Is Trump talking about all of us?

Opinion: January 25, 2017 at 12:00a.m.

By Rex Huppke

Chicago Tribune

I want to know who President Donald J. Trump considers “the people.”

After he took the oath of office Friday, the new president stood behind a lectern and spoke, ostensibly, to all of America.

He said: “Jan. 20th, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.”

Who are the people? All of us? Just those who voted him into office?

Are “the people” just the ones he referred to as “the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind”?

Does “the people” encompass those who disagree with him? Does that group include opponents he has demeaned, people he has called losers and dopes and liars?

Because if he’s referring to all of the people, to all of the Americans he now leads, then he will need to give thought to what “the people” want and not to just what his people want.

I’ve been a loud and persistent critic of President Trump, and I’ll continue to be so until I see him demonstrate the decency and reasonableness that comes with the precious office he now holds.

I don’t wish him failure. I hope, truly, that he succeeds, and if and when he does, I’ll be the first to give credit.

But for him to progress beyond the boastful, mean-spirited, divisive and loosely-attached-to-reality persona he carried through the campaign and, disappointingly, through the transition to his presidency, Trump needs to expand his definition of “the people.”

Because what a majority of “the people” want and what he’s promising to deliver do not suggest that he plans to make the people rulers of this nation any time soon.

For starters, take a look inward. Trump begins his presidency with dismal approval ratings. The Washington Post found that 40 percent view him favorably while 54 percent view him unfavorably.

HIS people love him. But a majority of THE people would like to see some changes.

So who are the people who are now rulers of this nation? Which ones matter?

Trump might argue that he won the election and thus has a mandate to do as he pleases. He did win, absolutely. But he can’t escape the fact that more Americans voted for his opponent, and about half of Americans didn’t vote at all.

Trump won. He is president. But the people who supported him make up a rough one-fourth of the population.

So are they the rulers now? Is President Trump giving power back only to the people who were on his side?

That’s his prerogative. He’s in charge, and he can lead as he chooses.

His inauguration speech, which echoed the fiery, snarling negativity of his campaign stump speeches, was yet another sign that he will not be changing to make himself a leader of all people.

That’s what some love about him. And it’s what a majority of the people – the people of this country, not just the people who embrace his rhetoric – dislike about him.

“Jan. 20th, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.”

I hope you’re right, President Trump. But if you’re going to be right, you need to think long and hard about who “the people” are.

And you need to listen to all of them, not just the ones who stand before you cheering.

Rex Huppke is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.