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Here’s what happened at Donald Trump’s inauguration speech

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Donald Trump, placing his hand both on a family Bible and the holy book used by President Lincoln, took the oath of office Friday from US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (whom he once called a “dummy” on Twitter, among other critical words).

While there were protests around the nation’s capital, Trump took to the stage at noon to deliver his inaugural speech — an address that is more important to his presidency than it was for most of his predecessors.

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The reason? There are still many questions about how Trump, who comes into office as the only president without prior military or political experience, will govern. On policy, it is unclear how quickly he will move on immigration, health care, trade, taxes and foreign affairs — let alone what he will do with those challenges.

But inauguration speeches are rarely about such specifics. This was when Trump would officially express his overall approach and philosophy to governing and American’s place in the world.

Here’s the rundown on what he said, how and why:

Sticking to the script

After years of ridiculing President Obama for using a Teleprompter, Trump read from one himself for the longest amount of time since his Republican National Convention speech.

Yes, every modern president has pretty much read from a script at his inauguration. Still, this was a departure from Trump’s usual freewheeling, off-the-cuff style that his supporters viewed as proof he was not a typical politician.

It began raining one minute into the speech.

Trump barely got started before the rain poured onto the stage.

Those attending the inauguration were not allowed to bring umbrellas due to security concerns (although some on stage were allowed to have them, including the first family and Supreme Court justices).

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Populist-in-chief

Trump began his speech with the same populist rhetoric that many argue won him the White House. Soon into his inauguration address, he decried the political “establishment” that “protected itself, but not the people of this country.”

“The forgotten men and women in this country will be forgotten no longer,” Trump said. “I will never let you down.”

Nationalist-in-chief

Trump continued with his “America first” platform. He suggested that when it comes to foreign policy and trade deals, there needs to be more attention paid to what is best for the country compared to foreign concerns.

Trump said two principles running his administration would be to “buy American and hire American.”

Divider-in-chief

What wasn’t in Trump’s 16-minute speech? Any outreach to those — elected officials, voters, everyday Americans — who didn’t support him.

It is important to note that Trump is only the fourth person ever elected president who did not win the popular vote. What’s more, polls show many voters picked Trump only to protest his opponent, Hillary Clinton, and not because they backed his agenda.

Instead of acknowledging these concerns and pledging to be their president, he called on them to join him in the name of patriotism.

“When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice,” he said.

In fact, by keeping his populist rhetoric and not transcending it, this speech will, again, likely please his base, but do nothing to alleviate the concerns of his critics.

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No Hillary Clinton . . . mention

Circumstance gave Trump an opportunity to reach out to the other side — right there on the dais. Hillary Clinton was on the stage as a former first lady.

But Trump didn’t mention or acknowledge her once. Such a move would have taken a few seconds in an already short speech and would have earned him tons of good press.

No memorable phrase

Trump has never been known for lofty speeches with memorable phrases (aside perhaps from his “Make America Great Again” motto). But beyond his “America First” theme, there were no key lines in his speech that will likely enter the canon of famous inaugural phrases.

Looking to the past, Trump didn’t explain his rise in the context of American history or decipher why he was elected. Trump also didn’t look to the future and ask Americans to dream with him and show a vision of what he wants the country to look like in four years.

Then again, the speech was authentic Trump. He wasn’t someone who he wasn’t.

The ‘we’ speech

But there was one key change in Trump’s rhetoric from the campaign to this address. In his campaign speeches, Trump used the words “I” and “me” often.

But in his inaugural address, Trump used the words “we” or “we’ve” 50 times. He said “I” just three times — during his pledge for the office.


James Pindell can be reached at james.pindell@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jamespindell, or subscribe to his Ground Game newsletter on politics:http://pages.email.bostonglobe.com/GroundGameSignUp.

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