Quem fala quando Trump diz “nós”? Estratégias retóricas, ethos e a dilatação do eu

This article investigates the rhetorical strategies of ethos construction through the First Person Discourse (FPD) in the presidential inaugural speech of Donald Trump, delivered on January 20, 2025. The objective is to analyze how the FPD is mobilized through specific markers of ethos construction by the speaker. The research is theoretically grounded in the principles of Classical and New Rhetoric, as well as in frameworks from Enunciative Linguistics and Discursive Pragmatics. Methodologically, a qualitative-quantitative approach is adopted, involving the tabulation of FPD occurrences in the corpus followed by interpretative analysis of representative excerpts, classified into seven markers of ethos construction, according to the theoretical model proposed by Bini (2023) and expanded in this study with the identification of the Majestic Plural. The results show that Trump’s discursive ethos is anchored in nationalist values and is expanded through linguistic strategies that reinforce authority, collectivity, and exceptionality. Three markers stand out as predominant: the Singular of Exclusivity, the Majestic Plural, and the Circumscribed Indeterminate Inclusive Plural. The analysis contributes to the understanding of how the FPD can be strategically mobilized in political contexts, particularly in oral dialogic modality, to build an image of charismatic leadership strongly associated with nationalism, offering insights for future research on political ethos.