Trump sticks to celebratory script in state of the union, with one angry detour
CBC
U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a state of the union address that, by his standards, came across as relatively focused and disciplined, giving a preview of how the Republicans may try to campaign to keep control of Congress in this fall's midterms.
Trump notably reined in the visceral anger he displayed just a few days ago toward the Supreme Court justices who struck down his global tariff regime.
On Tuesday night — as three of the justices who ruled against him sat directly in his line of sight — the strongest language he used about the court decision was to call it "unfortunate."
The bulk of Trump's speech was celebratory.
He began by listing off what he sees as his key domestic accomplishments so far in his second term, and appeared to largely stick to the prepared text of his speech. That's something he often fails to do, with his penchant for wandering off on tangents.
Then Trump sought to capitalize on the country's euphoria over Team USA's Olympic hockey victories.
He basked in the appearance of the men's team in the House for the speech. It can't hurt him to be associated with images of them in their USA sweaters with gold medals — the first for U.S. men's hockey since 1980.
Tapping into Americans' deep sense of patriotism, Trump also touted plans for the upcoming 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, and told stirring stories of U.S. military heroism as he conferred medals on veterans.
But the generally triumphant tone of the address shifted markedly when he pivoted to go on the attack against two of his favourite targets: the Democrats and what he calls "illegal alien criminals."
For anyone who thought the president might be easing up on his mass deportation campaign following the backlash over the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Trump's speech suggested he is in no mood to pull back on enforcement.
His language grew more stark and his tone angrier as he blamed the Democrats for allowing "millions and millions" of people to enter the U.S. illegally, called out Somali Americans in Minnesota who he said have "pillaged" billions of dollars from taxpayers and accused Democrat lawmakers of blocking the deportation of violent criminals.
He baited the Democrats by challenging them to stand up if they agree with this statement: "The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens."
When the Democrats didn't stand, Trump glared at them. "You should be ashamed of yourselves," he said.
He then turned to the wider audience and said, "These people are crazy. Democrats are destroying this country."
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