Republicans and Democrats Have Their Doubts About Trump’s Vision of ‘Manifest Destiny’

Somehow, changing the name of Denali back to Mount McKinley is part of Trump’s vision of American expansion.

Trump inauguration speech

President Donald Trump delivers remarks after being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. Chip Somodevilla/AP

Even as President Donald Trump painted another dark picture of America during his second inaugural address — “Our government confronts a crisis of trust,” he said — there was also a more hopeful theme in his speech: Manifest Destiny.

As the newly sworn-in president signs an ambitious slate of executive orders in his first days in office, he has also set his sights on the literal expansion of the United States.

Trump spoke of the U.S. as a “growing nation” — not just in wealth, but in expanding territory, one that “carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons.”