Trump touts economy, strong employment in state of the union
Stepping before the nation in extraordinary times, U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday extolled the «Great American Comeback» as he delivered his state of the union address on the eve of his likely impeachment acquittal and in the aftermath of the chaotic first votes of the race to replace him.
The first president to run for re-election after being impeached, Trump argued that the nation’s economic success is the chief rationale for a second term.
«In just three short years, we have shattered the mentality of American decline and we have rejected the downsizing of America’s destiny,» Trump said in prepared remarks. «We are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago, and we are never going back!»
Trump planned to spend much of the speech highlighting the economy’s strength, including low unemployment, stressing how it has helped blue-collar workers and the middle class, though the period of growth began under his predecessor, Barack Obama. And what Trump calls an unprecedented boom is, by many measures, not all that different from the solid economy he inherited from Obama.
Economic growth was 2.3 per cent in 2019, matching the average pace since the Great Recession ended a decade ago in the first year of Obama’s eight-year presidency. Trump promised much higher.
WATCH | Trump says union is ‘stronger than ever before’:
In the nationally televised speech, Trump is speaking from the House of Representatives, on the opposite side of the Capitol from where the Senate is expected to acquit him largely along party lines.
«This is a president with an enormous sense of drama and a background in television who understands that the setting gives him an opportunity,» said presidential historian Michael Beschloss. «This is an opportunity to set the course for re-election.»
White House aides promised an optimistic speech that will look past the impeachment trial that has consumed Washington in favour of a recitation of accomplishments and promises. But Trump often veers from his script and may not be able to resist using the moment to claim exoneration and settle scores.
Even for a Trump-era news cycle that seems permanently set to hyper-speed, the breakneck pace of events dominating the first week of February offered a singular backdrop for the president’s address. Yet Trump told TV anchors at a midday meal that his address would be «extraordinarily low key.»
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who has presided in the Senate over only the third impeachment trial in the nation’s history, will be on hand Tuesday night — this time in his more customary seat in the audience. Trump will stand before the very lawmakers who have voted to remove him from office — and those who are expected to acquit him when the Senate trial comes to a close.
And perched over his shoulder, visible in nearly every camera shot, will be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a frequent thorn in Trump’s side who authorized the impeachment proceedings that charged the president with abusing the power of his office to push Ukraine to investigate a political foe.
Trump will also stare out at some of the Democrats who have been vying to take his job, although it was unclear if he would weigh in on the confusion in Iowa, where the results of Monday’s leadoff caucuses were delayed. In advance of his address, Trump tweeted that the caucus chaos showed Democrats were incompetent and should not be trusted to run the government.
Two prominent House Democratic freshmen say they are boycotting Trump’s speech over his conduct.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that she would «not use my presence at a state ceremony to normalize Trump’s lawless conduct & subversion of the Constitution,» while Ayanna Pressley said she’s boycotting because Trump «consistently demonstrates contempt for the American people, contempt for Congress & contempt for our constitution.»
Trump spent the hours before his speech tucked away at the White House, hosting network anchors for lunch while working on final drafts of the address. He entered the moment on a roll, with his impeachment acquittal imminent, his job approval numbers ticking upward and Wall Street looking strong. Aides played down the possibility that he would use the address to seek vengeance over impeachment.
«I think that this has gone on for too long and I think that, if you look at the ratings, the American people are frankly bored of it,» White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told Fox News early Tuesday. «They want to hear what the president has done for this country and what he is planning to do for this country, so it will be very forward-facing.»
In the closest historical comparison, Bill Clinton did not mention his recent impeachment when he delivered his state of the union in 1999. In his address a year ago, Trump did remain on message, making no mention of how Pelosi had originally disinvited him from delivering the speech during the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history.
As usual, the presidential guests will reflect issues that Trump wants to highlight. The invited guests include military families, immigration officials and the former sheriff from Venezuela who fled to the United States.
The Democrats were supplying plenty of counter-programming, focusing on health care — the issue key to their takeover of the House last year. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer were set to host guests impacted by the medical system.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was delivering the party’s official response. She previewed her address Tuesday by saying she would focus less on what Trump says and more on actions taken by Democrats, both in Democratic-led states and in Congress, particularly on infrastructure, health care and jobs.
«I’ll highlight the stark contrast between Democratic action and Republican inaction,» Whitmer said. «This is really about ensuring that the American people understand what Democrats stand for because I believe that American people deserve better. They deserve action.»
