Trump touts economy, trade in State of the Union
Post-Gazette Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — On the eve of a likely acquittal in his Senate impeachment trial, President Donald Trump confidently strode into the U.S. House of Representatives to make his case for re-election in his prime-time State of the Union address.
But from start to finish, the personal animus between Mr. Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was clear. Upon reaching the podium, the president refused to shake Ms. Pelosi’s hand when handing her a copy of his speech. Ms. Pelosi, when Mr. Trump concluded, ripped the speech in half.
Asked about tearing up the speech, Ms. Pelosi told reporters that “it was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative.” The White House, referring to key points of Mr. Trump’s speech, tweeted that Ms. Pelosi “just ripped up one of our last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, the survival of a child born at 21 weeks [and] service member’s reunion with his family. That’s her legacy.”
The dramatic displays of tension bookended a speech in which Mr. Trump, at a time of deep partisan division across the country, touted his administration’s recent legislative and policy developments and outlined his goals for the future.
Mr. Trump’s address, titled “The Great American Comeback,” served as a triumphant stump speech for the president, who sought to portray his administration as keeping promises from the 2016 campaign trial.
“In just three short years, we have shattered the mentality of American decline and we have rejected the downsizing of America’s destiny,” Mr. Trump declared at the outset. “We are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago, and we are never, ever going back.”
Mr. Trump also used the House Speaker’s rostrum to take some shots at Democrats for their “radical left” stances on universal health care, immigration and opposition to school choice. He called out Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto of school choice legislation, which prompted some stray boos from Republicans.
In a surprise move, Mr. Trump gave conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the middle of the speech. Mr. Limbaugh recently announced he has advanced stage lung cancer.
Mr. Trump described “Medicare for All” as a “socialist takeover of our health care system” that would “take away your health care, take
away your doctor and abolish private insurance entirely.”
“We will never let socialism destroy American health care,” Mr. Trump said.
Overall, the speech made clear that Mr. Trump, who did not mention the impeachment inquiry, plans to lean on the performance of the U.S. economy.
Mr. Trump took credit for the current economic expansion, which has lasted more than a decade since the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, the worst U.S. economic downturn since the Great Depression.
He pointed to renegotiated trade deals, the 2017 GOP tax cuts and rollbacks of “job-killing” regulations — common themes he has discussed during visits to the Pittsburgh region. He singled out growth in the energy industry as a beneficiary of his agenda.
“Thanks to our bold regulatory reduction campaign, the United States has become the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world,” he said.
Mr. Trump also made big promises on the heels of two trade deals, both signed at the White House last month.
The United States-MexicoCanada Agreement, an updated North American trade deal, is expected to create 100,000 new automotive industry jobs and “massively boost” agricultural and manufacturing exports to Canada and Mexico, Mr. Trump said.
The USMCA, as it’s known, is an updated version of the North America Free Trade Agreement, which Mr. Trump called the “worst deal ever” and blamed for the loss of 1 in 4 U.S. manufacturing jobs since it took effect in 1994.
The USMCA passed the House and Senate with overwhelming majorities — a rare bipartisan legislative achievement for Mr. Trump. “This is the first major trade deal in many years to earn the strong backing of America’s labor unions,” Mr. Trump stated.
The second trade agreement, a “phase one” deal with China, will “defend our workers, protect our intellectual property, bring billions of dollars into our treasury, and open vast new markets” for American goods, Mr. Trump said.
“This is a blue-collar boom,” Mr. Trump declared.
Yet trade analysts have said the USMCA agreement contains greater protections for workers but will not dramatically change the balance trade flows among the three countries. China experts are skeptical the country can follow through on agreements to buy $200 billion more in U.S. exports, especially while contending with the coronavirus.
Recent economic numbers could also muddy Mr. Trump’s outlook.
The U.S. gross domestic product, which measures the value of goods and services produced inside the United States, grew at a 2.1% annual rate in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department reported last week. And 2019 saw the weakest GDP growth since Mr. Trump took office.
Pennsylvania lost 5,700 manufacturing jobs in 2019, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, after factory jobs grew by 3,600 jobs in 2018.
While Mr. Trump claimed tariffs were a success, U.S. businesses relying on imports have been forced to pay billions of dollars in taxes.
The annual speech always brings a high-profile gathering, with representatives, senators, White House Cabinet members, U.S. Supreme Court judges, military leaders and hundreds of guests and dignitaries crammed into the House chamber — unified, at least, in listening.
It was a particularly remarkable scene amid a fractious moment in American politics.
The speech came seven weeks after lawmakers in that House chamber voted to impeach him. Among the guests seated before the president were the six House Democrats who led the prosecution of Mr. Trump in the Senate impeachment trial over the past three weeks.
In closing arguments the previous day, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., pilloried the president as corrupt and an existential threat to American democracy who must be removed from office before he attempts to interfere again in the 2020 presidential election.
“If you find the courage to stand up to him, to speak the awful truth to his rank falsehood, your place will be among the Davids who took on Goliath,” Mr. Schiff told senators.
During the speech, Mr. Schiff, along with most other Democrats, sat straightfaced.
And, as usual, the reactions during the speech were sharply split.
Republicans sitting to the president’s left rose often and cheered enthusiastically. On the other side, Democrats were decidedly muted, groaning occasionally as the president made questionable claims.
Democrats shook their heads when Mr. Trump proclaimed his commitment to social safety net funding — days after his administration proposed to change Medicaid funding in a way that could limit flows to recipients and ordering stricter reviews of Social Security disability assistance.
They waved their hands in disgust when Mr. Trump said he supported protections for pre-existing conditions, as the administration wages a court battle that could entirely repeal the Affordable Care Act, which currently protects those conditions.
There were moments both sides cheered.
Democrats stood with Republicans when Mr. Trump discussed bipartisan criminal justice reform efforts and when he introduced Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has challenged Nicolás Maduro for control of the economically depressed country.
Charles McGee, a 100-yearold World War II veteran got two standing ovations.