment rate that is low by historic standards.

“For too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.

“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”