Alan Boyle of Geekwire notes a paragraph of Donald Trump’s inaugural address in which the new president noted how technological advances are going to make America great again, to coin a phrase. The remarks were seen as a bright spot in a speech seen by many to be combative and populist.
“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 our souls, lift our sights and heal our divisions.”
Most modern presidents like to wrap themselves in science and technology.
Former President Obama liked to call himself a science geek, even though much of his policy involved controversial research in climate change and renewable energy. Both presidents named George W. Bush tried to start grand space exploration programs only to see them canceled by their successors. President Ronald Reagan started the space station project and President Bill Clinton rescued it from congressional cancellation. Both Clinton and the younger Bush doubled the budget of the National Institutes of Health.
How Trump will deal with technology is uncertain. On the one hand he means to make massive cuts in domestic discretionary spending. On the other hand he is said to be interested in using space exploration, particularly an early return to the moon, an engine for economic growth and national greatness.
He has had Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, and Douglas Brinkley, a historian who is an expert on President Kennedy’s challenge to land a man on the moon, up to the Trump Tower to discuss space.
The paragraph, carefully crafted by Trump himself, suggests that along with rebuilding the military and infrastructure, science and technology will be a priority in his administration.
As a businessman who has spent his life building things, President Trump is aware of the role science and technology has had in furthering economic growth. What sort of policies that awareness will entail could include increase research and development spending. Rhetoric becomes reality, Trump could become the science and technology president that his predecessor promised to be.
