1,454 words: Trump keeps inaugural address short, hits populist note

As promised, President Trump kept it short, and largely avoided lofty language

Ahead of President Donald Trump's inaugural address, it seemed no one knew exactly what to expect.

Today was clearly an occasion for the use of the teleprompters that Trump used to mock his predecessor for employing. But, with the prepared text scrolling before him, would Trump offer the sobriety of his speech after meeting the Mexican president last August, or that of Election Night 2014 or the bellicosity of his Convention acceptance speech? Sobriety won the day.

But the speech was much more than sober. It largely lacked lofty language, but contained a full-throated populist vision,