Neo-Aristotelian or Neo Classical: A Neo-Aristotelian model for criticism utizlizes classical techniques for the analysis of effect on the reader. In the context of Trump's speech, this model allows for an exposition of context, delivery, tone, etc. For the purposed of this annotation, we will be primarily looking at the Invention behind Trump's rhetoric specifically as it concerns ethos pathos and logos.

Ethos: How does Trump establish credibility as a speaker? Pathos: How does Trump's language invoke an emotional reaction from his audience? Logos: What does Trump's logical structure tell us about his effect on the audience?

All instances which explicate his use of language for any of these purposes with be tagged as #Neoclassical

Neo Classical: This line is a direct appeal to pathos, transforming an energy policy stance into an emotionally charged slogan. The repetition and rhythm of “drill, baby, drill” evoke enthusiasm, certainty, and cultural defiance, tapping into the audience’s frustrations with environmental regulation, economic anxiety, and perceived global dependence. It condenses complex issues into a cathartic, celebratory expression of control and revival—framing drilling not just as policy, but as a symbol of national strength and freedom. The applause affirms that this isn’t a statement of fact but a collective emotional release, rallying the crowd around a shared feeling of reclaimed power.

This repetition intensifies pathos through tone and cadence—it's assertive, even defiant, signaling emotional certainty and action. The clipped delivery enhances Trump’s ethos as a decisive, no-nonsense leader who will act where others have hesitated.

This statement uses enthymematic logic by implying a shared, unspoken major premise: that the country is currently under invasion or imminent threat. Trump leaves the audience to fill in the details—immigration, crime, foreign policy failures—making the logic persuasive by way of emotional inference rather than explicit proof. This appeals to ethos by casting Trump as morally obligated to fulfill the nation’s “highest responsibility,” aligning himself with foundational values like protection, strength, and duty. By presenting the defense of the country as unquestionable, the rhetoric bypasses debate and reframes action as virtue rather than policy.

Fantasy Theme: This passage acts as the explicit theisis to Trump's religiously infused martyr-hero narrative, cementing Trump as a spiritually chosen leader. The survival of an assassination attempt becomes a sacred sign—a divine endorsement of his mission. Trump taps into religious fantasy themes, where national destiny is tied to a providential figure tasked with restoring greatness. The rhetorical logic posited is that his survival equals divine approval therefore enforcing the conclusion that his mission is sacred. Trump transforms personal trauma into theological validation, collapsing spiritual and political authority into a single figure.

Neo Classical: The religious framing of Trump's rhetoric ensures his ethos and cements his authority by capitalizing on the pre-existing religious biases of his audience.

Neo Classical: This line constructs ethos through personal martyrdom, exaggerating hardship to portray Trump as a uniquely persecuted and thus uniquely resilient leader. The hyperbolic comparison to “any president in 250 years” is not factually defended; rather, it functions rhetorically as invention, inviting admiration and emotional identification through perceived endurance. The claim activates a form of moral ethos: if he has survived more than any past president, then he has earned not just authority, but reverence. It also serves an enthymematic function—the audience supplies the injustices (impeachments, investigations, media) that confirm the claim.

Fantasy Theme: Trump inserts himself into the martyr-hero narrative central to his fantasy rhetoric. The phrase positions him as a figure who has endured extraordinary trials, not for personal gain, but as part of a larger epic struggle. This aligns with the fantasy theme of a leader chosen through adversity to redeem a fallen nation. By presenting his suffering as surpassing that of all past presidents, Trump establishes himself as a historical exception.

This line employs enthymematic logic, where a central premise is implied rather than stated outright: that liberties have been denied and the nation’s destiny has been obstructed. The audience fills in the missing premise, likely imagining the culprits as corrupt elites or previous administrations. This unspoken assumption deepens identification, as it allows listeners to apply their own grievances as the unstated cause. At the same time, the emotionally rich terms “liberties” and “glorious destiny” evoke pathos, framing Trump’s leadership as the reactivation of a sacred national trajectory. The rhetorical force comes not from argument but from shared implication, relying on the audience’s preexisting convictions to complete the logic.

Trump applies a structure to his speech in this section where he essentially lists the failures of the previous administration and American institutions in general...

By touting the ironic nature behind the failures of the institutional powers that serve the people, Trump is asserting that the current powers are acting in the opposite interest of the greater good. He is emphasizing feelings of distrust and betrayal and undermining the belief in authority. This ultimately has an emotional effect on the readr while establishing his own ethos.

Neo Classical: Trump erodes the ethos of the existing government by labeling it incapable of basic governance, building his own credibility by implication. The line also uses reductive logic (if the state cannot handle the simple, it cannot handle the complex) to persuade through, what is presented as, an obvious, clear deduction. This blends credibility and reason to elevate Trump as a more competent alternative.

Ideological: This line also advances Trump’s anti-establishment ideology by reducing complex policy failures to a narrative of elite incompetence. The phrase “even a simple crisis” rhetorically frames the government as inept and detached, promoting a worldview where institutions are inherently broken and outsiders—like Trump—must reclaim control. It reinforces populist distrust and repositions state failure as deliberate abandonment of the people.

