6 takeaways from Donald Trump's first State of the Union speech
By Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 1418 GMT (2218 HKT) January 31, 2018
(CNN)President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address
on Tuesday night, a (very) lengthy speech in which he largely revisited
his accomplishments over his first year in office and offered a handful
of proposals he'd like to see considered in the coming year.
While it's important not to over-analyze what the speech means for Trump's presidency
-- his first year in office suggests what he says one day means very
little for what he will do the next -- I did jot down a few takeaways
from the address. They're below.
1. America First
Trump
ran -- and won -- on the idea that he would always put our country
first. And boy did he make good on that promise in his State of the
Union address. For the first hour of the speech, Trump talked about
nothing but domestic policy. Tax cuts. The economy. Trade. Regulatory
reform. Immigration. Nary a mention of America's place in the world
until after 10 pm on the east coast.
The
signal was clear: Trump is not just using "America First" as a piece of
rhetoric; he's heavily focused on making it a policy reality as well.
2. Bipartisanship just ain't happening
In the early moments of Trump's speech, he made several calls for the country and the Congress to come together.
"Tonight,
I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common
ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we
were elected to serve," Trump said at one point.
"If
you work hard, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in America,
then you can dream anything, you can be anything, and together, we can
achieve anything," he said at another.
House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's reaction to Trump's mention of the need
to come together for the good of the American people tells you
everything you need to know about the chances of that actually
happening.
3. A greatest hits album
Most
state of the union addresses are roughly evenly split between a touting
of past accomplishments and the laying out of a vision for future
governance.
Trump's speech was 80%
celebration of what he has done and 20% talking about what he would
like to do. (In truth, the percentage might have tilted even more in the
direction of Trump's recitation of his greatest hits.)
It
was almost an hour into his remarks that Trump first mentioned a
proposal -- a massive infrastructure bill -- that he wanted Congress to
take up. Trump did pick up some steam on the proposal front -- pushing
Congress to take up his immigration compromise, for one.
But,
proposals and wish lists weren't top-of-mind for Trump in this speech.
Making sure he mentioned all of the things he believes he has succeeded
in (and the media has overlooked) was.
4. Trump as the Obama eraser
Much
of Trump's pitch as a candidate was as the anti-Barack Obama. And,
Republicans -- who, in Obama, saw everything they disliked about big
government liberals -- ate it up.
Trump has spent his first year governing as the anti-Obama as well. Or, more accurately, the Obama eraser.
He
jettisoned DACA. He pushed for the repeal of the individual mandate. He
has stripped out regulation after regulation put into place by Obama.
And on Tuesday night, Trump announced his plans to keep the Guantanamo
Bay prison in Cuba open -- a direct rebuttal to Obama's long-made and
long-failed pledge to close the prison.
Remember
that prior to running for president and even during his bid, Trump
lacked any clearly thought-out set of policy prescriptions. In lieu of
that, he reacted -- or, in Trump's lingo -- counter-punched against what
Obama had done as president. He just kept doing it on Tuesday night.
5. The great unmentioned
Nowhere
in Trump's speech did he address -- even obliquely -- the special
counsel investigation into Russia's attempted meddling in the 2016
election and possible collusion with members of his campaign.
In
fact Trump uttered the word "Russia" only once. "Around the world, we
face rogue regimes, terrorist groups, and rivals like China and Russia
that challenge our interests, our economy, and our values," he said.
It's
not terribly surprising that Trump -- in a speech ostensibly about
unity and bipartisanship -- wouldn't mention an investigation that is
tearing at the heart and soul of political Washington.
Still,
it was an absence worth noting -- particularly given that Trump spoke
for 80 minutes and tackled virtually every other subject under the sun.
6. Stagecraft was top notch
Perhaps
not surprising for someone who has lived his life in the spotlight and
who built a life on image and brand, the stagecraft of Trump's first
State of the Union was outstanding. From the families who lost loved
ones to the MS-13 gang to Otto Warmbier's parents to the North Korean
defector and his crutches, the visuals -- and the stories they told --
were haunting and memorable.
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