President Donald J. Trump has spent the first year of his presidency breaking almost every political norm in the playbook. From a never-seen-before communication style to pulling off what some may see as the biggest political upset in years, President Trump has played with his back against the wall and succeeded in nearly every aspect. Although President Trump has taken over Twitter and other social media outlets, today the President will have to indulge in one of the traditional forms of presidential communication: The State of the Union.
The White House has expressed that the President will use this speech to bring light to what the President has done in his first year in office that includes accomplishments such as passing a $1.5 trillion tax bill, rolling back regulations on businesses, as well as bringing about a drop in unemployment and an increase in the stock market. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the theme of the speech will be “building a safe, strong, proud America.”
When asked about the speech on Monday at the swearing-in ceremony for Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar, Trump said, “I hope it’s going to be good; we’ve worked really hard on it,”Trump told reporters. It will cover a “lot of territory,” he said, including “our great success with the markets and the tax cut.”
“It’s a big speech, an important speech,” Trump added modestly, before revealing basic plot points and likely one or two speech applause lines.
Can President Trump convert his message into momentum for his 2018 agenda, or will it be a speech that gets lost in the noise surrounded by democratic resistance?
“We cover immigration,” POTUS said. “For many many years, they’ve been talking immigration and never gotten anything done. We’re going to get something done. We hope. It’s got to be bipartisan because Republicans don’t have the votes to get it done any other way,” he added, regretfully. “Hopefully, Democrats will join us – enough of them so we can do something great for and immigration,” Trump concluded.
According to a senior administration official, the speech will be split up into five key parts: Immigration, Infrastructure, Trade, the Military, and the Economy.
The State of the Union Address comes on the heels of what The New York Post describes as a “triumph” as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The Post spoke with people at the conference who described Trump’s performance as “dazzling” in both the private meetings and in his headline speech. Trump’s most publicized line came when he clarified that his famous “America First” tagline does not mean that America is going to operate alone. Then trump reassured the crowd that “America is open for business.”
With Trump’s last televised speech coming just a few weeks ago in Davos, Switzerland, Americans across the country will be watching at 9 pm EST on Tuesday to see how the President will convey his agenda to voters. Can President Trump convert that message into momentum for his 2018 agenda, or will it be a speech that gets lost in the noise surrounded by democratic resistance? We will have to wait and see.