The Note: Diving into Trump’s first address to Congress
A look at Trump's speech last night to Congress.
— -- TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS with ABC’s RICK KLEIN and SHUSHANNAH WALSHE
Day No. 41
The big story: Choose your own superlative. It was the most effective speech of President Trump’s time in office, his most presidential address, the one where he most clearly surpassed expectations. It’s also, to his critics, the most dangerous speech the president has given because he managed to package his campaign promises in a newly compelling way, despite all the noise and chaos of the past six weeks. The White House even worked in a surprise of a genuine emotional moment, turning the story about the Yemen raid into one of American sacrifice and valor, not botched planning or bungled execution. The evening was a reminder that the president did just get elected, got elected for a reason, and can look and sound like a president when he wants to. Bringing a new tone to this next phase could mean real presidential momentum, if Trump is able to bottle the energy from the House chamber into some tangible results.
The sleeper story: It’s Republican unity, but it comes with a price. The laundry list has expensive items: paid family leave, health care tax credits, a sweeping tax cut, a big boost in military spending, and the trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. When Republican members of Congress were done applauding, those price tags started to make themselves known. The ultimate cost may be the very unity the president was trying to purchase. Trump is still facing down a party with deep divisions on how to handle “repeal and replace” Obamacare – something that was supposed to be the easy part of the Republican agenda. Trump has redefined what it means to be conservative, but only to an extent. Last night may be remembered as a high point for party unity, when it needs to be a starting point.
The shiny story: Is the era of “trivial fights” truly over? Countless pixels have been burned pondering the question of whether this, or that, or that time in the way-back past, is the moment that a newly mature Donald Trump showed up. He’s been on his best Twitter behavior of late, but he’s done that before for a few days at a time. With his continued willingness to call out what he labels “fake news,” his critique of the Oscars, his new jousting with President Obama – don’t believe the hype this time about a new Trump who acts like a grown-up. To Trump, no fight has seemed too trivial to engage in before. It’s “small thinking” to assume that this change will be permanent.
TLDR: The biggest surprise from Donald Trump's joint address last night wasn't what he said, but how he said it. His tone was one we haven't seen from the still-new president since that stunner of an election night. The question now is, will it continue?
Photo of the day: Last night may have belonged to the president, but one of the most moving moments was of Carryn Owens. Her husband, William “Ryan” Owens, a Navy SEAL, was killed in that Yemen raid--now controversial--just days into the Trump presidency and last night she received a standing ovation for almost two minutes in an incredibly moving moment that brought that painful sacrifice into living rooms all over the country. Here is that image: (Credit: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Notables
--Trump pitches unity to Congress amid turbulent start to presidency: President Donald Trump delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, addressing a host of familiar themes from his campaign and calling for unity to address a litany of issues that he says are plaguing the country. Trump's call for an end to the "pure unadulterated division" and "trivial fights" comes in the wake of a bruising campaign and a tumultuous start to his presidency, squaring off against critics as well as waging a pitched battle against the media, reports ABC's MEGHAN KENEALLY. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-set-make-biggest-speech-joint-address/story?id=45787395&cid=clicksource_4380645_1_takeover_2_column_vod_headlines 7 lines to remember from Trump's joint address, courtesy of ABC’s ADAM KELSEY: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/lines-remember-trumps-joint-address/story?id=45801702
--Fact-checking President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress: During his address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, President Donald Trump made a number of claims about a range of issues, including unemployment and immigration. Throughout Trump’s speech, ABC's IMTIYAZ DELAWALA, RYAN STRUYK and MARYALICE PARKS identified questionable statements and provided context, detail and additional information and statistics. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fact-checking-president-donald-trumps-address-joint-session/story?id=45801701
--Analysis: President Trump brings new tone to old promises: President Trump began a new phase of his presidency Tuesday night with a new tone: upbeat, if only by Trump standards, and just maybe looking to make a few deals. Yet the optimism in the speech was tempered, and of a particular sort –- centered on the president who was the center of attention. Trump continued to depict a nation with a shrinking middle class, a listless foreign policy, saddled by debt, and with drugs pouring over the borders, criminal cartels and immigrants committing murders, and a crumbling system of roads and bridges, writes ABC's RICK KLEIN. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/analysis-president-trump-brings-tone-promises/story?id=45818582
--On GMA - Pence vows 'no one will fall through the cracks' in plan to replace Obamacare: Vice President Mike Pence said today "no one is going to fall through the cracks" in President Donald Trump's plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. "What the president wants the Congress to do is to create a framework for people to be able to afford coverage," Pence said on ABC News' "Good Morning America," ABC’s MORGAN WINSOR notes. "I think the president has made it clear no one is going to fall through the cracks in this." http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/vp-mike-pence-vows-fall-cracks-plan-repeal/story?id=45826650
Speed read with ABC’s Adam Kelsey
