Saul Loeb/Reuters
The inauguration speech that President Donald Trump had promised to write all by himself was actually mostly written by chief strategist Steve Bannon and senior adviser Stephen Miller, according to the Wall Street Journal. The speech, with anti-globalist calls to put “America First,” was widely panned as overly grim by experts on Saturday. Two days before his inauguration, Trump made a show of the upcoming speech, posting a picture of himself seated at a desk with a pen and paper in hand, looking thoughtful and pensive. “Writing my inaugural address at the Winter White House, Mar-a-Lago. Three weeks ago,” he captioned the photo. Two transition officials were also cited by CNN as saying Trump had written the speech’s draft himself. The Wall Street Journal has cited a White House official who admitted Trump hadn’t written the controversial address, however. Most of the address was actually penned by Bannon and Miller, who reportedly drew inspiration from Andrew Jackson.