As Donald Trump begins his second term in office, we naturally wonder what to expect. Certainly, we can be glad that the Marxist Kamala Harris did not succeed “President” Joe Biden, but how much of an improvement over that sorry wreck will he be? In this week’s column, I’m going to examine his inaugural address to get some clues.
Trump begins on a very optimistic note:
“The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent, and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous, and free. America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before. I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country, sunlight is pouring over the entire world, and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before.”
The dominant theme here is strength. America must be respected and envied by others, and to achieve this goal we must be stronger than we have ever been before. For Rothbardians, this is wrong. We shouldn’t be in a struggle with other countries to see who is stronger. We should instead mind our own business and have peaceful relations with them. On the other hand, there are some good things in this opening, especially about fighting the “vicious, violent, and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department.” Here is where our real struggle should be—with the woke left.
Trump makes another comment that should give us pause. He has unlimited belief in himself, claiming that God has called him to restore America to “greatness.” “Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then and believe even more so now that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.” Rothbardians don’t want a Leader: the whole point is to reduce the power of the government, not increase it. Ron Paul would never say anything like that.
One of the best things in the speech is that Trump does realize that we need to battle the woke Left. He will eliminate federal job requirements that give preference to minorities and end government support for transgender policies that aim to destroy the traditional family. “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. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female. And I will sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. It’s going to end immediately.”
We are also heartened by Trump’s statement that he wants to stay out of foreign wars. “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end — and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into. My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be: a peacemaker and a unifier.” But it isn’t our job to impose peace settlements on other countries. It’s not good news that Trump has sent a message to Putin telling him to end the Ukraine war “or else.”
Trump rightly says that we need to combat inflation, reduce government spending and end the Green New Deal. Once more, we should be glad that Trump defeated Kamala Harris.
“The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices. With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal. In other words, you’ll be able to buy the car of your choice.”
But the way to end inflation is to stop printing more money, end the Fed, and restore the gold standard.
The way to end inflation is not to impose tariffs and trade restrictions that hurt American consumers. Tariffs raise prices: they aren’t a magic formula that enables America to make other countries pay our taxes. We should allow the free market to operate unhindered and not impose an industrial policy that tries to increase the number of American manufacturing jobs. Trump doesn’t realize this. He says: “We will build automobiles in America again at a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago. I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs.” To give him credit, though, Trump is right that many so-called “trade agreements” are just government-controlled trade, not genuine free trade, and we should get out of them.
If we want peace, as Trump says he does, we should not try to expand American territory, take over the Panama Canal, and get into a war with China about it. “The United States — I mean, think of this — spent more money than ever spent on a project before and lost 38,000 lives in the building of the Panama Canal. We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made, and Panama’s promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty have been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape, or form, and that includes the United States Navy. And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.” The principle that we financed a project a century ago and therefore now own it is not valid.
We are also dismayed by Trump’s statement that “today is Martin Luther King Day. In his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true.” King was a pro-Communist agitator, and his “dream” was to turn America into a socialist country.
Despite its problems, Trump’s speech has many good points. We should do everything we can to encourage him to act on these and to urge him to support the free market and a non-interventionist foreign policy.
Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation, and, right now, our nation is more ambitious than any other. There’s no nation like our nation.
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