Trump’s speech was written for his supporters rather than for the country as a whole. It was for the most part aggressive and confrontational, nationalistic and protectionist, with a quasi-isolationist theme running throughout. He described a world in which transactions are zero-sum. The world is much more complicated and nuanced than that.

Trump ended his speech by saying: “The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.”  What Donald Trump may not yet realize is that standard now applies to him. Trump has done more to create the rancor and divisions that he now promises to heal. To heal political wounds would require Trump to become what he is not.