Trump tries to turn from divisive to dealmaker
US President Donald Trump showed a different side in his first address to Congress. This Trump was part dealmaker, part salesman, asking for unity and trying to repackage his populist message in more palatable terms. He was less combative, less thin-skinned and more inclusive. And where five weeks ago at his inauguration, he slammed Washington’s politicians as out-oftouch elitists who prospered at the expense of the public, his message on Tuesday night was different: I need you, Republicans and Democrats alike.
Always a showman, the reality TV starturned-politician laid out plenty of promises: A massive infrastructure and public works program; tax cuts for the middle class; immigration reform; a healthcare overhaul; an education bill. All of it would require congressional action, likely by different coalitions of conservatives, moderates and Democrats. “This is our vision. This is our mission,” Trump said. “But we can only get there together.”
Trump, a Republican who has taunted Democrats over his 2016 election victory and publicly fumed as they held up his Cabinet nominees, did not criticize them this time. Repeatedly, he asked for their help, arguing that the country’s problems call for bipartisan solutions. After weeks of attacks on the media, political rivals and the judges who ruled against his executive order to temporarily ban travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, Trump finally eased off, although his proposals were short on specifics.
“It was a softer tone and he gave a speech and not a tweet and that’s more suitable when you’re president of the United States,” said Democratic Representative Peter Welch. “The challenges are going to be the details on his policies.” “He was presidential tonight in a way he has not been before this,” said Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak. The address appeared to show some recognition by the White House that Trump’s bombastic go-it-alone style has its limits. After a parade of executive orders, Trump must now turn his attention to the big-ticket items on his agenda requiring legislative action. “He’s done all he can unilaterally,” said Bradley Blakeman, a former aide to President George W Bush. “Now he needs to pass bills.”
Even though Republicans control Congress, Blakeman said Trump needs Democrats to build a majority that would allow conservative Republicans to oppose some of his more centrist proposals, such as hefty infrastructure spending and talks on immigration reform. “The president is as transactional a person as we’ve ever seen,” Blakeman said. “He understands that you might not like this deal, but I need you for three other deals.”
Skeptical
Despite the softer tone, Trump’s divisive policies and months of hostile rhetoric will not be forgotten by his adversaries. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, in a round of television interviews on Wednesday morning, dismissed Trump’s speech as detached from reality, saying the softer tone did not match the administration’s hardline agenda presented so far. “His speeches are populist. They’re aimed at the working folks who supported him. But his governing and what he does is hard right, favoring special interests over the working class,” Schumer told CBS.
Nancy Pelosi, the leading Democrat in the US House of Representatives, told MSNBC that Trump gave a good sales pitch but has offered little in the way of concrete proposals: “All they have is rhetoric. We don’t have any reality in terms of any legislation.” Congressional Democrats said they liked Trump’s infrastructure program, his childcare tax credit, his call to reduce the prices of prescription drugs, and his vow to preserve some key elements of former President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 health insurance law.
Democrats remain troubled, among other things, by Trump’s desire to slash domestic programs to increase military spending, his plans to reduce taxes for the wealthy and corporations, as well as his aggressive policy to deport illegal immigrants. To be sure, the more foreboding elements of Trump’s campaign rhetoric were still present, albeit slightly dialed-down. As he did during the campaign, he portrayed a country in ruinous economic shape and plagued by terrorism, drugs, gangs, and illegal immigrants.
In coming days, the White House is likely to release a revised version of its travel ban, reigniting a controversy that overshadowed the first weeks of Trump’s presidency. Trump came into the address struggling with public opinion. In an interview with Fox News he acknowledged that he and his staff had not been effective communicators. The most recent Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll found about 48 percent of Americans disapproved of Trump’s performance, with 46 percent backing him, poor numbers for a new president.
Mackowiak said Trump’s address could reverse his fortunes in a “crucial moment” for his presidency. “His public support will improve from this speech,” he said. But John Geer, a public-opinion expert at Vanderbilt University, was not convinced. “He’s going to have to do more than give a speech.”