In delivering his first State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Donald Trump will discuss his infrastructure plan, immigration reform, trade, and the tax bill that passed in December.
The theme of Mr. Trump’s speech — “building a safe, strong and proud America” — was described by a senior White House official as “unifying,” with an emphasis on Mr. Trump’s deregulation efforts and tax cuts that have spurred an “economic boom” and stock market records.
“If last year was described as optimistic, I think this speech is also optimistic but it’s also very unifying,” the senior White House official told reporters in a background briefing on Friday at the White House. “In the sense that it is unifying around the greater opportunities for all Americans as a result of last year’s jobs growth and success in the economy.”
A far cry from optimistic, Mr. Trump’s inaugural address last January was notable for it’s dark and fear-mongering tone — a populist ode to the “forgotten men and women.”
“That was some weird shit,” former President George W. Bush said after witnessing Mr. Trump’s speech.
The senior official declined to provide specifics but said Mr. Trump will tout a $1.7 trillion dollar infrastructure proposal — one that the White House believes will garner bipartisan support — and unveil new policies and calls to action for Congress for the year ahead.
The opioid crisis, a topic that the administration has largely ignored since Mr. Trump declared a public health emergency in October, will be addressed, but the senior White House official declined to say whether or not the president will make a request for funding. The president will also highlight the crisis by hosting a guest who is “reflective of the impact of the drug addiction and opioid crisis” to sit with first lady Melania Trump during the speech.
Mr. Trump will face some opposition in the room during his prime-time speech on Tuesday — a handful of Democrats are planning on skipping the State of the Union altogether — and he’ll also be addressing an American public that is one of the most polarized in American history.
“The speech will make clear that all groups are benefiting under this presidency and I’ll just leave it at that,” the senior official said.
There’s debate over whether Mr. Trump or his predecessor, President Obama, is responsible for the good economic news. And some economists argue that while Mr. Trump’s tax cuts provide a small cut for a number of middle class Americans, the bill trends towards exacerbating income inequality.
In the vein of his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday morning, Mr. Trump will also repeat his insistence for “fair and reciprocal trade” and express a willingness to participate in bilateral trade negotiations with “any country.” Mr. Trump made news at Davos when he said he’d be open to re-entering the Trans-Pacific Partnership if a new “substantially better” deal was brokered.
The White House released its proposal for immigration reform on Thursday. The proposal which the president will raise during the State of the Union, includes a fix to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program with a path to citizenship for 1.8 million young undocumented immigrants in exchange for $25 billion for a border wall, elimination the diversity visa lottery and an end to chain family migration outside of spouses and minor children.
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