Overview: Trump’s First #SOTU

January 31, 2018 National News, Politics

President Trump gave his first State of the Union Address on Tuesday January 30 at 9 p.m. EST. If you missed the speech, you can read the full transcript here or read our highlights below.

Many notables were on the guest list, some of whom President Trump recognized throughout the night.

Some members of Congress wore black in support of #MeToo

 

POTUS started his address by thanking military, law enforcement, and first responders for their service over the past year.

The President said he wanted to extend his hand across the aisle to rebuild America’s infrastructure and economy.

Trump also discussed his plans for immigration reform, which was met by audible boos from the audience.

 And a lot of people are still wondering: What about DACA?

While the majority of the room was standing and clapping intermittently throughout the speech, the Democrats of Congress stayed seated and many even boycotted the event.

The President said it was his sacred duty to protect all citizens regardless of background color, religion, and creed, adding: “Americans are dreamers too.”

Last night’s speech quickly became one of the most tweeted about SOTU or joint session addresses, surpassing last year’s record of 3,000,000 tweets.

 

President Trump also discussed tax reform, prescription drugs, military funding, paid family leave, gang violence, and the opioid epidemic.

At 80 minutes President Trump almost surpassed the record for longest State of the Union Address set by President Clinton at 89  minutes.

Many news organizations fact checked claims made in the SOTU in real time.

And one fact checking site actually crashed.

During the SOTU, the President announced a “new American moment” and said that “There has never been a better time to start living the American dream.”

The President closed his speech by saying “It is the people who are making America great again.”

After President Trump gave the State of the Union, Democratic Representative Joe Kennedy gave the State of the Union Response in Fall River, Massachusetts (which you can watch here).

 

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Website: http://gracecooper.org

Grace Cooper is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh where she studied Nonfiction Writing and Psychology. When she's not obsessively reading or writing about the news, you can probably find her eating too much pizza and watching When Harry Met Sally for the hundredth time.

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