1/28/2018

TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP POSITION CHANGES: “When President Donald Trump makes his first State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday [1-30-18], it will offer an opportunity to build momentum behind his second-year agenda on the heels of a government shutdown and ahead of a contentious immigration policy fight.
Even for Mr. Trump, who has ready access to millions of Twitter followers, the presidential speech is an extraordinary megaphone, reaching a national TV audience and foreign capitals.
The White House has said ‘the tone will be one of bipartisanship’ and ‘very forward-looking’ in previewing the speech, which will tout economic achievements, push for national-security priorities and reiterate Mr. Trump’s vision of ‘fair and reciprocal’ trade. He also will press for progress on immigration and infrastructure…
Mr. Trump is expected to acknowledge the U.S. is ‘a nation of immigrants’ before saying that nation-states have a right and responsibility to control their borders, according to one adviser. The language is intended to shift the debate away from fights around perceived racism, particularly in the wake of reports that Mr. Trump referred to the homes of some U.S. immigrants as ‘shithole countries,’ the person said.
Another adviser said he had been pressing the White House to reframe the issue of family-based migration around a preference for the legal immigration of spouses and minor children, rather than as an exclusion of other family members.”

-Louise Radnofsky and Peter Nicholas, “Trump to Soften Tone in State of the Union, Pursuing Immigration Deal,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 28, 2018 11:44am