On February 5, President Donald J. Trump delivered his second State of the Union Address.
Flanked by expressive Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, President Trump delivered his annual message to both sections of Congress. In the address, the POTUS addressed many issues of conflict from the past 3 years of his presidency, primarily: bipartisan cooperation, economic growth, immigration, infrastructure, trade deals, health care, the rebuilding and use of the military, and family life. In addressing each of these issues Trump made many statements on the progress his administration has made and what necessary for continued positive growth in all enumerated areas. While most of these statements were particularly agreeable, they fall short under the scope of analysis.
President Trump had a strong, albeit expected, initial statement on the exasperated state of political parties. As such, a point of intrigue was cooperation between the parties. Trump said, “The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican agenda or Democrat agenda, it is the agenda of the American people.” This statement holds true as the overall content addressed are deemed issues by both parties. However, in the address of such issues, Trump was decidedly partisan, demonstrating a lack of willingness to cooperate. He continued his statements of unity by emphasizing the break of “decades of political stalemate” promising to “bridge all divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions, and unlock the extraordinary promise of America’s future.” This statement can be received with some skepticism given the context of this State of the Union. This address was delivered freshly off of a government shutdown that’s primary cause was the president himself. When viewed with the knowledge of the lack of previous cooperation this statement becomes much more hollow. After this, Trump turns to past examples of bipartisanship, discussing D-Day and the Apollo 11 mission. These examples emphasize American heroism and ingenuity, two themes Trump hammers throughout his address. These strong examples of bipartisanship provide springboards for Trump to discuss his own controversial ideas, masked in the veil of these ideals. On his final note of bipartisanship Trump comments on the gender diversity of the new session of Congress. Once again these statements fall short as in his opposition on Twitter, Trump was harshest to women candidates.
The Economy has always been a significant talking point for the Trump administration. President Trump credits himself with developing a strong American economy, “In just over two years since the election, we have launched an unprecedented economic boom, a boom that has rarely been seen before.” Business may be booming for the upper class, however, Trump’s framing of the United States Economy can be found as both dishonest and incorrect. While adjusting for inflation, the Trump presidency has slowed median household income and average hourly wages have risen only marginally. Trump cited tax cuts provided to the middle class and small businesses of America in his speech. However, he has continued to provide support for tax cuts of large corporations and upper class that are still approximately equal or higher than those given to the middle class and working class. Trump’s refusal to instill a true progressive tax rate or to address patent legislation that provides large U.S. based corporations with tax loopholes has helped the 1% while ensuring difficulties for the United States middle class and working class. The purpose of the United States Economy is to extract profits and distribute them to its people so they can sustain and advance themselves in society. Trump’s presidency has further hindered the socioeconomic mobility of America’s middle class and working class while increasing income inequality. Trump’s self-described populist sentiments, when analyzed, are misleading and not representative of his true influence on the U.S. Economy.
One of the largest topics of contention in the address was immigration. Immigration has been the largest issue the administration has faced and ultimately led to the preceding government shutdown. Trump began his introduction to immigration by simple fearmongering. “As we speak, large, organized caravans are on the march to the United States. We have just heard that Mexican cities, in order to remove the illegal immigrants from their communities, are getting trucks and buses to bring them up to our country in areas where there is little border protection. I have ordered another 3,750 troops to our southern border to prepare for this tremendous onslaught.” This was perhaps the most outrageous claim made that night. There has never been any evidence to support claims of this size, which greatly diminishes the value of Trump’s later dispatch of troops to the southern border to address this presumed threat. Trump insists that measures taken are to ensure the ending of a humanitarian crisis at the border, making the link to drug and human trafficking. This neglects the effectiveness of the new Human Trafficking Prevention Act which has spent a good deal of time in legislation being checked over by professionals with a great deal of knowledge in the subject. It also neglects the fact that the majority of drug trafficking occurs at legal points of entry, with up to 85% of trafficking for specific drugs like fentanyl. In a similar vein, Trump touched on MS-13 immigrants and immigrant crime. Trump’s special guest, Deborah Bissell, was introduced with the story of her family members falling victim to a shooting in which the perpetrator was an illegal immigrant. This story was errantly projected onto the entire illegal immigrant subpopulation, with Trump essentially citing this as evidence that the wall should be built to stop an influx of violent offenders from entering the U.S. While doing this, Trump fails to address the fact that people of every race and citizenship have been convicted of murder, and furthermore it is unfair to blame an characterize an entire subpopulation with the actions of a single criminal. In pushing these specific examples Trump brushes aside simple data like crime statistics from near border areas showing that immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than native born populations. Trump ends his section on immigration with a repetition of his push for a wall, insisting he will ensure the wall gets built. This affirmation falls short in the context of the SOTU as it was Trump’s inability to secure the funding he desired which resulted in the delaying of the address.
Trump briefly addresses infrastructure through the lense of energy. He begins by saying, “We have unleashed a revolution in American energy. The United States is now the number-one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world — and now, for the first time in 65 years, we are a net exporter of energy.” While this is a positive statement, it demonstrates the lack of care for the environment that the administration has pushed for the past few years. While American energy dominance is beneficial in the short term, progress must be made towards sustainable energy sources. Instead of utilizing our dominance of energy in a positive manner, the administration has instead pushed further into fossil fuels and put down renewable energy in the forms of tariffs and fees.
