DONALD ON DONALD/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address on Tuesday [1-30-18] night, a (very) lengthy speech in which he largely revisited his accomplishments over his first year in office and offered a handful of proposals he’d like to see considered in the coming year.
While it’s important not to over-analyze what the speech means for Trump’s presidency — his first year in office suggests what he says one day means very little for what he will do the next — I did jot down a few takeaways from the address. They’re below…
3. A greatest hits album
Most state of the union addresses are roughly evenly split between a touting of past accomplishments and the laying out of a vision for future governance.
Trump’s speech was 80% celebration of what he has done and 20% talking about what he would like to do. (In truth, the percentage might have tilted even more in the direction of Trump’s recitation of his greatest hits.)
It was almost an hour into his remarks that Trump first mentioned a proposal — a massive infrastructure bill — that he wanted Congress to take up. Trump did pick up some steam on the proposal front — pushing Congress to take up his immigration compromise, for one.
But, proposals and wish lists weren’t top-of-mind for Trump in this speech. Making sure he mentioned all of the things he believes he has succeeded in (and the media has overlooked) was.”
-Chris Cillizza, “6 takeaways from Donald Trump’s first State of the Union speech,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Jan. 31, 2018 09:18am