Some excerpts:
The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. …
During every single day of the Trump administration, I will, very simply, put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud and prosperous and free.
That’s the hope that his election has engendered in a great many of us. Of course, those who think he’s practically a demon aren’t bying it.
More:
But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face.
What follows is a several-paragraphs-long description of some of the awful things that have happened during the preceding four years. And then:
Our recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal, and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom. From this moment on, America’s decline is over.
Let’s hope so. He has his work cut out for him.
This part gives me pause, though:
Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history, and I’ve learned a lot along the way.
It’s true that Trump has faced incredible tests and challenges. But no, not more than any president in history. Just to take one simple example, there’s Lincoln, who faced a Civil War, as bad a press as Trump dealt with, and then a successful assassination.
Trump added:
Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed to take my life. Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.
Many many people agree. The improbable nature of the last-minute turn of the head that saved Trump from being assassinated with cameras running lends itself quite naturally to the idea that the deity saved him. But I think that, although that idea is not incompatible with humility, it could also lead to hubris.
Much of the rest of the speech was about the executive orders he plans to sign. I’m going to deal with those in another post.
I like this part:
Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback. But as you see today, here I am. The American people have spoken. I stand before you now as proof that you should never believe that something is impossible to do. In America, the impossible is what we do best.
It did seem impossible. But here he is. And here we are, at another crossroads.