Trump once again re-addressed his campaign promises in his discussion of trade deals. Trump lauded his successes in inciting trade war with china and starting renegotiation of NAFTA. Trump stalwartly promised to make trade changes that benefited Americans on the campaign trail. Trump said his motivation was to help grassroots businesses and the average American. In escalating trade relations with China, the US economy has been met with mild success, but Trump has not entirely kept his promises. The escalations have primarily taken place on the battleground of steel imports and exports, and are ultimately hurting American steel workers that Trump promised to protect. In these escalations many smaller businesses in the Midwest have just been met with strife. Similarly, Trump has sworn to pull out of NAFTA for most of his recent political career. He has used this point as a point of leverage to pressure Congress for renegotiations. Trump’s proposed USMCA agreement places a much larger emphasis on America’s welfare. The biggest difference between the two trade deals is the necessitans of a minimum wage, and that 75% of an American made car must be made in the US. On the whole, this deal is more beneficial for Americans, but passing it internationally may be tricky due to the “America-first” mindset, but conditions such as the minimum wage may make it appealing to the other countries.
In addressing health care, Trump focused on recovery and accessibility programs as well as specific issues of AIDS and cancer. The first issue Trump opened with was granting patients more rights and access. Patients now have the right to try experimental cures in efforts to cure fatal illnesses. In addressing addiction, Trump noted the First Step Act which “gives nonviolent offenders the chance to reenter society as productive, law-abiding citizens.” This law, directed at particularly at drug charge offences shows progressive steps towards institutional reform and the recognition of addiction as something to be treated, not punished. In emphasizing the First Step Act as a transition to fair treatment of nonviolent offenders, Trump introduced one of the beneficiaries of this new legislation, Matthew Charles, “In 1996, at the age of 30, Matthew was sentenced to 35 years for selling drugs and related offenses. Over the next two decades, he completed more than 30 Bible studies, became a law clerk, and mentored many of his fellow inmates. Now, Matthew was the very first person to be released from prison under the First Step Act.” Trump then touched on the price of health care. He said that transparency to the real price of drugs amongst consumers and competitors would incite competition and bring exorbitant costs of treatment down. However, a solution such as this would not alleviate situations such as the one Martin Shkreli created with one company holding a monopoly on necessary drugs. The state of the healthcare industry currently doesn’t enable competition without vast amounts of research put towards alternatives due to market domination. Therefore, healthcare reform would be better suited if it were geared to incite direct government intervention or allow easier selling of generic brand drugs.
In discussing the military, Trump focused on rebuilding and withdrawing. Trump first discussed his successes with North Korea, highlighting the fact that they have not recently tested any nuclear warheads. This is most likely linked with the strong international criticism of North Korea following their 2017 Nuclear Weapons Test as well as increased pressure from the US in threats of “massive military response” to any threat to national security. In the name of keeping Americans safe, Trump has pulled troops out of Syria and is seeking political settlement in Afghanistan. While the specifics of troop withdrawal have not been revealed, a hasty pull out could lead to a dangerous power vacuum, as it has done before. In the topic of foreign affairs, Trump mentioned his recognition of the “true” capital of Israel. This was an unforeseen decision made by President Trump that places the US on one side of a particularly tense ongoing conflict. No other nations have made such a declaration. This decision and subsequent pride do cast some doubt on how much peace Trump wants to garner in the Middle East. In continuation of his Middle Eastern point, Trump addressed his revocation of the Iran Nuclear Deal. Trump’s new implemented deal cast hard sanctions on Iran, citing ideological and humanitarian issues within the country, despite their compliance with the deal. This move was not unmotivated, as despite the Iran Deal maintaining sanctions, it did not address ongoing humans rights violations, which many countries objected to while not intervening.
Trump’s final issue was perhaps the most controversial, abortion. Trump predictably took the pro-life approach but did so in an interesting manner. He said, “And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth — all children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God.” This is an interesting position for Trump to take as he’s never shown Christian beliefs or values before. This diminishes his motives but not the effect of his proposed action. In this lense, he criticized the new abortion legislation passed in New York. “There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth.” This statement is not entirely true. While the law does remove a limit on what point an abortion procedure can be done, a fatal diagnosis for the mother from a practicing doctor is necessary in order to enact the procedure. Any such diagnoses would be made before the point Trump references. As an alternative, Trump proposed a plan for nationwide family leave so that childbirth is not as taxing on a family. Changes like this implemented into other countries actually decrease abortion rates as those who have an accidental pregnancy are much more willing to keep the child if they are assured in the safety of their situation.
Trump ends his address in a similar manner to which he began, addressing bipartisanship. It is in this effort that all can find hope, whether they support Trump or not. Ultimately, our government works through cooperation, through union. It is our responsibility as Americans to find union within our conflicting views and enact meaningful change. While it is easy to just read headlines and accept statements as fact on either side, it is our obligation to truly understand issues so that your opinion can be fully formed. It is only when the nation is informed that we can find compromise.
You can find all of the research and sources that went into this article below.