When it comes to speeches, there are two Donald Trumps. The first is Teleprompter Trump, who reads a prepared speech and tends to be staid, sleepy, and insincere. The second is Rally Trump, who riffs in front of a cheering crowd and is wild, aggressive, and more true to the person that Trump really is.We saw this duality on display immediately after Trumps inauguration. In his official inaugural address in the Capitol Rotunda, Teleprompter Trump delivered a largely unmemorable performance a sleepy address that gave audiences little substance to remember it by. In an impromptu follow-up performance given to the overflow crowd in nearby Emancipation Hall, Rally Trump made an appearance giving a rambling but undeniably more energetic monologue that Trump himself described as a better speech than the one I made upstairs.Rally Trumps speech was a much better guide to what actually animates Trump than the more buttoned-down teleprompter address. And the portrait the second address painted is of a man who remains convinced of his own fictions and obsessed with revenge against those who challenged them.The Rally Trump speech really got going when Trump began talking about things he left out of the official inaugural address. He singles out prospective pardons for January 6, 2021, Capitol rioters as an important example, saying its action not words that count and youre gonna see a lot of action on the J6 hostages.You can see how deeply Trump cares about transforming the official history of January 6. Its not good enough that he is returning to office: He needs to rewrite what happened such that the people who rioted to try and steal the 2020 election for him are the victims hostages rather than criminals. Its all in service of the grander goal of insisting that Mr. Trump cannot lose and never has, and of using his new powers to try and force reality to match this insistence.Similar thinking was at work in Trumps next riff on outgoing President Bidens preemptive pardons for potential Trump prosecution targets like General Mark Milley, Liz Cheney, and Bidens own family members.Trump insisted these people were very, very guilty of very, very bad crimes, accusing the January 6 committee which he referred to as the unselect committee of political thugs of deleting all the information on Nancy Pelosi (its unclear what criminal statute this would fall under). Its clear that Trump really does want to go after these people as part of his campaign to rewrite the events of the 2020 election; the extent to which hes stymied by Bidens pardons remains an open question.Over the course of the next half hour, Trump continued down his revisionist lane.Trump implied that Liz Cheney opposed him not because of any perceived threat to democracy but because her dad was a war profiteer. He spent a while disputing a specific piece of January 6 testimony that he attempted to seize the wheel of the presidential limousine to drive to the Capitol. He explicitly restated that the 2020 election was rigged against him, and then insisted that we would have won the state of California in 2024 if it werent for illegal votes.The point is not that any of this is new ground for Trump. Rather, its that none of it is.In his first truly authentic speech after returning to office, where he felt unchained to discuss what he really cared about, he spent the bulk of the time obsessing over election results and January 6, endlessly litigating the past and (at times openly) stating his desire to seek recompense and revenge for the indignity of losing an election.The Rally Trump speech was the truest reflection of the once-and-current presidents feelings and, I suspect, his governing priorities. And four years of a president who uses his power to punish political enemies and reward his lawbreaking friends does not augur well for American democracy.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: Politics