Neo Classical: Trump’s invention in this passage relies heavily on pathos- using charged and evocative imagery to elicit anger and feelings of disenfranchisement from the listener. The phrase “extracted power and wealth” positions the government as the source of economic frustrations while “pillars of our society lay broken” paints a bleak and vivid image, invoking symbolism to create an almost mythic sense of hopelessness.

This emotional appeal heightens the stakes of the moment and primes the audience for a savior narrative, effectively establishing Trump's credibility. Trump builds ethos by positioning himself as the only figure willing to expose these abuses- by naming the enemy he presents himself as morally courageous. In a classical sense, this passage aims to establish trust through shared outrage and moral alignment with the audience.

Fantasy Theme: By portraying a long-standing elite force that has "extracted" resources from the public, Trump casts the American people as innocent victims in a narrative of systemic betrayal. Creating a clear villian as well as a clear hero- himself. The metaphor of “pillars... broken and in disrepair” utilizes symbolism to insinuate a narrative of total institutional collapse to position Trump in a position to correct the "disrepair" he cites.

Nathan Crick compiles a collection of works regarding Facist and Nationalistic values in his, How to Spot a Fascist: A Review of The Rhetoric of Fascism. The sentiments here shed light on the context of Trump's rhetoric and his use of these fantasy cues-

in explicating his work, Carlee E Baker cites that-

The “trope of carnage” and the resultant evocation of the “trope of manly consciousness” play upon many of the same assumptions that “Make America Great Again” does, where Trump presents the current state of the U.S. in terms of catastrophe and disaster, calling upon fears of societal decline felt among the Alt-Right and legitimizing the threat of violence and intimidation. The “trope of betrayal” appears most clearly in Trump’s open anti-intellectualism and disdain for “the elites.” His utilization of the “trope of specious nomenclature” works as an exclusionary rhetorical tactic intended to mark the Other as definitionally excluded from the meaning of “American.” Hartnett explains that these two tropes involve a subtle but persistent degradation of Others that works to “‘[deliver] the poison of prejudice in small but increasing doses” (48). At the heart of the use of each of these tropes in public political rhetoric is an appeal to fear, strong enough to motivate threats of violence at the behest of the former President.

https://constell8cr.com/issue-6/the-rhetoric-of-fascism/

Fantasy Theme: This line exemplifies Trump’s continued reliance on the “golden age to come” fantasy theme, a core symbolic device in his speech. By declaring America will be not only great, but “far more exceptional than ever before,” Trump paints a utopian future rooted in hyperbolic claims of surpassing historical precedent. This rhetorical exaggeration as well as the accessibility and absoluteness of his language (“greater, stronger, more exceptional”) function as fantasy cues, inviting the audience into an emotionally gratifying vision of the future while providing a shared emotional satisfaction, even in the absence of specific policy detail.

Neo-Classical: The hyperbolic nature of Trump's language as well as its dramatic construction allow for an appeal to his Audience's emotions.

The logical structure of Trump’s Inaugural address relies heavily on the use of enthymematic logic to assume certain premises or shared beliefs which are integral to his arguments.

In implementing such enthymematic devices, Trump circumvents the need to rationalize his depiction of a deteriorating government opting instead to imply such presuppositions as a given, oversimplifying genuine domestic and foreign issues as being attributed to a single antagonizing force that only Trump himself can stand up to.

By saying “From this day forward, our country will… be respected again all over the world”, he is implying it currently isn't respected. By asserting that “we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer” Trump takes as a given that his audience is being taken advantage of. In cementing his stance as restoring the “integrity, competency, and loyalty of America’s government” he is forcing his listener to internalize the subtext that it currently lacks integrity, competency, and loyalty.

On Trump's use of enthymematic logic as a rhetorical device, Hayes remarks: "In enthymemes, using Gerard Hauser’s (2002) definition, the rhetor and audience share common beliefs and actively participate in building and creating the argument together. Enthymemes give Trump the ability to deny alleged statements or argue he was misunderstood since enthymemes are generally implicit and can be interpreted differently by diverse audiences. An analysis of Trump’s tweets exemplifies how he builds and connects with those sharing and willing to contribute to the end result of creating a divide between Americans by casting them against each other, establishing an Us versus Them philosophy."

Trump's social media phrasing and its associated use of this rhetorical strategy hints that ethymematic logic is a device that, extending across multiple platforms- is central to Trump's invention and the link it establishes with his audience.

https://repository.gonzaga.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1166&context=jhs

Eichenbaum, M. S., Rebelo, S., & Trabandt, M. (2020). Epidemics in the Neoclassical and New Keynesian Models (Working Paper No. 27430; Working Paper Series). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w27430

Jordà, Ò., Singh, S. R., & Taylor, A. M. (2020). Longer-run Economic Consequences of Pandemics (Working Paper No. 26934; Working Paper Series). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w26934

Baqaee, D., & Farhi, E. (2020). Nonlinear Production Networks with an Application to the Covid-19 Crisis (Working Paper No. 27281; Working Paper Series). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w27281