HUGH HEWITT: The return of Donald Trump for his second inaugural

Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address is considered by many to be the best speech ever given by an American president, even greater than his Gettysburg Address.

At what Lincoln called “this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office,” he began with “Fellow countrymen,” and concluded: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

It is unfair to compare any inaugural address with Lincoln’s second because of its dramatic backdrop of a shattered country with more than 600,000 killed on its battlefields as a consequence of a devastating civil war, but one with the certain hope of an imminent victory by the Union.  It was both a bleak but hopeful backdrop with which to work in 1865 as he messaged for the forces of freedom and the Union and also to the defeated and soon-to-be defeated enemy who were also soon to be reunited as countrymen. 

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President Trump will have a very challenging backdrop on Monday, but nothing like Lincoln’s. The four years just finished have been bleak in so many ways and the world has grown very dangerous for the United States, even more than it was in 1865. Our enemies are not our countrymen in arms, but the adversaries are more numerous and are not defeated. 

Our citizens are deeply divided but moved in November decisively towards Trump. The ravaged region of Southern California is just the latest in a series of spectacular failures of government over the past four years. Although half the country is excited that another “morning in America” is dawning, at least a third of the country dreads Trump’s return. Somehow, they have been poisoned in their perceptions by almost a decade of unending attacks on “45-47.” 

“Trump Derangement Syndrome,” like “Bush Derangement Syndrome” before it, is a real thing. Trump’s combination of tough resilience and blunt and often ferocious attacks on those who attack him, as well as his candor in stating what he believes and thinks at any given moment on social media platforms like Truth Social and X or in any interview gives him an edginess quite unprecedented in the Oval Office. The incoming president faces unprecedented challenges though, and his bare-knuckled approach is, if not perfect for the moment, then close to it. 

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So, to whom should his remarks be addressed and for whom is his inaugural address intended? 

First and foremost, I hope part of the president’s speech is directed at the enemies of our country abroad, specifically China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. 

It is my earnest hope that Trump uses the occasion to communicate clearly that neither he nor his administration are intimidated by these adversaries and that, far from retreating from the world stage, he intends that a second “American century” will continue. The United States will not be eclipsed by a “rising China and its vassal stooges” and I hope he says something like that. 

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The second audience should be the political opponents at home who would actually listen: Not the TDS-afflicted “Never Trumpers” and paycheck-driven critics on air, but to the perhaps one in five voters who sincerely worry about the crazed commentary from the far-left about Trump. Humor would be the best means to encourage them to relax and enjoy the great benefits of the American economic boom that is coming. 

About President Joe Biden, I hope he says only a brief “thank you for trying your best to bring peace to the Middle East” coupled with an assurance that he, Trump, is already at work to reinvigorate not just the Abraham Accords but to also bring an end to the bloody war in Europe. 

Finally, and for the longest part of the address, I hope he paints a picture of the real hopes for prosperity and peace which all Americans can entertain if they together work to slay the vast bureaucratic beast that the Beltway and state governments have become and resolve to restore our nation’s military might. 

Republican President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1985. (Photo by CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

Trump could quote Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address: “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem” as it is again so apt. 

Trump could do many things. Unpredictability is a feature not a bug of the returning president and it is an asset, especially vis-a-vis our enemies.

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Mostly, though, I hope Trump exudes optimism and hope. That he’s good-humored in another “morning in America” moment. For we all could be on the cusp not just of great economic growth and a renewal of military power, but, thanks to displays of technological breakthroughs, such as Elon Musk’s remarkable “catch” of SpaceX’s Starship, AI, quantum computing, small modular reactors and so much more, we can also energize the human race’s goal of worldwide peace and prosperity —if all governments at least get out of our and their own way. 

CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Elon Musk on Capitol Hill in December 2024. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Donald Trump is as unique an American figure as Reagan and Theodore Roosevelt. Both men had their faults, as every human does. But few people are equipped to inspire any people, much less most citizens. 

Trump has the stage and the ability to do just that. We shall see and hear.

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Hugh Hewitt is host of “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” heard weekday mornings from 6am to 9am ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh wakes up America on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990.  Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/tv show today.