Trump plans to hammer Democrats while pushing ‘optimism’ in State of the Union

WASHINGTON — “A vision of relentless optimism” is the phrase that a senior administration official used to describe President Donald Trump‘s State of the Union address, set to be delivered Tuesday night before a joint session of Congress.

Wedged between a chaotic Democratic caucus in Iowa on Monday, and Trump’s all-but assured acquittal in his impeachment trial Wednesday, the 9 p.m. ET speech is likely to showcase the president at one of the high points in his first term: victorious over Democrats who sought to remove him from office and energized by the prospect of campaigning for reelection over the next nine months.

A new Gallup poll released Tuesday showed Trump’s job approval rating at the highest point so far in his presidency, with 49% approval. This could mean that on Tuesday, just under half of the country will see the president the same way Trump and his aides see him: triumphant and ready for partisan warfare.

According to a senior administration official who briefed reporters Friday about the president’s speech, the address will be divided into five “buckets.” The economy, working family issues, health-care costs, immigration and national security.

The most positive part of the president’s speech is likely to be his description of the economy in his first term. The theme of the night’s address, the White House official said, is “The Great American Comeback.”

Despite trade wars with China and tariffs with trading partners, the U.S. economy under Trump has hit several high points in the past year, with market indexes setting new records almost weekly, and overall unemployment at an historic low of 3.5%.

While touting his achievements, the official said, Trump will also contrast his policies with those of Democrats running for their party’s nomination, and he will paint a dark picture of America under the “socialism” he says Democrats would deliver. (Among the Democratic contenders, only Sen. Bernie Sanders identifies as a democratic socialist.)

Trump will also take aim at another of his frequent targets: so-called sanctuary cities. These are municipalities and states where law enforcement does not turn over detained individuals suspected of being undocumented immigrants to federal the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

For Trump, tying the threat of crime committed by undocumented immigrants to sanctuary city policies, typically without evidence to back up his claims, has long been a mainstay of his hard-line immigration rhetoric. On Tuesday, the White House official said, Trump will “take head-on” the “threat” of sanctuary cities.

Trump is also expected to tout the progress that he has supposedly made building a wall along the United States’ southern border, four years after Trump’s supporters first chanted “build the wall!” and Trump promised to get Mexico to pay for its construction.

But according to a top Customs and Border Patrol official who testified before Congress in December, so far, a mere 93 miles of additional wall have been built during Trump’s presidency. Of those 93 miles, at least 90 were replacement of existing structures.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/04/trump-state-of-the-union-preview-plans-to-hammer-democrats-push-optimism.html