U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a powerful speech on
January 30, 2018. Speaking to a joint
session of Congress, Trump enumerated a list of achievements since his
inauguration that pointed to U.S. gains both domestically and abroad. With the economy in rebound and unemployment
falling, the President bragged about the financial benefits of his tax reform
package for American families and businesses.
His presentation had the popular tenor of Reagan and Lincoln, speaking
using language explaining the direction of the economy to ordinary Americans;
noting that, corporate America had already heard, and was already responding
to, his clarion call.
Internationally, Trump capped his Administration’s the
nearly total rout of ISIS in Iraq and Syria by announcing he had signed an
executive order instructing Secretary of Defense Mattis to keep the U.S.
detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba open for business. His message was clear, for terrorists,
Guantanamo will be the end of the line.
The U.S. intends that if captured, they will live out what remains of
their lives in captivity. In other
words, he’s created a tangible consequence and hopefully a deterrent to future
radicalization threats against the United States in a tone that speaks to
individuals contemplating terror.
Against other adversary nations, Trump’s speech was more
conventional in rhetoric criticizing the behavior of rogue regimes such as
North Korea and encouraging popular liberation causes in places like Iran. His speech may have specifically asked
Congress to fully fund the US defense budget and invest in the modernization of
the US nuclear arsenal; but his activist messaging directly to other nations clearly
continues to show
that the most potent weapon in his arsenal remains the diplomacy of “aggressive
negotiations”. Fittingly, cameras
focused on U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley as Trump made his
remarks.
The President also took the time in his address to explain
his immigration reform package directly to the American people. He is clearly snatching the agenda away from
Congress even as they debate the same topic working towards yet another
continuing resolution to fund or shut down the government next week. He spoke
that his four pillar proposal was a compromise.
His message was clear, neither theFar
Left nor the Far Right will be entirely happy; but, he intends to get a
solution that will take immigration reform to a solution now and make it
disappear from being a nagging wedge come the 2018 midterm election. The
President’s first two of four pillars approach consisting of a generous
expansion of DACA with a real path to citizenship on the one hand and full
funding for border security on the other was classic “Art of the Deal”. His
third and fourth pillar addressing visa lotteries and chain migration focused
on the consequence effects of these policies. My guess here? He’ll get pillars one and two. Three and four are bargaining chips to get
one and two.
However what really impressed me about the State of the Union
address was Trump’s stunning, there’s really no other word for it, capture of
the domestic quality of life agenda for 2018.
His call for a solution to the high cost of prescription drugs where
Americans spend as much as $1 of every $6 of their medical costs according to a
Tweet by Fox News on the heels of his statement put him in direct communication
with ordinary Americans yet again. His
call to streamline infrastructure investment spoke to every frustrated state
and local government. And his acknowledgement
that America has an opioid epidemic problem brought light to America’s penchant
to sweep inconvenient truths under the rug.
These are clear markers of President’s “connected” leadership based on
honest recognition of domestic issues; something much needed in America.
Applause by the Republican contingent and the audience in
the gallery was enthusiastic. Reaction
by the Democratic contingent, not so much. As the camera’s panned, I was moved
to Tweet, “That’s a lot of unhappy Democrats” earlier in the evening. By the time I watched Joe Kennedy’s rambling response
speech, I kind of
felt sorry for the many loyal opposition Democrats that their leadership is
stifling from participating more constructively in a bi-partisan process.
Given the momentum generated but Trump’s State of the Union
address, it’s going to be an interesting 2018 in the United States of America.
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