Five Key Takeaways From Trump’s Inaugural Address

Now that Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, here are five key takeaways from his inaugural address:

1. Paul Ryan is Very, Very Happy (and Relieved)

Throughout the speech and the proceedings House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was smiling. When others looked solemn and serious he was smiling. He couldn’t stop smiling.

Some have asked why he was smiling as Trump was trashing Washington and the “establishment.” The answer is Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put their ideas into action. Trump offered big themes but not a policy agenda or laundry list of legislation. Congress has a blank slate to craft a center-right solutions agenda that gives meaning and substance to Trump’s New Patriotism.

2. We Can’t “Bring Back” Jobs, but Republicans Can Help Create New Ones

Trump said, “We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.”

While Trump and Congress can secure or “bring back” the border, they can’t “bring back” jobs and wealth. There is no lost jobs diaspora or displaced people group that can be rounded up and brought back. The jobs we’ve lost are essentially gone forever, but what Trump and Congress can do is create the conditions for new and better jobs in a changing economy.

The economic future of the country will be shaped less by marginal corrections in trade policy and more by big changes in health care, tax reform, regulatory reform and overall federal spending. Trump and Congress will disagree at times on trade, but they’ll largely be in agreement on the big things that will achieve the result Trump and the American people are looking for.

3. Trump is Not Hitler or Mussolini

Throughout his speech, patriotism trumped nationalism. As I wrote at Forbes, Trump’s critics and skeptics have been eager to see what kind of president he would be: One who tried to unite people around patriotism – a love of one’s country – or one who would unite people around nationalism – the fear or hatred of another country. Trump clearly appealed to mainstream patriotism and core American ideas about freedom, equality, and pluralism.

If there was a thematic villain in Trump’s narrative it wasn’t another nation-state or even globalization per se, but career politicians in Washington who insulated themselves from the adverse effects of globalization through cronyism and self-protection.

4. A Golden Age for Civil Society?

Trump and Yuval Levin have very little in common, but Trump’s speech created a big opening for conservatives to describe what they mean by civil society.

At OL, this is how we’ve described civil society:

In America, most of life happens – as the conservative intellectual Yuval Levin puts it – in the space between the individual and government. We call that space civil society, and we fill it with families, churches, schools, hospitals, cultural organizations, professional associations, businesses, clubs, and on and on. All of these groupings must constantly adapt: learning from trial and error, building on what works and abandoning what doesn’t.

Trump offered a non-wonky but complimentary vision in his speech. Trump talked about “transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you” and called for “solidarity” and patriotism. He essentially said it’s not the government’s job to heal communities. It’s your job. Government can be a partner but Trump is more interested in sending power out of Washington.

5. Trump is Not a Racist and is More Tolerant of Dissent Than Many of His Critics

Trump said, “When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.”

Later he added, “It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots, we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American Flag.”

Inauguration days are important, as many speakers noted, because we’re not celebrating or glorifying a new president. Instead, we’re celebrating the peaceful transition of power in our country, which was made possible by the sacrifices of many thousands of Americans. Peaceful transfers of power are the exception rather than the norm in history. Transfers often involve war, bloodshed, upheaval and dislocation. Democrats who skipped the Inauguration weren’t protesting Trump but were betraying an ignorance of our basic American ideals.

John Hart is the Editor-in-Chief of Opportunity Lives. You can follow him on Twitter @johnhart333.