On Tuesday, January 30, President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address to a Joint Session of Congress. The speech, which was televised on every major news channel in primetime, was highly anticipated to see how presidential Trump would be, and whether or not he would announce any new policy proposals. The speech contained much applause and highlighted both heroes and ordinary Americans, including a 12-year old that started a movement to place flags on veteran’s graves, a Coastguardsman who was heroic in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, and even a defector from North Korea.
The speech was met with contrasting views from Democrats and Republicans. Republicans in Congress have been applauding the speech, saying that Trump was presidential and stuck to his message to promote his Make America Great Again agenda. After the speech, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put his thoughts simply, saying, “I thought he was outstanding.” South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds said, “He nailed it. He stayed on target. He stayed on message.” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, however, may have liked the speech to be a little bit shorter, saying that he thought it was a great speech, “even if it was a little bit long.” The speech lasted 80 minutes, which is one of the longest in the last 50 years.
Most Democrats, however, weren’t buying the hype, saying that this was an act, “Tonight we got Teleprompter Trump,” Hawaii Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono said after the speech, “I would be pleasantly surprised if he changed and became a compassionate, caring human being, Maybe he tried to be tonight, but he’s spent an entire year being not compassionate, not caring.” Rep. Sandy Levin of Michigan said, “I don’t think the speech was conciliatory at all. I think at times he tried to have a lower tone, but for example, when he talked about immigration and used as his example gangs, I think it so misshapes what the immigration issue is all about.”
Now that Trump has his agenda set out, it’s time to see whether or not Trump and the Republicans in Congress can deliver on immigration reform, passing a federal budget, and passing several other reforms outlined in Tuesday’s speech. For Trump and Republicans, the time for talk is over, and the time for action is now.
