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President Donald Trump gave the longest State of the Union address in history on Tuesday. The wide-ranging speech spanned nearly two hours. Here are a few of the early takeaways: Trump touts economic record amid cost-of-living concernsThe president celebrated what he called a “stunning economic turnaround,” citing cooling inflation and low gas prices. He highlighted recently passed tax cuts and initiatives aimed at lowering prescription drug costs. In a new effort to tame electricity prices, he announced that technology companies involved in artificial intelligence have agreed to provide for their own power needs in areas where data centers are popping up. “In many cases, prices of electricity will go down for the community, and very substantially down,” Trump said. “This is a unique strategy never used in this country before.” He also addressed a recent setback for his economic agenda, days after the Supreme Court struck down a large portion of his global tariffs. The president vowed to continue those levies using other legal strategies. He called the ruling “unfortunate” but refrained from personally insulting the justices, some of whom were in the audience, in a departure from his initial reaction last week. It remains to be seen if Tuesday’s economic pitch will move the needle with the American public in a midterm election year largely focused on affordability. In the latest Associated Press-NORC Center survey, just 39% of U.S. adults approved of the president’s economic leadership. Little movement on immigration messageThe president’s immigration crackdown has been under added scrutiny after two U.S. citizens were killed in Minneapolis by federal agents during a surge in enforcement operations. The Trump administration recently started scaling back its presence in the Twin Cities. Notably, that specific crackdown was not a focus of the president’s speech on Tuesday. But Trump repeated many of his long-standing talking points. He touted plummeting border crossings and his mass deportation campaign in broad terms. He called on Congress to pass legislation cracking down on sanctuary cities and banning states from granting commercial driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. He also called on Democrats to restore funding for the Department of Homeland Security amid the ongoing partial government shutdown. Democrats are first demanding new restrictions on immigration enforcement, which Trump didn’t address during his remarks. Democrats protested the speech in different waysMoments into the speech, Democratic Congressman Al Green was led out of the chamber holding a sign reading “Black people are not apes,” appearing to reference a video of the Obamas that was widely condemned as racist. The video was briefly posted on President Trump’s social media page but was later taken down. Green was also removed from the speech last year after a verbal altercation with the president. At times, Democrats shouted back at the president during his speech. Others watched in silent resistance.Some Democrats brought guests who they say have been harmed by the president’s immigration crackdown. Others brought survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse amid calls for more transparency around the Epstein files. Some wore white in protest, a nod to the suffragette movement that fought for women’s rights.Several Democrats boycotted the address altogether and attended a protest rally on the National Mall instead. Rare bipartisan applause One of the loudest moments of applause came when Trump welcomed the US Men’s Olympic Hockey team into the House chamber, fresh off their gold medal win. Trump announced that he will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to goalie Connor Hellebuyck.Another moment of bipartisan applause came after Trump called for legislation to ban lawmakers from stock trading based on insider information. It remains to be seen if that will inject new momentum into the effort on Capitol Hill.
President Donald Trump gave the longest State of the Union address in history on Tuesday. The wide-ranging speech spanned nearly two hours.
Here are a few of the early takeaways:
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Trump touts economic record amid cost-of-living concerns
The president celebrated what he called a “stunning economic turnaround,” citing cooling inflation and low gas prices. He highlighted recently passed tax cuts and initiatives aimed at lowering prescription drug costs.
In a new effort to tame electricity prices, he announced that technology companies involved in artificial intelligence have agreed to provide for their own power needs in areas where data centers are popping up.
“In many cases, prices of electricity will go down for the community, and very substantially down,” Trump said. “This is a unique strategy never used in this country before.”
He also addressed a recent setback for his economic agenda, days after the Supreme Court struck down a large portion of his global tariffs. The president vowed to continue those levies using other legal strategies. He called the ruling “unfortunate” but refrained from personally insulting the justices, some of whom were in the audience, in a departure from his initial reaction last week.
It remains to be seen if Tuesday’s economic pitch will move the needle with the American public in a midterm election year largely focused on affordability. In the latest Associated Press-NORC Center survey, just 39% of U.S. adults approved of the president’s economic leadership.
Little movement on immigration message
The president’s immigration crackdown has been under added scrutiny after two U.S. citizens were killed in Minneapolis by federal agents during a surge in enforcement operations.
The Trump administration recently started scaling back its presence in the Twin Cities. Notably, that specific crackdown was not a focus of the president’s speech on Tuesday.
But Trump repeated many of his long-standing talking points. He touted plummeting border crossings and his mass deportation campaign in broad terms.
He called on Congress to pass legislation cracking down on sanctuary cities and banning states from granting commercial driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.
He also called on Democrats to restore funding for the Department of Homeland Security amid the ongoing partial government shutdown. Democrats are first demanding new restrictions on immigration enforcement, which Trump didn’t address during his remarks.
Democrats protested the speech in different ways
Moments into the speech, Democratic Congressman Al Green was led out of the chamber holding a sign reading “Black people are not apes,” appearing to reference a video of the Obamas that was widely condemned as racist. The video was briefly posted on President Trump’s social media page but was later taken down. Green was also removed from the speech last year after a verbal altercation with the president.
At times, Democrats shouted back at the president during his speech. Others watched in silent resistance.
Some Democrats brought guests who they say have been harmed by the president’s immigration crackdown. Others brought survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse amid calls for more transparency around the Epstein files. Some wore white in protest, a nod to the suffragette movement that fought for women’s rights.
Several Democrats boycotted the address altogether and attended a protest rally on the National Mall instead.
Rare bipartisan applause
One of the loudest moments of applause came when Trump welcomed the US Men’s Olympic Hockey team into the House chamber, fresh off their gold medal win. Trump announced that he will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
Another moment of bipartisan applause came after Trump called for legislation to ban lawmakers from stock trading based on insider information. It remains to be seen if that will inject new momentum into the effort on Capitol Hill.
