My fellow Americans. Thank you for the confidence you’ve shown in electing me your 45th President. I fully realize that half the nation would have preferred someone else being sworn in today – actually a little more than half, especially in California. In light of this, it’s my commitment to you, that I intend to truly be, President of ALL the people, whether you voted for me or not.
Our nation has been too divided, for too long. Often during campaigns nowadays, things are said, charges are made, which are untrue, unfair, and unnecessary. It happens on both sides. And it must stop. And it’s up to me to set an example.
As you may know, I have a reputation for never apologizing, or admitting I was wrong – about anything. Well I’d like to turn over a new leaf, and acknowledge where I have been wrong. It’s not easy for me, but here goes.
I said some pretty insensitive things over the course of the last campaign. Some of my supporters probably agreed with some of the things I said. But mostly I think my supporters were willing to overlook some pretty stupid comments, because they were so dissatisfied with the lack of leadership in Washington, and especially dissatisfied with the candidate the other party was offering. So my supporters stuck with me, even though they may not have agreed with, or liked, what I said.
Anyway, I’d like to apologize for some of the things that, as I look back now, I shouldn’t have said. For example, I shouldn’t have labeled Mexican immigrants with the broad brush of being criminals and rapists. There obviously are some who are. But it was unfair to the vast majority, who are merely seeking a better life for themselves and their families. That being said, we’re still going to build a wall. A great wall. A beautiful wall. Although I have to admit, it might be a little tougher to find a credible way to get Mexico to pay for it. But I’m working on it.
And related to immigration, shortly after that dastardly attack on innocent Americans in San Bernardino by ISIS sympathizers, I called for a total ban on Muslims entering the United States. Well it seemed like a good idea at the time, and a lot of people agreed with me. It probably even helped me in the polls. But it was wrong to brand a whole group of people, or a whole religion, for the actions of a minority.
As many of you know, my initial position evolved over time to something I later called extreme vetting of people from unstable places having a high degree of terror, like Syria and Libya and Iraq. I am committing my administration to playing a far greater leadership role in stabilizing those types of places, so people won’t feel it’s necessary to flee from their home countries in the first place. This also goes for unstable areas in our own hemisphere, like Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Less than optimal conditions in Central and South America have resulted in tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors showing up at our southern border. The Obama Administration has welcomed this onslaught of illegal immigrants, some prefer the label of undocumented workers, but whatever they’re called, I intend to do what’s necessary to get our borders under control and protect our nation.
A few more things I regret saying. In referring to POWs, I said I preferred people who weren’t captured. That was just wrong, and I never should have said it. We must honor our POWs, and for that matter, all who have served. And even though John McCain gets under my skin sometimes, he most definitely IS a hero.
And speaking of someone else who gets under my skin – Ted Cruz – and no, I don’t seriously think his father had anything to do with the Kennedy assassination. That was just crazy talk. One of my campaign people had seen something claiming this in a National Enquirer story. I should have considered the source, and ignored it. So to Ted Cruz, and to his father, I apologize.
Now there has been a lot of concern expressed by some, that I’m too close to the Russians. They go so far as claiming that I owe my win to Russia’s intervention. There’s no validity to this. And whereas I do believe the U.S. and Russia could both benefit from better relations, I want to send a clear message to Vladimir Putin. Even though I believe NATO needs a considerable upgrading, the U.S. under my administration is committed to our NATO alliance, and will defend any NATO nation threatened by Russia, or by ISIS terrorists.
And, Vladimir, I’m giving you 60 days to pull all your troops, whether under Russian insignia, or whether they’re your famous “little green men”, from both Crimea and from other parts of eastern Ukraine. If you fail to do so, I will provide sophisticated weapons to the Ukrainian military, and impose the harshest of sanctions on Russia, among a host of other measures. Don’t test me.
So, Vlad, if you were pulling for me, thanks. If you want to act like a civilized leader, in a civilized world, great. We’ll get along fine. But if you continue to act like the world’s thug, I’ll be your worst enemy. And you should have been rooting for Hillary.
And finally, on the domestic front, I’m fully committed to the goals I talked about during the campaign: improving the economy, bringing jobs back to America, reforming the tax code, getting rid of Obamacare and replacing it with something better, and so on. But in retrospect, there’s something I didn’t talk about much. And that’s getting our fiscal house in order – balancing the budget and starting to pay down our nearly $20 trillion in debt. I wish I’d talked about it more during the campaign. I didn’t. But after talking to a lot of folks whose opinions I respect, I’m now convinced we’ve got to tackle this problem before it’s too late. So I’m committing to you, the American people, that the budget will be balanced by the time I leave office, or I will transfer 90% of my assets, including Trump Tower, to the U.S. Treasury to help pay down the national debt.
(President Trump’s inaugural address went on for some time after this memorable promise, but in the interest of respecting your time, I’ll stop there. See you next week.)
