Albert R. Hunt, Columnist

Nope, the Oval Office Won't Change Trump

Presidents can can rise to occasions. But the job doesn't change a man's character.

January 22, 2017 at 4:00 PM UTC

Albert R. Hunt is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He was the executive editor of Bloomberg News, before which he was a reporter, bureau chief and executive Washington editor at the Wall Street Journal.

Fuhgeddaboudit.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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The hope of the many people who harbor reservations about Donald Trump is that the presidency will change him. That's also what his hardcore supporters fear.

Trump’s inaugural address showed why those hopes and fears won't materialize. It was harsh, nationalistic, lacking in civility or generosity, reflecting his dark view of politics. It had some of the same themes that Ronald Reagan offered 36 years earlier, but with none of the uplift that the 40th president radiated.