LAST UPDATE | 21 Jan

“THE GOLDEN AGE of America begins right now… We stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history.” These two lines encapsulate the roughly 30-minute inaugural address delivered by the 45th and 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump. It was big, bold and bombastic. President Trump didn’t mince his words and it was music to the ears of those who support him ardently.

The remarks were wide-ranging and included nearly every element of a controversial agenda that is anathema to very many in the US and, especially, to global stakeholders. Yet his plan of action found favour with tens of millions in a country that has been struggling to get to grips with some serious, complex challenges. Trump’s simple, repetitive sloganeering, together with prevalent disapproval of the Biden/Harris administration and anger about inflation and immigration, were crucial factors in his pulling off what was an extraordinary political comeback by any objective measure.

There were definitely aspects of Trump’s relatively subdued, roughly 30-minute speech that made international observers scoff. First, he reiterated his nonsensical proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. He next advocated that Alaska’s highest mountain peak again be called Mount McKinley after one of his predecessors, not Denali, its traditional moniker among Native groups there.

Then, he made explicit reference to the attempt upon his life during the summer and the impact it has had on him.

“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.”

While such an utterance would be unthinkable in Europe, it surely was applauded loudly by a large, fervently religious swathe of Trump’s base and gave lots of women and men who cast ballots for him a chuckle. The transatlantic attitudinal gulf on the public expression of faith is vast.

As had been broadly signalled, the pomp and circumstance on Capitol Hill was followed by a raft of executive orders. The perpetrators of the regrettable happenings of 6 January 2021 received pardons. The US is exiting the Paris Agreement on climate change and a litany of environmental regulations have been unravelled. “Drill, baby, drill” is official policy. The land of my birth is also departing the World Health Organisation.

Trump's executive orders were deemed retrograde, disturbing and potentially disastrous for his foes at home and abroad. Alamy Alamy

On immigration, he seeks to end automatic citizenship for those born in the US to parents there illegally, though this will be subjected to scrutiny in the courts. He has declared an emergency on the southern border and will allocate troops and resources to try and resolve the vexed situation. He is making it easier to fire federal employees and has ordered all of them to return to their offices on a Monday-to-Friday basis. “Gender ideology guidance” has been banished from all government communications and forms; there are “only two genders, male and female.”

These moves are deemed retrograde, disturbing and potentially disastrous by Trump’s foes at home and abroad.

It is important to note, however, that, with the exception of the free pass being granted to those involved in the rioting on 6 January 2021, the various executive orders are endorsed by clear majorities of Americans, at least in theory. One question is whether they will remain as popular if and when they are given full effect.

For instance, it is one thing to want the abstract “illegal alien” gone; it is another when that decent human being is your housekeeper or your child’s school friend.

Interestingly, Europe did not feature on Inauguration Day. Trump’s overarching America First rhetoric and language on tariffs do not bode well for Ireland, but it appears that he has Canada, Mexico and perhaps China in his sights currently. Alarm at what could befall this undeniably exposed island is counterproductive and hopefully unwarranted.

That said, the full court press from Irish politicians, diplomats and businesspeople must continue to mitigate against the worst case scenarios that have been envisaged. Glib as it may sound, a little bit of flattery and the mobilisation of Ireland’s famed soft power in the US could go a long way on this front.

Finally, there is the matter of how Democrats will oppose President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and congressional Republicans. Wisely, they have not taken the bait and engaged with Trump over his unusual ideas for making Canada the 51st state, acquiring Greenland or retaking the Panama Canal.

The Democrats played along yesterday, Larry Donnelly writes, but they cannot continue their current attack lines. Alamy Alamy

Instead, they should focus the fight where they have the advantage: the bread-and-butter stuff like cost of living, access to health care, price of education, increasing wages for lower income workers, ensuring the super-rich pay their fair share in taxes, et al. They must hammer the president when, as is probable, he lets down those for whom these concerns are central.

What they would be foolish to do is launch attacks, regardless of how intellectually justifiable they are, against President Trump as an “enemy of democracy and an authoritarian”. That tack was tried and failed and only drives voters in Trump’s direction. Being told what to think by their betters reinforces the instinct of residents of Middle America to tell Democrats, in the words of an ex-chief of staff to former West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, “Go to hell!”

Moreover, as a new generation of leadership emerges, they need to be mindful of the message sent by the US electorate on their perceived leftist extremism on the culture wars. In this vein, the rallying cry of one candidate for chair of the Democratic National Committee is absolutely unfathomable: “Our leadership team will lift up our full coalition – Blacks, Latino, Native, AANHPI, LGBTQ, Youth, Interfaith, Ethnic, Rural, Veteran and Disability representation.” This alphabet soup of identity politics won’t cut it and suggests no lessons have been learned.

At the moment, Donald Trump is on top of the world. The new president is confident and buoyed by the mandate he garnered last November, not to mention the embrace of corporate America. That said, he has raised expectations to the stratosphere in his inaugural address. He has a limited period to fulfil his promises and there will be plenty of obstacles in his way. Buckle up. We can be certain that uncertain times lie ahead.

Larry Donnelly is a Boston attorney, a Law Lecturer at the University of Galway and a political columnist with The Journal.