Yesterday, President Donald Trump delivered his second inaugural address, after his swearing-in as the 47th president of the United States.
It was a very measured, sombre and predictable speech. Despite references to a ‘’golden age’ and a ‘new era of national success’, I couldn’t help feeling that it had almost a funereal tone.
After listening to his second inaugural address I felt a little depressed purely by the bleak and grim tone and description of a nation. We have problems here in the UK, as I’m certain every country does but are things really that bad in the United States?
Where tone matters
It’s not uncommon of course for an incoming leader to tarnish and even trash the performance of a predecessor, as Donald Trump did again in his second inaugural address.
“A radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair.”
“We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home while, at the same time, stumbling into a continuing catalogue of catastrophic events abroad.”
“We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defence of foreign borders but refuses to defend American borders or, more importantly, its own people.”
“Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency”
“We have a public health system that does not deliver in times of disaster”
“We have an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves — in many cases, to hate our country”
A tone of despair is quite understandable when reading a list of alleged failures, although most of us would hope for a shift in tone when reading a list of aspirations and promises.
There was no change in tone
In his second inaugural address, President Trump read out the following promises in exactly the same dispiriting tone and expression as he did the alleged failures.
His choice of words were powerful but they weren’t congruent with their intention. It sounded to me as if he didn’t particularly believe them himself and was just trying to get through the script.
“The golden age of America begins right now”
“From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation.”
“America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before.”
“I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country, sunlight is pouring over the entire world.”
His first inaugural address
When I wrote about his first address in 2017 I said:
‘In terms of his clarity, volume, vocal variety, emphasis, repetition and facial expressions he certainly delivered his message with impact. Whilst his message was consistent with his entire campaign unfortunately, for the countless millions listening across the world this speech sounded like a vortex of resentment and bravado.’
I can’t say the same about his second inaugural address apart from the resentment.
His second inaugural address felt rather like a rehash of his first inaugural address in terms of content to me, but there was a stark difference in his tone of delivery. In his first address there was clear contrast in presenting ‘what is’ against ‘what will be’.
In his second inaugural address it all sounded the same.
Tone matters
What we say and the words we choose matter. How we say them matter a great deal too.
In 2017 I wrote:
‘I believe that Donald Trump missed a vitally important opportunity in his inauguration speech to heal the damaging division he has created in the United States and across the world.
Despite its clarity and repetitiveness its content continued to perpetuate hostility and division appealing only to those who supported his campaign from the outset. When you have the ears and eyes of an entire nation on you, half of which you have already alienated, it’s a good time to consider appeasing your dissenters. If that is too much of a challenge then I at least suggest offering a little understanding and humility.’
His second inaugural address in 2025 felt the same.
In my opinion, this was a clear and measured speech but it didn’t have the energy, zest and contrast in tone and expression that we’d normally expect to hear at this level and that we heard in 2017. That said, there was no shortage of applause and standing ovations so I realise this is a minority view.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to be a commentary on the rights or wrongs of the political stance of President Donald Trump. It is solely a perspective public speaking.
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– Book yourself onto a powerful public speaking course.
– Invest in some really good one to one public speaking coaching.
– Get yourself some excellent presentation training
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