I have no way of proving it, nor would I expect anyone who does to ever admit it. But I have a theory that the decision by President Trump's advance team to move his inaugural ceremony indoors yesterday wasn't done because of the cold temperatures in Washington. Nor, despite the suspicions of the conspiracy theorists, do I think it was done because of a legitimate security threat to Trump's life.
I have a theory that it was done so that all distractions would be eliminated, and the incoming president could spike the football on the battered corpse of his vanquished political enemies who would be forced to sit respectfully and take it.
After what his political opponents have publicly put him through over the course of the past four years, not many could blame President Trump for not feeling particularly magnanimous towards them. In 2017, he let Hillary up off the mat easily. In 2025, the Bidens, Obamas, and the entire progressive governing cabal were dressed down in no uncertain terms with the whole world watching.
Lincolnian it was not. There was no "with malice toward none, with charity for all." But it was perhaps the most focused, precise, and articulate speech I've ever heard from Trump. And, from my perspective, here were the top 10 moments from a most memorable inaugural address:
#10:
We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad. It fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens, but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals.
This is one of the greatest encapsulations of the mind-numbing backwardness of American government priorities (to be clear, the problem predates the Biden presidency). The federal government has grown so large, it is incapable of managing even the most menial duties it is tasked with handling.
#9:
We will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich, through tariffs and through talent. He was a natural businessman and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did.
Yes! I know others may see this as petty or unnecessary, but not only do I think William McKinley is one of the most underrated presidents in American history, Trump is one of the only public figures I've heard acknowledge that it was McKinley's pro-growth policies that enabled Teddy Roosevelt to fund his government-expanding progressive measures. Teddy is as overrated as McKinley is underrated, and it's a travesty the way the far better president is forgotten.
#8:
We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders but refuses to defend American borders, or, more importantly, its own people.
Obvious. Incomprehensible. Frustrating. And finally it's being acknowledged. This line deserved a hundred standing ovations. There's nothing racist or wrong about a strong border and everyone knows it.
#7:
Today I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.
Common sense makes a comeback - if that becomes the obsession of this administration, I'll be its biggest cheerleader. And the measures Trump went on to highlight after this declaration tell me that might be the case.
#6:
We will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry.
Maybe this is unbecoming of me, but I loved that the chief architects of this fraud were there to hear this line. The amount of taxpayer money wasted on the calamitous scam that is the so-called "Green New Deal" is jaw-dropping. It can't end soon enough.
#5:
After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents.
The very thing the progressive left accused Trump of wanting to do, they have done.
#4:
I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted…we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations…As commander in chief I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do.
This is the definition of common sense. Defending against enemies foreign and domestic requires this type of thing and it's unconscionable it has been absent for so long.
#3:
As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.
Is it possible to have a statement of such pure common sense that it is at once refreshing and alarming at the same time? Refreshing that sanity is now spoken freely by our nation's leaders, and alarming that something like this needs to be said in the first place.
#2:
We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars. Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation.
I know others may see the Mars thing as needless or a waste of resources. I couldn't disagree more - precisely for the reason Trump illuminated in the next sentence. May America again become a place where ambition is courted and dreams are incited.
#1:
Americans pushed thousands of miles through a rugged land of untamed wilderness. They crossed deserts, scaled mountains, braved untold dangers, won the Wild West, ended slavery, rescued millions from tyranny, lifted billions from poverty, harnessed electricity, split the atom, launched mankind into the heavens and put the universe of human knowledge into the palm of the human hand. If we work together, there is nothing we cannot do and no dream we cannot achieve.
My favorite part of the address. It reminded Americans of who we are, what our legacy is, and what we still can be.
