Donald Trump, Prophet of American Doom and Restoration? His 2025 Inaugural Address

Donald Trump's 2025 Inauguration

“The future is ours, and our golden age has just begun.”

So said United States President Donald Trump during his second inaugural address, delivered in the United States Capitol on January 20, 2025. Trump warned that Joe Biden’s presidency had crushed America. However, by returning to the old ways, rejecting sexual variations, providing security, and ensuring justice, Trump promised to restore the United States of America. Conservatives blame disasters on change. Restoring the old ways brings renewal. Simple.

Although I doubt very much whether either Trump or any of his advisors realized it, he spoke in the prophetic style of repudiation and restoration – a rhetorical program that has echoed through American political rhetoric since the nation’s founding, and which, historically, reflects the teachings of the ancient Hebrew prophets. I question Trump’s accuracy—the nation is not really declining, and Trump’s policies will restore nothing of value—but the metaphorical pair of doom and restoration nevertheless carries great power. Return to the old ways, and everything will be fine—that was Trump’s message.

This theme resonates through centuries of conservative speeches. “The whole land shall be desolate,” the biblical prophet Jeremiah warned (Jeremiah 4:27). Subsequently, prophets of restoration, like Zechariah, showed that a nation can restore justice only by returning to the old ways: “Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you” (Zechariah 1:2). While they brazenly ignore Zechariah’s moral imperatives, conservative speakers from the Puritans to Barry Goldwater often warned of impending collapse. Indeed, although I don’t think Trump and his speechwriters know anything about Jewish or Christian teachings, they clearly absorbed the attitude. (Although, unlike Trump, the prophets demanded mercy for poor people and immigrants, Malachi 3:5.).

Disaster!

So, early in his inaugural address, Trump cited an apocalyptic “crisis of trust.” Speaking to the Capitol crowd, Trump complained, with his billionaire sponsors literally listening from the front rows, but without a trace of irony, about a “radical and corrupt establishment:”

“As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust. For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair.” [italics added]

Continuing, Trump complained that his predecessor’s government was unable to manage even the simplest emergencies, while “stumbling” through “catastrophic events.” Trump elaborated on the bizarre conspiracy theories that had propelled his campaign rhetoric:

“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 provide sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world.”

Natural disasters, including hurricane Helene, which devastated the mountainous areas of North Carolina, and terrible fires in Los Angeles, spread terrible misery. Scientists might partially attribute these disasters to climate change. In contrast, Trump attributed them to the government’s moral failure:

“Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people of North Carolina — who have been treated so badly and other states who are still suffering from a hurricane that took place many months ago or, more recently, Los Angeles, where we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense.”

Trump’s hyperbolic language callously ignored the massive efforts of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and California firefighters. But I digress.

Having reviled his predecessor’s alleged failures, Trump promised to restore the United States:

“After all we have been through together, we stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history. With your help, we will restore America promise and we will rebuild the nation that we love — and we love it so much.” [italics added]

Donald Trump's 2017 Inaugural Address, Part 1: Parallel Phrases

Donald Trump's 2017 Inaugural Address, Part 2, "American Carnage"

Restoration!

Trump, however, assured the nation that he would restore what was lost. He would restore what was lost by reversing Biden’s “betrayal.” Trump would return the United States to the old ways:

“My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals that have taken place and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy, and, indeed, their freedom. From this moment on, America’s decline is over. And we are going to bring law and order back to our cities.” [italics added]

Trump promised, not only to restore the United States, but to return to the 19th century concept of American exceptionalism and to bring about a new golden age – an age of peace – an age of unity – an age of power:

“We will be a nation like no other, full of compassion, courage, and exceptionalism. Our power will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent, and totally unpredictable.”

Donald Trump, official portrait

Among his many proposed reforms, Trump promised to remove government protections for minority races or people who did not conform to conservative sexual behavior. Indeed, rejecting Civil Rights reforms like Affirmative Action, Trump promised to restore the nation’s traditional racial and sexual attitudes:

“This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.

“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.”

Those statements, which much shocked mainstream moderators, make perfect sense if we understand that Trump sought to restore what was lost. The 14th amendment to the Constitution promised everyone “equal protection of the law.” Conservatives have never liked the 14th. The 14th mandated change—and, to Trump, change caused our troubles.

Trump also promised to restore traditional sexual mores. Scientists contend that sex and gender are far from simple. The Cleveland Clinic points out that about 1%-2% of people are not unambiguously male or female, and many people vary from the XX or XY chromosome types. For example, some people might be XYY. Instead of facing such complexities, Trump promised to outlaw them. To return to the old ways. To value tradition, not newfangled ideas. To keep things simple.

John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address: A Call to Service

Jonathan Edwards "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God:" Prophecy in American Rhetoric

Move Forward by Going Back!

So, overall, probably without realizing it, Trump spoke in the prophetic rhetorical tradition. Just as ancient prophets sought to restore the old ways, Trump sought to restore tradition. If that required him to misrepresent the Biden administration, to overlook basic biology, or to make absurd promises, so be it. It was the formula, not the facts, that carried his power. We failed, he said, because we changed. To succeed does not mean to move forward: it means to restore what we have lost. To go back. To restore what we forsook. To restore our old values. Such was the prophetic message as often (mis)represented in American rhetoric, and such was Trump’s agenda.

by William D. Harpine  

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Research Note: American speakers from Jonathan Edwards to Daniel Webster to Ronald Reagan spoke in the prophetic style. Now, I do not in any way mean that Judeo-Christian teachings require us to move backwards, nor that the prophets rejected basic moral teachings. Evidently unknown to Trump, the prophets wrote of caring for the marginalized and spreading justice. I refer instead to the way that American speakers talk in the prophetic tradition. Prof. James Darsey has written that radical speakers often quote the Old Testament prophets. My University of Illinois mentor, Prof. Kurt Ritter, published an important and much-cited research article about the jeremiad, the typical American doom-saying rhetoric that warns us of upcoming calamity. Prof. James Gilmore and his colleagues have written brilliantly about jeremiad themes in Trump’s earlier speeches.

Copyright @ 2025 by William D. Harpine

Image of Trump's inauguration: United States Congress, public domain

Image of Donald Trump: official White House portrait, public domain