"State of the Union: What You Need to Know"

There was a lot of talk about the State of the Union leading up to it, but let's be honest, how many of us actually watched it? If you would like to read the whole transcript (annotated by The New York Times) you can click here. Also, if you have even more time and want to read the “fact checker” of the State of the Union, you can click here. Yes, I know they’re both from The New York Times, I just really love The New York Times. Anyways, considering most people don't have that kind of time, I’ve done it for you. So, here we go! This is the compilation of all the major points of Trump’s second State of the Union…

Bipartisanship: Throughout the speech, especially at the beginning, Trump made several calls for a bipartisan agenda, saying things like, “The agenda I will layout this evening is not a Republican agenda or a Democrat agenda” and “Victory is not winning for our party. Victory is winning for our country.” Even with those remarks at the beginning, several news sites like The New York Times were quick to respond and point out that despite this rhetoric, his speech was very partisan in some places.

Anniversaries: Trump honored two large anniversaries by bringing up guests during his speech. For 75th anniversary of D-Day, he brought up three paratroopers to thank and salute them. Then to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, he brought up Buzz Aldrin to thank him.

Standoff: Trump stated in his speech, “Together we can break decades of political stalemate. We can bridge all divisions...We must choose between greatness or gridlock, results or resistance, vision or vengeance, incredible progress or pointless destruction.” The New York Times was quick to respond in their annotated transcript with this rebuttal:  “So far, 2019 has been defined by political stalemate. The longest government shutdown in history ended less than two weeks ago.”

Economy: After, he moved on to discuss the economy, claiming “we have launched an unprecedented economic boom.” He referenced the 5.3 million jobs created, 304,000 of which were created in the last month alone. While the first statistic is exaggerated, the second is undisputed. He also brought up food stamps and said that in the course of his presidency he has lifted 5 million Americans off food stamps, a figure that, while true in spirit, is also quite exaggerated, based on the best available data. Finally, he brought up Obamacare explaining that  “We eliminated the very unpopular Obamacare” along with cutting more regulations than any other presidency. This is not true when comparing to presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

Drug Sentencing: Trump passed a bipartisan prison reform law called the First Step Act which allows prisoners to have more opportunities for rehab and more chances to get out of prison, if they are able to demonstrate they have done well. To prove his point, he brought up Alice Johnson and Matthew Charles, two prisoners given long sentences for nonviolent drug offences. He spoke about how incredible they were in prison and why they should be safe for the public to show the effectiveness of the Act.

The Wall: It's the moment we’ve all been waiting for, no matter what your political opinion is, I think we were all on the edge of our seats about what Trump would say. The actual result is what most were expecting. He didn’t call for a national emergency, but he painted it as a moral issue that we need address in order to save our country, referencing the families of those killed by illegal immigrants and trafficking. He discussed his plans for the steel slat wall and referenced the drastic effect smaller border walls have had on cities like El Paso. He talked about what funding would go to, along with a promise not to abolish ICE despite continuing controversies. Finally, he explained that not building a wall was an immoral choice because of how many people crossing the border kills and hurts. This is a Yin-Yang to Nancy Pelosi calling a border wall “immoral” (You can decide who’s Yin and who’s Yang).

“lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that allowed a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb moments after birth.”

Women: Immediately after his “spiel” about the border wall, Trump brought up the record number of women serving in congress and women working in general. This incited a round of applause from everyone in the audience and even the female congress members, who all wore white in honor of the Suffrage Movement, stood up to clap. Despite this, a few moments later he moved on to abortion saying that lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that allowed a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb moments after birth. According to Trump, these are living, feeling, beautiful, babies who will never get the chance to share their love and their dreams with the world. These claims did not receive the same feedback from the women in the audience. You can also read what the Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo actually said about the policy here.

China: Trump briefly discussed the trade war with China, and how the tariffs stop China from exploiting the US, and blaming the previous administrations for allowing China to exploit us. He also brought up how his tariffs have brought in billions of dollars to the US, which is true.

Kim Jong-un

Security: Trump then discussed national security and the military at large. He began this segment by discussing the cost of the military and then addressed several subtopics surround national security. He brought up the withdrawl from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which prevented the US and Russia from building nuclear missiles and potentially stopping a cold war. This is a move that many security experts agree with Trump about, considering that Russia has broken the treaty many times, while the US has not. He wavered on the proposition of creating a new agreement, explaining that the US will “outspend and out-innovate all others by far.” He then said something which was news to most people: he would be meeting with Kim Jong-un again in Vietnam on February 27 and 28. Trump then brought up the Middle East and the challenges there. He talked about opening an embassy in Jerusalem in an effort to recognize the true capital of Israel. He then moved on to terrorism and discussed the withdrawal from Syria and the end of ISIS. He talked about peace talks in Afghanistan and with the Taliban and US troops withdrawing from the country. However, just last week the Republican controlled senate passed a bill that directly counters Trump's military strategies. After a brief commentary on pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Treaty and the sanctions he imposed, he moved on to discuss anti-semitism.

Judah Samet

Anti-Semitism: Trump discussed his sanctions on Iran and terrorist groups in the context of antisemitism, and in a rather smooth transition, switched from anti-semitism abroad to within the US. He talked about the shooting at the Synagogue in Pittsburgh and acknowledged a survivor of the shooting who was there as his guest that night, Judah Samet. Judah survived a concentration camp and the shooting and the day of the State of the Union was his birthday. In an unprecedented movement, all of congress and the audience sang Happy Birthday to him, and with a smile on his face, he shouted thank you to everyone in the audience.

Ending: Trump finally ended his second State of the Union address in a poetic speech about the beauty of America and what we as a nation have been able to achieve. His speech was the third longest State of the Union in history, at 1 hour 22 minutes and 25 seconds, surpassed only by Bill Clinton in 1995 and 2000.

This is an incredibly interesting topic to me and something I’m really passionate about. So, I hope this helps anyone who wants to know more about politics, but doesn’t have the time to listen to the entirety of the State of the Union. - Owen D. Stone