President Trump started his State of the Union address Tuesday on a bipartisan note. “Victory is not winning for our party, victory is winning for our country,” he said before the joint session of Congress. “We must choose between greatness or gridlock, results or resistance, vision or vengeance, incredible progress or pointless destruction. Tonight, I ask you to choose greatness.”
Those lofty words and ambition mostly rang empty to critics who view Trump’s presidency as one of the most divisive in U.S. history.
During his 1 hour 21-minute-long speech – the third longest ever – Trump touted the nation’s “thriving” economy.
“An economic miracle is taking place in the United States — and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations,” he said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rolled her eyes and some Democrats scoffed at the president’s remark. Republicans cheered him on, punctuating his speech throughout the evening with intermittent applause.
The biggest applause of the night came when Trump recognized women lawmakers. “We also have more women serving in Congress than at any time before,” he said to rousing cheers from both sides of the aisle.
While the president did not declare a national emergency, he did make his case for a southern border wall.
Congressional negotiators have ten days left to pass a funding bill to keep the government open. Trump has repeatedly said he will not sign the bill if it does not include money for a wall.
“Now is the time for the Congress to show the world that America is committed to ending illegal immigration and putting the ruthless coyotes, cartels, drug dealers, and human traffickers out of business,” the president said.
He made unsubstantiated claims that Mexican cities are busing illegal immigrants to unprotected parts of the U.S. border in order to remove them from their own cities.
Calling illegal immigration a “moral issue”, Trump said, “No issue better illustrates the divide between America’s working class and America’s political class than illegal immigration. Wealthy politicians and donors push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and guards.”
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During his address, the president also touched on recently enacted criminal justice reform, paid family leave, lowering prescription drug costs and infrastructure.
He pledged $500 million over the next 10 years in his proposed budget to research a cure for childhood brain cancer. Trump also called for bipartisan action to provide the resources needed to “eliminate” the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years.
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For a complete transcript of President Trump’s second State of the Union address, click here
