Donald Trump's State Of The Union Address Calls For Unity But Underlines Division - HuffPost UK Verdict

US President hails 'new American moment'.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to Congress in Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to Congress in Washington.
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K E Y P O I N T S

V E R D I C T

‘Twitter Trump’ had the night off. For his first State of the Union address to Congress, ‘Teleprompter Trump’ took centre-stage.

There were very few ad-libs. No cries of “drain the swamp”. A lack of inappropriate and lewd stories about New York cocktail parties, as he offered when regaling 40,000 Boy Scouts at their annual jamboree.

On script, this was as close as Trump has come to being a conventional politician, opening with tributes to the heroic responses to a series of natural disasters that have devastated America in the last year and piling platitude upon platitude.

“If there is a mountain, we climb it. If there is a frontier, we cross it. If there is a challenge, we tame it. If there is an opportunity, we seize it,” he opined, wistfully, in remarks so bland they could have been uttered by any president from any party at any time.

We’ve been here before, though.

In March last year, Trump addressed Congress for the first time and shocked the world with his low frequency. CNN political commentator and Democrat, Van Jones, even said it was the moment Trump “became president”. Yet Trump was soon after calling Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man”, defending white nationalists as “good people” and damning the “fake news” industry whenever possible. Not much had changed.

Advanced warning of Tuesday’s State of the Union emphasised that Trump was in conciliatory mood. Certainly more optimistic than his inauguration speech warnings of “American carnage” that could have been delivered by a Gotham City villain.

And, yes, talk of the “new American moment” and “extending an open hand” hinted at a light-touch rarely seen with Trump. Glum-faced and sceptical Democrats even cheered when Trump promised to lavish money on new infrastructure, and few would not be moved by the many stories of everyday American heroics that peppered the address.

But if ‘Teleprompter Trump’ is a mask, it soon slipped.

Trump pointed to “why we proudly stand for the national anthem”, a barely-disguised dig at NFL players who have taken a knee to protest injustice faced by black people. There has not been a bigger symbol of divided America and the culture war raging across the country.

And with the line that “Americans are dreamers too”, Trump was differentiating between the DREAMers - youngsters brought to the US illegally who face an uncertain future - and those born in the US.

On immigration, Trump more than once painted immigration as an ‘us vs them’ struggle, warning of “open borders” that “have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities” and “caused the loss of many innocent lives”. Framing immigration as a violent threat to the US seems to jar with the good vibes briefed out before the speech.

There was a flashpoint, too, when Trump suggested migrants can bring “an unlimited number of distant relatives” under the current system. “That’s lies!”, a Democrat reportedly shouted.

R E A C T I O N

From a Democrat ...

Why is that whenever the President speaks of immigration it always seems to be in the context of gang members and murderers? There were dozens of DREAMers at the #SOTU tonight who could teach him a lot about immigrants.

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 31, 2018

From an ex-Obama staffer ...

Ted Cruz is on his feet! Trump called his wife ugly and said his dad killed Kennedy and never apologized and Cruz took it. America!

— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) January 31, 2018

From the Press ...

Here's the front page of tomorrow's Washington Post: pic.twitter.com/5HQmDNoa4r

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 31, 2018

Which was later changed after an outcry ...

This page was updated after the first edition. Here is the final front page. pic.twitter.com/nfR7p2wEPB

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 31, 2018

From the right ...

Make no mistake, this was a State of the Union for THE PEOPLE. @realDonaldTrump put the square and sole focus on the forgotten men and women that make our country the greatest on earth! #SOTU

— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) January 31, 2018

From the far right ...

Thank you President Trump. Americans are "Dreamers" too.

— David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) January 31, 2018

W H A T N E X T?

All eyes will be on Donald Trump’s next tweet and whether ‘Teleprompter Trump’ slips back into the shadows for another year. He made have tried, but it’s hard to gloss over the last 12 months.

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