National News
Overview: Trump’s First #SOTU
Sticking to the script, the president delivered his first State of the Union Address.
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.
Tonight’s speech just became the most Tweeted #SOTU or #JointSession address, surpassing last year's total. https://t.co/e0XycDQIuv
— Twitter Government (@TwitterGov) January 31, 2018
Some members of Congress wore black in support of #MeToo
Members of Congress wear black in support of the #MeToo movement. #SOTU (Photo via Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/WOpCIQ3vbI
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 31, 2018
POTUS started his address by thanking military, law enforcement, and first responders for their service over the past year.
Trump: "[Coast Guard Petty Officer] Ashlee [Leppert] was aboard one of the first helicopters on the scene in Houston during Hurricane Harvey. Through 18 hours of wind and rain, Ashlee braved live power lines and deep water, to help save more than 40 lives." pic.twitter.com/ligZ6s6WIS
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 31, 2018
The President said he wanted to extend his hand across the aisle to rebuild America’s infrastructure and economy.
President Trump calls for bipartisan efforts to create "safe, fast, reliable, and modern infrastructure" in #SOTU speech https://t.co/AELlybBLt8 pic.twitter.com/skaj5JvpeF
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 31, 2018
Trump also discussed his plans for immigration reform, which was met by audible boos from the audience.
Drawing audible boos: "Under the current broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives. Under our plan, we focus on the immediate family by limiting sponsorships to spouses and minor children." #SOTU
— USA TODAY Politics (@usatodayDC) January 31, 2018
And a lot of people are still wondering: What about DACA?
President Trump is spending the largest part of his speech on immigration and talking about the plan he sent to Congress. March 5th (this coming Monday) is the deadline for the DACA program.
— Rachel Wellford (@rachelwellford) January 31, 2018
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.
.@POTUS continues to disrespect women, insult people of color, and attack our immigrant communities. I will not be attending the State of the Union—I stand in solidarity with all the people he has and continues to disrespect. #SOTU
— Rep. Juan Vargas (@RepJuanVargas) January 29, 2018
The President said it was his sacred duty to protect all citizens regardless of background color, religion, and creed, adding: “Americans are dreamers too.”
"Americans are dreamers, too." Pres. Trump on his duty, and the duty of all elected officials, to defend Americans' "right to the American dream." https://t.co/IQI1jLDwTU #SOTU pic.twitter.com/xpJYnDgPmW
— ABC News (@ABC) January 31, 2018
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.
With 4.5M Tweets, @POTUS' speech tonight was the most Tweeted #SOTU or #JointSession address, surpassing the previous record of 3M. pic.twitter.com/7oo41wxfWL
— Twitter Government (@TwitterGov) January 31, 2018
President Trump also discussed tax reform, prescription drugs, military funding, paid family leave, gang violence, and the opioid epidemic.
8 Key Moments And Themes From Trump's First State Of The Union Address https://t.co/hRps2KaqrB
— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) January 31, 2018
At 80 minutes President Trump almost surpassed the record for longest State of the Union Address set by President Clinton at 89 minutes.
If it felt like Trump's #StateofTheUnion speech was long, that's because it was – it was one of the longest in history. https://t.co/lRRgGUQYGf #SOTU pic.twitter.com/lpRvA6B5S3
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) January 31, 2018
Many news organizations fact checked claims made in the SOTU in real time.
Pres. Trump #SOTU: We lost 64,000 Americans to drug overdoses … My Administration is committed to fighting the drug epidemic
FACT CHECK: Partly true – 64,000 Americans died in 2016 from opioid overdoses. But since Trump took office, the number of deaths has continued to rise
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 31, 2018
And one fact checking site actually crashed.
Welp … our website just crashed.
Thanks for reading ?!!? We'll keep things up here on Twitter while we see what happened.
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) January 31, 2018
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.”
Trump steered clear of direct attacks on political foes during his State of the Union address, while holding open the possibility of bipartisan cooperation in "our new American moment" #sotu https://t.co/vik6D8jCCs
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) January 31, 2018
The President closed his speech by saying “It is the people who are making America great again.”
"Americans fill the world with art and music. They push the bounds of science and discovery." Pres. Trump concluded his #SOTU speech with a reminder of what Americans can accomplish. https://t.co/xybAFXcYV3 pic.twitter.com/hyNqrFG0y9
— ABC News (@ABC) January 31, 2018
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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