State of the Union: Five takeaways from Trump's speech
Anthony Zurcher
North America reporter @awzurcher
on Twitter
- 7 hours ago
Media captionNancy Pelosi ripped up
a copy of the president's speech at the end of his address
It was a historic State of the Union
address - conducted the day after the Democrats' chaotic Iowa caucuses and the
day before the Senate renders its verdict in the president's impeachment trial.
At times belligerent, at times
emotional, Donald Trump delivered what will probably be his final speech to a
joint session of Congress before standing for re-election in November.
Say what you will about it - about
the whole evening - but it was memorable. Here are a few key takeaways.
Tensions
run high
The president's speech was bookended
by two notable breaches of decorum. It began as the president handed the text
of his speech to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: he pointedly turned away
when she reached out to shake his hand.
Then, Pelosi declined to use
traditional language that it was her "honour" to introduce the
president.
Media captionA State of the Union
snub? Trump turns away as Pelosi goes to shake his hand.
After the conclusion of the address,
Pelosi very visibly ripped up the speech text and tossed it on her desk. She
would later tell a Fox News producer that it was the "courteous thing to
do", given her other options.
There were also moments during the
address itself where tension boiled over. The president attacked Democratic
proposals to abolish private health insurance in blunt language, saying he
"would never let socialism destroy US healthcare". He also engaged in
an extended attack on the Democratic-run states of New York and California for
their immigration policies.
When the president spoke about gun
rights, a member of the audience - the father of a child killed in the 2018
school shooting in Parkland, Florida - was removed from the chamber for
shouting his objections.
Throughout the president's speech,
his lines were frequently greeted by raucous cheers from the Republican
legislators, while Democrats sat in stony silence or howled in anger.
Image copyright Mario Tama/Getty
Images Image caption Democratic lawmakers sat in silence for much of Mr Trump's
speech - when they weren't erupting in protest
In his speech last year, the
president called for a rejection of "the politics of revenge, resistance
and retribution," touting "the boundless potential of cooperation,
compromise and the common good".
Such rhetoric was very much absent
on Tuesday night, reflecting the open partisan warfare that has gripped the
nation's capital.
A
re-election theme revealed
An incumbent president's
election-year State of the Union address typically foreshadows the themes of
the campaign. If that's the case, Donald Trump's speech makes clear he's going
to bet his presidency on the state of the economy.
Media captionRepublicans chant
"four more years" - the president hopes a strong economy will win him
re-election.
While growth figures for the past
year have been modest, the president has presided over economic expansion of
record length. At the top of his speech - the portion that will have the most
Americans watching - Trump rattled through the litany of facts and figures that
support his contention that times are good and will stay that way if he's given
another four years in office.
He cited deregulation, tax cuts and
new trade agreements as his recipe for prosperity. In the campaign to come,
expect him to make the case that a Democratic change of course will hit
American voters in the place that hurts the most - their pocketbooks.
A
pitch for inclusion
At the top of his speech, Donald
Trump said that he was building "the world's most prosperous and inclusive
society".
The use of the word
"inclusive" wasn't by chance. Throughout his speech, the president
made repeated overtures to minority groups in America - groups that, according
to polls, view the president with considerable scepticism.
Trump spoke of how he had signed
criminal justice reform and funded historically black colleges and
universities. He specifically noted the low levels of unemployment for
"African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Asian-Americans".
Among his guests were the last
surviving member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black World War II fighter
wing group, and his great-grandson. Trump announced that he was awarding an
"opportunity scholarship" to a young black girl to attend a private
school in Philadelphia.
When talk turned to immigration, the
president called out Raul Ortiz, who he recently appointed to deputy chief of
Border Patrol.
Image copyright Mario Tama/Getty
Images Image caption Deputy Chief of US Border Patrol Raul Ortiz listens to Mr
Trump's third State of the Union address
If the president successfully
improves his standing among minority voters - and convinces independent voters
of all stripes that Democratic accusations of racism and xenophobia are
scurrilous attacks - his path to re-election becomes considerably easier. His
State of the Union address suggests that he knows this very well.
A
night of theatrics
Every president since Ronald Reagan
has relied on special guest recognition as a means of highlighting a policy
proposal or recognising the valour or sacrifice of noteworthy individuals. Even
in the most acrimonious of times, these moments give a president a chance to
solicit bipartisan applause and approbation.
In Tuesday night's speech, Trump -
the inveterate showman - took things one step further. Besides the
"opportunity scholarship moment", he also paused mid-speech to have
his wife award conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh with the Presidential
Medal of Freedom and to surprise a military wife and her family by reuniting them
with her husband, an Army sergeant who had spent the past seven months in
Afghanistan.
Image copyright MANDEL NGAN/Getty
Images Image caption Talk show host and conservative hero Rush Limbaugh flashes
a thumbs up after being recognised by the president
"We couldn't keep him waiting
any longer," the president said, in a moment that seemed plucked from
script of a daytime talk show.
Policy
grab-bag
Democrat Bill Clinton used to be
famous for his plan-heavy State of the Union addresses, which would bludgeon
listeners with a laundry list of ideas and proposals of varying scope and
prospects for success.
That's not exactly Donald Trump's
style, but he did highlight a few priorities - none of which have much hope for
success in a Congress beset by partisan gridlock.
He called more funding for
vocational training in US public schools and for action to reduce the cost of
prescription drugs, which prompted chants from House Democrats touting their
already passed legislation that the Republican-controlled Senate has yet to
take up.
Image copyright Drew Angerer/Getty
Images
When the president suggested that he
was dedicated to ensuring health insurance always covers pre-existing
conditions, the Democratic groans were particularly loud - a reflection of the
fact that the president supports a lawsuit that would nullify the law that
provides those protections.
Infrastructure spending, the white
whale of bipartisan legislators for the entirety of Trump's presidency,
garnered widespread applause, as did yet another call for a US mission to the
moon and Mars.
Trump also called for a law allowing
the victims of crimes by undocumented immigrants to sue cities that do not
co-operate with federal immigration officials and a ban on late-term abortions
- both met by icy glares from the Democrats.
And that was pretty much that. If
the president is going to campaign on any bold, new ideas, they'll have to wait
for another night to be unveiled.
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