Trump: 'Time is right for immigration bill,' open to giving some legal status. President Donald Trump, who staked his campaign on a hard-line approach to illegal immigration, now says he is open to considering possible legal status for some undocumented immigrants as part of a compromise to overhaul the nation’s immigration system. “The time is right for an immigration bill, as long as there is compromise on both sides,” Trump told news anchors and correspondents attending a White House luncheon Tuesday, report ABC's DAVID MUIR and DEVIN DWYER. The president is floated the idea ahead of his first address to a joint session of Congress. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-time-immigration-bill-open-giving-legal-status/story?id=45810351
President Trump's budget faces blowback for slashing state department funds. The full details of President Trump’s budget aren’t even out yet, and already the blowback against the White House is, in a word, tremendous. Former top military leaders who served on the frontlines and congressional leaders in the president’s party are all speaking out, trying to stop the administration from slashing funds for foreign aid and American diplomacy, ABC's CONOR FINNEGAN writes. "It's going nowhere," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said of the likelihood that Congress would approve such a budget. "Probably not," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-trumps-budget-faces-blowback-slashing-state-department/story?id=45806542
Attorney general talks of sense 'we're in danger' from rising crime. President Trump's new attorney general, Jeff Sessions, said Tuesday there is "a sense that we're in danger" from rising crime. Crime has been falling for decades in the U.S., but Sessions told a conference of state attorneys general Tuesday morning in Washington, D.C., "Now we are at a time, it seems to me, that crime is going back up again," notes ABC's MIKE LEVINE. "We've done a lot of good. We need to not give up on that progress," Sessions said to the National Association of Attorneys General in his first major remarks as Justice Department head. http://abcn.ws/2l8hmy3
Fallen Navy SEAL's widow receives standing ovation during Trump's address. As she stood in the gallery of the House of Representatives Tuesday night, Carryn Owens, the widow of fallen U.S. Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens, got emotional. For nearly two minutes, lawmakers from around the country attending President Donald Trump's first address to a joint session of Congress, gave her a standing ovation as she teared up. "Ryan died as he lived: a warrior, and a hero – battling against terrorism and securing our nation," Trump said. "Ryan's legacy is etched into eternity. Thank you." ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI has more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fallen-navy-seals-widow-receives-standing-ovation-trumps/story?id=45819329
Trump responds to father of Navy SEAL killed in yYemen raid. President Trump responded to the father calling for an investigation of his Navy SEAL son's death in a Yemen military raid, with the president expressing sympathy for the service member's family but defending the mission as one "that started before I got here." "This was something that they were looking at for a long time doing," Trump said in an interview on "Fox & Friends" that aired Tuesday morning. "And according to Gen. [James] Mattis it was a very successful mission. They got tremendous amounts of information." "This was a mission that started before I got here," the president said. ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI has more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-responds-father-navy-seal-killed-yemen-raid/story?id=45798999
Lawmakers react to Trump's joint address to Congress. President Donald Trump's first address to a joint session of Congress received mixed reactions from lawmakers on Tuesday night. Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan called the president's speech a "home run" in a statement. But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) expressed the opposite sentiment, tweeting that Trump's speech "was utterly disconnected from the cruel reality of his conduct." ABC’s CATHERINE THORBECKE has more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/lawmakers-react-trumps-joint-address-congress/story?id=45819878
Who President Trump invited to his first joint address to Congress. On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump made his first address to a joint session of Congress where he laid out his policy vision for the year ahead -- and the guests invited by the White House showcased the stories he used to illustrate his plans. ABC's MERIDITH MCGRAW explains who joined First Lady Melania Trump in her House gallery viewing box: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-trump-invited-joint-address-congress/story?id=45801408
Chicago mayor slams Trump over comments about Chicago's murder rate. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel slammed President Trump Tuesday night for his remarks during his joint address to Congress about the Windy City's murder rate."The better question, I’d suggest, is whether the President cares enough about violence in our city to do more than talk or tweet about it,” Emanuel said in a statement following Trump's address. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/chicago-mayor-slams-trump-remarks-citys-murder-rate/story?id=45823833
Who’s tweeting?
@CarrieNBCNews: Mentions, per prepared remarks: Job/Jobs - 14 Safe/Safety - 8 Radical Islamic Terrorism - 1 Immigration - 9 Iran - 1 China - 1 Russa - 0
@JCNSeverino: @Sen_JoeManchin, @SenatorTester, @SenDonnelly, & @SenAngusKing stood to applaud #Gorsuch - will they stand w/ their voters to confirm him?
@JenniferJJacobs: Asked twice on Morning Joe if war with media is over, Pence says Trump will "challenge his detractors when unfair criticism come his way."
@Elizabeth_McLau: .@VP Pence on @GMA: "The candidate Donald Trump is the president Donald Trump..." made speech on same priorities he ran on
@DavidWright_CNN: .@SenSchumer on Trump's speech: "There's a low bar here among a lot of the media -- oh, well he wasn't nasty. That's not enough." -- on CNN
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