The Inauguration Speech and First Week in Office – Predicting Trump’s Behaviour

Donald Trump has made his first address and had his first week in office. People everywhere have been commenting, lamenting, protesting and some defending. (My Facebook news feed is full of this, including pleading from some to have a respectful conversation about it all.)

Once again I thought it might be interesting to see which LAB Profile® Triggers were behind his  speech, analysed by my patented Libretta® software. (www.weongozi.com)

And I also identified the Motivation Triggers™ behind his actions in his first week as president.

The three triggers Libretta® identified in President Trump’s speech were:

Toward Motivation Trigger™

People who are in a Toward mode are focusing on what they want and their goals. They want to achieve something and focus on where they are heading. (Libretta® doesn’t specify how precise someone’s goal is, only whether she or he is focused on moving toward something she or he wants.)

Away From Motivation Trigger™

When people are in an Away From mode, they pay attention to what is wrong or should be prevented and avoided. They are motivated to get away from the things that bother them.

Internal Motivation Trigger™

People who are in Internal mode are deciding for themselves, based on what is important to them. They tend to reject ideas when told what to do.

Here is the transcript with the Motivation Triggers™ listed by section. I divided the text up, creating different sections based on themes in order to identify the different Motivation Triggers™ as the theme changed. After the text, I will make some commentary.

Transcript with Motivation Triggers™
(If you don’t wish to read the text of the speech, you can scroll down to the analysis.)

TRUMP: Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans and people of the world, thank you. (APPLAUSE)

We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people. (APPLAUSE)

Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come. We will face challenges, we will confront hardships, but we will get the job done.

Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent. Thank you. (APPLAUSE)

Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning because today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the people. (APPLAUSE)
INTERNAL

For too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs. And while they celebrated in our nation’s capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land. (APPLAUSE)

That all changes starting right here and right now because this moment is your moment, it belongs to you. (APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country. (APPLAUSE)

What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. (APPLAUSE)

January 20th, 2017 will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. (APPLAUSE)

The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. (APPLAUSE)

Everyone is listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement, the likes of which the world has never seen before. (APPLAUSE)
AWAY FROM

At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction that a nation exists to serve its citizens. Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public.

But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge; and the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.

This American carnage stops right here and stops right now. (APPLAUSE)

We are one nation and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams. And their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny. The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans. (APPLAUSE)

For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry; subsidized the armies of other countries, while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military. We’ve defended other nations’ borders while refusing to defend our own. (APPLAUSE)

And spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay. We’ve made other countries rich, while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon.
NO PARTICULAR TRIGGER IS DOMINANT (Note: I tried dividing this section into smaller parts, but each paragraph revealed no dominant pattern in the language structure.)

Trump: One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world.

But that is the past. And now, we are looking only to the future. (APPLAUSE)
AWAY FROM

We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first, America first. (APPLAUSE)

Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs.
(APPLAUSE)

Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you with every breath in my body and I will never ever let you down. (APPLAUSE)

America will start winning again, winning like never before. (APPLAUSE)

We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams. (APPLAUSE)

We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels and railways all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work, rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor. (APPLAUSE)

We will follow two simple rules; buy American and hire American. (APPLAUSE)
TOWARD

We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world, but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example. We will shine for everyone to follow. (APPLAUSE)

We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from the face of the Earth. (APPLAUSE)

At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice. (APPLAUSE)
AWAY FROM AND INTERNAL

The bible tells us how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity. We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. (APPLAUSE)

There should be no fear. We are protected and we will always be protected. We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. And most importantly, we will be protected by God. (APPLAUSE)

Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving. We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action, constantly complaining, but never doing anything about it. (APPLAUSE)

The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action. (APPLAUSE)
AWAY FROM AND INTERNAL

Do not allow anyone to tell you that it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America. We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again.

We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow. A new national pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights and heal our divisions.

It’s time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget, that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots. (APPLAUSE)

We all enjoy the same glorious freedoms and we all salute the same great American flag. (APPLAUSE)

And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the wind-swept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they will their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty creator. (APPLAUSE)

So to all Americans in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, from ocean to ocean, hear these words. You will never be ignored again. (APPLAUSE)

Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.
TOWARD

Together, we will make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And yes, together we will make America great again. (APPLAUSE)
INTERNAL

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless America.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
God bless America.

Analysis

In this speech, Donald Trump talked about what he is against, what he will move the country Away From. But his language structure also indicates what he wants to go Toward – America first, America first.

This is quite different than the ratio of Triggers in the first presidential debate, (which I analysed in another blog), possibly indicating that the actual text here was mainly written by other people. Naturally! In this address, there is proportionally, significantly more focus on Toward, than what he has done at other times. In the debates he used mainly Away From and Internal with very little Toward.

This is to be expected, as one hopes a first speech to be more inspirational and aspirational. Comparing the level of grammar and vocabulary used between this speech and the debate, there is also a difference (this speech there were more sophisticated use of grammar and vocabulary), but other software can evaluate this much more objectively.

Compared to the debates and his many “off the cuff” campaign speeches, which focused on what was wrong with America, this one set out the principles to which he is moving Toward.

“Buy American and hire American.” “… only America first, America first.”

But what about the Motivation Triggers™ driving his actions?

Already in his first week, he signed executive orders to start the removal of the Affordable Health Care Act, revived the Keystone XL Oil Pipeline, closed immigration to Syrian refugees and started the process to build a wall between the US and Mexico.

He has also produced numerous Tweets defending himself and attacking others as @realDonaldTrump and not as @POTUS (President of the US). Although the Libretta® software does not identify all of the LAB Profile® Motivation Triggers™, we can look at the behaviours of a person to understand the combination of triggers driving someone’s actions.

His first week actions and communications appear to have the following Motivation Trigger™ combination:

Proactive – need to act without thinking
Away From – Motivated to move away from what you don’t like
External – Cares deeply about the opinions of others, reputation, influenced by outside sources
Feelings – In stressful situations, gets into a negative emotional state and stays stuck in the emotion
My/. – My rules for me/I don’t care about anyone else
Automatic Convincer – gathers a small chunk of information and decides immediately, unlikely to change his mind

When people have this combination of Triggers, they are likely to:

• As soon as they see/hear/feel criticized or slighted in any way, they will immediately counterattack without thinking their actions through(Away From, External, Proactive, Feelings, Automatic)
• They will continue the counterattack because they continue to feel the negative emotions associated with the criticism (Feelings, External)
• Even if the counter-attack is considered inappropriate by others, it doesn’t matter since “the rules” in society don’t apply to them. (My/.)

Look and sound familiar?

I suspect that compared to the parts of the inauguration speech that were Toward, the above behaviours will be more typical President Donald Trump.

What do you think? Please leave a reply.