Trump Makes First Address To Nation

Morgan Goebel, Co Editor-In-Chief

President Donald Trump, the oldest president to be inaugurated, is the first man to hold the office without any prior military or legislative experience. On Jan. 20, the title was passed from the first-ever black president to Trump after he beat the first woman to run for president on a major party ticket.

Although many aspects of this turnover of power have been monumental, President Trump’s Inaugural Address was less than stately.

“You came by the tens of millions to become a part of a historic movement,” President Trump said, “the likes of which the world has never seen before.”

The word “movement” is delicate in this context. Movement brings to mind calls-to-action, marches and exclusiveness. Between Black Lives Matter, the Women’s March and many others, this country knows a thing or two about movements—and that is a good thing. It is the First Amendment right of every citizen to protest what they feel is important.

But in government, although our politicians should continue to hold close the values and ideals of the citizens who voted them into office, they must also be accepting of the viewpoints of those who voted against them in order to lead most efficiently.

He is no longer only speaking to his followers; he is governing an entire nation—and a divided one at that.

“Mr. Trump casts this nationalist message as a unifying one; but it is the very thing that sowed fear in liberals, including many people of color, during his campaign,” White House corresponder Julie Hirschfeld Davis said to the New York Times. “One of the biggest questions of his presidency will be whether it will heal or intensify the nation’s divisions.”

Trump has proved his consolidation skills in the business world, but it is still unclear how effective he will be at evoking unity in a country.

When describing the current state of the nation, Trump said streets are abundant with poverty and crime, schools are empty of knowledge and cities are filled with drugs.

But in fact, despite a slight increase of 4 percent in 2015, national security reporter Matt Apuzzo told the New York Times that America’s crime rate has been decreasing throughout the past decade.
“(Trump’s Inaugural Address) echoes his convention speech, and it paints a bleak picture of America’s streets,” he said. “But the United States remains far safer than it has been in generations.”

Not only did Trump create a dismal image of America’s streets, his statements on business were just as desolate.

“One by one, the factories shut down and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind,” Trump said after he promised citizens he would bring jobs back to the American frontier.

But according to factcheck.org, the US economy has been increasing in jobs for 75 months, the longest streak to date. Manufacturing jobs have decreased, but not as much as Trump said in his Address, and they are being replaced in other areas of the market.

“Trade with China cost the United States about a million factory jobs from 2000 to 2007, according to one recent study,” New York Times economic policy reporter Binyamin Appelbaum said. “But automation and increased efficiency is a much larger reason that factory employment has declined. American industrial output is actually at the highest level in history. It’s the jobs that have gone away.”

Instead of trying to resurrect factory jobs that were eradicated years ago, America should invest in education to make our citizens more desirable than cheap human labor overseas or machines and more suitable for a changing job market.

Despite the factual discrepancies, Trump rallied near the end of his Address with some uplifting sentiments of national spirit.

“At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America; and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other,” he said. “When you open your heart to patriotism, you have no room for prejudice.”

These lines project optimism in a way he had not yet achieved in his speech. As Trump urges his fellow Americans to be more accepting, Davis said many citizens hope he can take his own advice during his presidency.

“We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity,” Trump said. “When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.”