US president Donald Trump pledged to make America great again “for all Americans” in his first State of the Union address to Congress last night.
In a speech that strove to send a message of unity, Mr Trump claimed that “there has never been a better time to live the American dream” as he set out the achievements of his first year in office.
Chief among these was tax reform, as he claimed that his administration had implemented the “biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history.” His administration had created 2.4 million jobs, he said, 200,000 of those in manufacturing, while he claimed that a family earning $75,000 would see their tax bill cut in half thanks to the Republican tax cuts.
Noting that the stock market has “smashed one record after another, gaining $8 trillion in value,” he said that Americans would feel this upswing in their pensions and their retirement accounts.
While the president promised a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan, he provided little detail of how this might be funded, amid expectations that the plan may contain a mixture of public and private funding as well as local and state funds.
Mr Trump also addressed the issue of immigration, reiterating his commitment to consider a path to citizenship for 1.8 million “Dreamers” – young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children. But he also warned that he would press ahead with his proposed border wall with Mexico and end the green card visa lottery system. “It is time to begin moving towards a merit-based immigration system – one that admits people who are skilled, who want to work, who will contribute to our society, and who will love and respect our country,” he said, to cheers from Republicans.
As Congress prepares to debate a contentious proposal on immigration in the coming weeks, the president, who was roundly criticised for his comments on immigrants from Haiti and African countries, said: “Tonight, I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties – Democrats and Republicans – to protect our citizens of every background, colour, religion and creed.”
Mr Trump delivered his one hour and twenty minute speech – one of the longest state of the union addresses in history–- to a packed chamber which included members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, four Supreme Court justices, and various dignitaries. His four adult children and wife Melania also attended. Up to 40 million Americans were expected to tune into the speech that was carried live on most main networks.
At least a dozen Democrats boycotted the speech, while others wore scarves and butterfly pins designed to protest against Mr Trump’s immigration policies and highlight the plight of Dreamers.
Mr Trump’s speech also touched on foreign policy, focusing in particular on North Korea.
“No regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea,” he said, highlighting the country’s “reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland.” Among the invited guests at the speech were the parents of the late Otto Warmbier, the US student who died days after returning to the United States from North Korea last year.
On Iran, he urged Congress to address the “fundamental flaws in the terrible Iran nuclear deal.” He also referred to the recent demonstrations in Iran, stating that America “stands with the people of Iran in their courageous struggle for freedom”.
Responding to Mr Trump’s inaugural State of the Union speech from a school in Massachusetts, Congressman Joe Kennedy III said the president had presented Americans with “one false choice after another” based on the premise that “in order for one to win, another must lose.” Noting that the current administration had asked people to choose between “coal miners or single moms, rural communities or inner cities, the coast or the heartland,” he said, “We fight for both.”
Mr Kennedy, the grand-nephew of John F Kennedy and grandson of Bobby Kennedy, who was chosen by the Democratic Party to deliver the official response to the speech, delivered his address in front of a car in an auto workshop in a technical school in his state. The 37-year-old switched to Spanish at one point, and implicitly criticised the current president. “Bullies may land a punch. They might leave a mark, but they have never, not once, in the history of our United States, managed to match the strength and spirit of a people united in defence of their future,” he said.
Mr Trump delivered his speech against the backdrop of the ongoing Russia investigation and a day after FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe stepped down from the agency. Mr Trump did not mention Russia in his speech.
