President-elect Donald Trump promises unifying message on Inauguration Day
President-elect Donald Trump told NBC News that his speech Monday "will make you happy." Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
WASHINGTON — Moments after being sworn in Monday as the 47th president, Donald Trump will give his second inaugural address from the U.S. Capitol, where he has promised to deliver "a message of unity."
It’s a speech that some of his allies expect will reflect his journey from political newcomer to a president who won a plurality of the popular vote, from Washington novice to a returning leader who has reshaped the Republican Party in his image.
"He knows the game, he understands the levers of power in Washington in a way that you only can if you've been president before," said David Laska, spokesman for the New York Republican State Committee.
Trump will arrive at the inauguration ceremony having defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in both the Electoral College count and the popular vote, the first Republican to achieve that since 2004. He’ll speak in a building where Republicans control both chambers of Congress, and be administered the oath by a Supreme Court justice presiding over a conservative-majority bench that includes three of his appointees.
"He's going to not just know what he wants to do, but know how to do it," Laska said of the difference between Trump’s first and second inaugurations.
Trump is expected to take the oath of office and deliver his inaugural address from inside the U.S. Capitol rotunda due to expected freezing conditions. The last president to hold an indoor ceremony was President Ronald Reagan in 1985.
In his 2017 inaugural address, Trump spoke of putting an end to "American carnage," and painted a bleak picture of a nation littered with "rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones." But in a recent interview with NBC News’ "Meet the Press" anchor Kristen Welker, Trump said his second speech "will make you happy ... it’s going to be a message of unity."
Past two-term presidents have used their second inaugural address to not only lay out a vision for the coming term, but also to help shape the narrative of their whole presidency, and Trump may follow that tradition, said Christopher Olds, a political science professor at Fort Hays State University in Kansas who has written about how presidential speeches are perceived by the public.
"The inaugural address affords President Trump the chance to make the case that his victories were not flukes or historical anomalies — his elections are a sign that he was the leader of a significant political and cultural movement," Olds told Newsday.
Trump’s promise to deliver a unifying speech may not necessarily mean it will be "a conciliatory address," said Meena Bose, executive director of Hofstra University’s Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency. Bose said it could be a call for Trump’s critics to unite behind his America First agenda.
"How unity is defined very much remains to be seen," Bose said. "I would say we will hear a speech calling for unity behind a very clear message of U.S. economic strength and muscular diplomacy in the world."
Trump — only the second two-term president to not be reelected to consecutive terms — has promised to use his first day in office to enact sweeping tariffs on foreign goods, launch a mass deportation effort and authorize drilling on national lands.
Trump often uses high-profile speeches to take aim at his political opponents and institutions, but Bose said he’ll likely use Monday’s speech to frame his victory as a triumph that came despite all the controversies that followed him while he was out of office.
"In many ways this is a triumphant moment for Donald Trump — to win reelection, not just after losing in 2020, but after four criminal indictments, one conviction in New York State, the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, to have kind of defied so many critics within his own party, as well as nationally, and to win decisively on election night in 2024, that's significant," said Bose.
Aaron Kall, author of the book "I Do Solemnly Swear: Presidential Inaugural Addresses of the Last Five Decades," said the American public has come to expect that an incoming president will use the address to offer a message aimed at bringing "everyone together."
"Presidents generally do recognize that while they may have just had a kind of overwhelming electoral victory, that the country remains very divided, and that the speech is not supposed to just be for those that voted for him, but for everyone," said Kall, who serves as director of debate for the University of Michigan debate program. "They recognize the need for the public to hear, ‘Even if you didn't vote for me, I'm governing for everybody.’ ”
WASHINGTON — Moments after being sworn in Monday as the 47th president, Donald Trump will give his second inaugural address from the U.S. Capitol, where he has promised to deliver "a message of unity."
It’s a speech that some of his allies expect will reflect his journey from political newcomer to a president who won a plurality of the popular vote, from Washington novice to a returning leader who has reshaped the Republican Party in his image.
"He knows the game, he understands the levers of power in Washington in a way that you only can if you've been president before," said David Laska, spokesman for the New York Republican State Committee.
Trump will arrive at the inauguration ceremony having defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in both the Electoral College count and the popular vote, the first Republican to achieve that since 2004. He’ll speak in a building where Republicans control both chambers of Congress, and be administered the oath by a Supreme Court justice presiding over a conservative-majority bench that includes three of his appointees.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Incoming President Donald Trump has said he will deliver "a message of unity" in his second inaugural address Monday after he is sworn in as the 47th president.
- In his 2017 address, Trump spoke of putting an end to "American carnage," and described a nation littered with "rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones."
- This time, some of his allies expect the speech to reflect his journey from Washington novice to a returning leader who has reshaped the Republican Party in his image.
"He's going to not just know what he wants to do, but know how to do it," Laska said of the difference between Trump’s first and second inaugurations.
Trump is expected to take the oath of office and deliver his inaugural address from inside the U.S. Capitol rotunda due to expected freezing conditions. The last president to hold an indoor ceremony was President Ronald Reagan in 1985.
Brighter message
In his 2017 inaugural address, Trump spoke of putting an end to "American carnage," and painted a bleak picture of a nation littered with "rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones." But in a recent interview with NBC News’ "Meet the Press" anchor Kristen Welker, Trump said his second speech "will make you happy ... it’s going to be a message of unity."
Past two-term presidents have used their second inaugural address to not only lay out a vision for the coming term, but also to help shape the narrative of their whole presidency, and Trump may follow that tradition, said Christopher Olds, a political science professor at Fort Hays State University in Kansas who has written about how presidential speeches are perceived by the public.
"The inaugural address affords President Trump the chance to make the case that his victories were not flukes or historical anomalies — his elections are a sign that he was the leader of a significant political and cultural movement," Olds told Newsday.
Trump’s promise to deliver a unifying speech may not necessarily mean it will be "a conciliatory address," said Meena Bose, executive director of Hofstra University’s Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency. Bose said it could be a call for Trump’s critics to unite behind his America First agenda.
"How unity is defined very much remains to be seen," Bose said. "I would say we will hear a speech calling for unity behind a very clear message of U.S. economic strength and muscular diplomacy in the world."
'A triumphant moment'
Trump — only the second two-term president to not be reelected to consecutive terms — has promised to use his first day in office to enact sweeping tariffs on foreign goods, launch a mass deportation effort and authorize drilling on national lands.
Trump often uses high-profile speeches to take aim at his political opponents and institutions, but Bose said he’ll likely use Monday’s speech to frame his victory as a triumph that came despite all the controversies that followed him while he was out of office.
"In many ways this is a triumphant moment for Donald Trump — to win reelection, not just after losing in 2020, but after four criminal indictments, one conviction in New York State, the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, to have kind of defied so many critics within his own party, as well as nationally, and to win decisively on election night in 2024, that's significant," said Bose.
Aaron Kall, author of the book "I Do Solemnly Swear: Presidential Inaugural Addresses of the Last Five Decades," said the American public has come to expect that an incoming president will use the address to offer a message aimed at bringing "everyone together."
"Presidents generally do recognize that while they may have just had a kind of overwhelming electoral victory, that the country remains very divided, and that the speech is not supposed to just be for those that voted for him, but for everyone," said Kall, who serves as director of debate for the University of Michigan debate program. "They recognize the need for the public to hear, ‘Even if you didn't vote for me, I'm governing for everybody.’ ”
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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