Trump to tout accomplishments, agenda in State of Union

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday night will deliver his State of the Union address as his Senate impeachment trial nears its end.

While it is folly to predict what Trump will say during any appearance, the White House has provided some information about Trump’s remarks to a joint session of Congress. The theme will be “The Great American Comeback,” and according to a senior administration official, Trump intends to “lay out a vision of relentless optimism.”

The timing is sure to heighten the drama. The prime-time speech — which brings members of Congress, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. Supreme Court, most of the president’s cabinet and international figures under the Capitol Dome — falls a day after the Iowa caucus and the day before the Senate votes on whether to convict or acquit Trump.

While there is no clear path to the 67 votes needed to convict Trump in the Republican-controlled Senate, the House impeachment proceedings, the vote to impeach and the contentious Senate trial have been constant background noise to Trump’s tweets and on-camera banter since September.

For that reason, it will be impossible not to wonder if Trump may use the occasion to lob some choice nicknames and put-downs at Democrats who have led the impeachment movement and will be in the audience Tuesday.

Last year’s joint address to Congress followed a 35-day partial government shutdown and midterm elections that flipped the House. Many female lawmakers, including newly installed Speaker Nancy Pelosi, wore white as an homage to suffragettes and as a dig at Trump.

Eyes on Pelosi

“It will be very interesting to see what Pelosi does,” communications specialist and speech coach Ruth Sherman said. Last year, Pelosi was “fairly expressive in terms of her approval and disapproval” of much of Trump’s speech.

The moment, Sherman noted, will be “particularly fraught” because Trump will face House members who voted to impeach him and senators who want to remove him on the eve of Wednesday’s verdict.

Is it possible Trump will refer to his impeachment, a reporter asked at a Friday briefing. Trump “is always adaptable to speak to the moment and what’s required,” the senior administration official responded.

In 2019, Trump warned Democrats, “If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation.”

Will Trump refer to the Iowa caucus winner or other Democrats running for the White House? In last year’s speech, Trump promised that “America will never be a socialist country.” That will likely be a campaign theme from now until the November election.

Trump could also be talking to some empty chairs. Several Democrats boycotted the speech every year Trump delivered it.

Invited guests

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., tweeted, “While I will always respect the office of the president, Trump demonstrates daily that he does not. I don’t believe he is worthy of the dignity and respect accorded to his predecessors.”

Nevada’s Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto will bring Reno Police Chief Jason Soto and Sen. Jacky Rosen will bring Elko veteran and Veterans of Foreign Wars advocate Gil Hernandez as guests.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., will leave her guest seat empty to honor the victims of the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting in Las Vegas and “the first-responders who saved countless lives.”

The White House released the names of two guests. One is Afghanistan war veteran and post-traumatic stress disorder survivor Tony Rankins, who lost his family, his job and his freedom, due to drug addiction. Thanks to a program that trained him in carpentry and construction, he is employed and living in a Cincinnati, Ohio, opportunity zone.

The other, Raul Ortiz, served in the Army before he joined the U.S. Border Patrol. Last week he was promoted from being the chief agent in charge of the Rio Grande Valley sector to chief deputy.

Focus on new voters

In this election year, the address is expected to appeal to new voters with a message of economic prosperity with a focus on improving the lives of less affluent Americans. Its five blocks will focus on how Trump’s trade and energy policies have contributed to a “blue-collar boom,” policies like school choice that support working families, Trump’s ideas on lowering health-care costs, pushing for “a safe and legal immigration system” and protecting U.S. national security.

“There’s a lot he can point to in terms of accomplishment,” Sherman noted, such as the signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement and phase one of the China trade deal.

Hoover Institution research fellow Bill Whalen was skeptical about the administration’s prediction the speech will be optimistic. “How does a president who conducts his office as Donald Trump does — brawling, tweeting and fighting — how does he come across as an eternal optimist?” Whalen asked.

Whalen expects Trump to call for bipartisan cooperation, just as President Bill Clinton did during his 1999 State of the Union address delivered during his Senate impeachment trial.

But, Whalen added, “it’s an election year, the antics are going to outweigh the speech.” Besides, he added, “The president always wins this night. The president wins because he or she gets to stand up in front of Congress and look large.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, will deliver the Democrats’ rebuttal to Trump’s remarks.

Contact Debra Saunders at DSaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.