Trump inauguration signals a warmer tone than 2017
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Eight years ago, Donald Trump took office with a dark message about "American carnage" — a nation ravaged by crime, poverty and drugs. As he returns to the White House on Monday, his team is stressing "unity" and "light."
Why it matters: It's unclear whether Trump's inaugural message will resist his typical doomsday rhetoric about the America he's inheriting, but the inauguration festivities he's planning do suggest a cheerier tone.
Zoom in: The schedule of inaugural events in Washington this weekend reflects that optimism.
- There's a "One America, One Light" prayer service for Trump donors and a "Candlelight Dinner," also for donors. One of the three main inaugural balls will be called the "Starlight Ball."
- "Light signifies hope, it signifies a new beginning, it signifies a pathway forward. It's really something that has been a theme for the inaugural, yes, but also a guiding principle for our team over the past couple months," a person familiar with Trump's inauguration plans told Axios.
Between the lines: In a December interview with NBC News, Trump — who has suggested he'd seek retribution against his political enemies if he were elected president again — said "unity" would the major message of his inaugural address.
- "I think success brings unity, and I've experienced that," he told NBC's Kristen Welker. "... Basically it's going to be about bringing our country together."
- Trump likely wants to use his address to "make sure people know he is a president for all Americans," the person familiar with the planning said.
Some of Trump's inauguration guests also have touted such optimism. Singer Carrie Underwood, who'll perform "America the Beautiful" at the swearing-in ceremony, said her decision to participate in the inauguration was "in the spirit of unity."
Zoom out: Trump also called for national unity after surviving an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last summer, just before the Republican convention.
- In his speech at the convention — his first since the shooting — he began with a reflective, positive tone about unity.
- But after several minutes of that, Trump pivoted to an hour or so of the fiery, often grievance-filled rhetoric he was known for on the campaign trail.
- During the final weeks before the Nov. 5 election, Trump tapped into increasingly dark rhetoric. He called his political foes everything from "enemies" of the U.S. to "mentally disabled," and said the U.S. was an "occupied country" that must be "liberated" from criminal migrants who have "bad genes."
- Since winning reelection, Trump has continued to blast his adversaries and Biden administration policies.
The bottom line: The person familiar with the planning said they didn't want to speak for Trump, but he likely "does want to come out and be seen as a unifying force."
- "But ... that doesn't mean he's going to compromise on ... the policy necessarily, or campaign promises."
Go deeper: Trump picks historically young group of top officials
