Many hidden meanings in President Donald Trump's State of the Union Address

No different from an election campaign!

Following President Donald Trump’s speech for more than an hour, many commentators compared this year’s State of the Union address to an election campaign. Because, in terms of timing, this year’s message was delivered right when the election candidates officially “accelerated” their campaign activities, opening the exciting presidential election year of the United States.

US President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to the US Congress. Photo: Reuters

Just two days ago, the first primary election took place in the state of Iowa in the form of secret ballot. This is the first election of candidates to win tickets to become the official representative of each party to participate in the race to the White House next November. In this election, President Donald Trump easily surpassed the two remaining Republican candidates to gain the support of 39 out of 40 delegates of this state at the party convention next August.

In terms of content, President Trump’s State of the Union address this year addressed most of the issues that voters are concerned about before deciding whether to vote for him or not. Right at the beginning of the speech, Mr. Trump mentioned the campaign slogan he introduced 3 years ago, right after taking office, which is “The Return of a Great America.”

To prove that he has realized his commitments when he took office, the White House owner highlighted the achievements that America has achieved under his tenure in all areas from economic growth, unemployment rate at a record low in 50 years, renegotiating trade agreements in a direction that is favorable to the US, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, signing a trade agreement with China, immigration, health care, education, or forcing allies to increase financial contributions.

President Trump lists the achievements of his administration. Photo: Politico - AP - Reuters

In addition to stating the achievements of his administration, Mr. Trump also emphasized his domestic and foreign priorities, specifically continuing the "America First" policy with agendas aimed at workers, families, growth and especially the interests of the United States, or advocating ending the US wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan and withdrawing troops home.

Just looking at the presence of the guests that Mr. Trump invited to listen to his message, it is clear that his policy priorities in the final period of his term and if he is re-elected. Specifically, Mr. Trump invited a border control agent, the brother of a man killed by illegal immigrants, a young mother and the son of a soldier killed by a bomb in Iraq. Through these guests, Mr. Trump implied that he would accelerate his presidential re-election campaign by returning to the hot spots that helped him win support, such as immigration and national security issues.

Notably, the guest presence also included Mr. Juan Guaido, the opposition leader and the man who declared himself President of Venezuela last year. This seems to confirm his foreign policy of continuing to oppose the government of President Nicolas Maduro and supporting Mr. Guaido as the legitimate president. This is also a way for President Trump to build personal relationships, something he has always advocated promoting during his term.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido was one of President Donald Trump's guests at the State of the Union address. Photo: AFP

The fact that President Trump’s State of the Union address was delivered right before the Senate voted to impeach him also gave him an advantage. Before the verdict was issued, many people predicted that Trump would be “acquitted” because the Senate, which is controlled by the Republican Party, would never allow the incumbent President and the only candidate running for re-election later this year to be removed from office.

Moreover, at this event, it can be seen that the Republican Party's support for Trump is higher than ever. Many Republican Party members applauded enthusiastically and shouted "four more years" as a strong support for the president throughout the speech. That shows that Mr. Trump wants American voters to support him as the Republican Party shows, despite all efforts to impeach and remove him from office from the Democratic Party.

The timing and context of the State of the Union address are quite favorable for President Trump personally, as he both highlights his strengths and indirectly mobilizes voters to support him in the race to the White House.

“Deep rift” between the two parties

In addition to the implicit content of the State of the Union address, when watching President Trump read this text in the House of Representatives, public opinion clearly saw the tension and deep division between the two parties, most clearly demonstrated by President Trump refusing to shake hands with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Pelosi tearing up a hard copy of Trump's speech right after it ended.

Democratic congressmen have repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with President Trump's speech. Photo: Reuters

The division in the US Congress was also evident during the nearly 90 minutes of Mr. Trump’s State of the Union address. While Republicans stood up, clapped and cheered, Democrats sat silently and expressed sarcasm throughout the speech. Some Democrats even stood up and left.

Throughout his speech, President Trump repeatedly praised the achievements of his Administration in the past 3 years, especially in the economic field. However, Democrats said that "showing off" achievements with "rosy" numbers is not convincing.

Senator Bernie Sanders, a potential Democratic candidate, said he believes this is Mr. Trump's final message. Senator Sanders also criticized the economic achievements that Mr. Trump mentioned in this State of the Union address and especially emphasized the increasing income inequality of the American people under the Trump Administration.

According to Senator Sanders, when Donald Trump was a presidential candidate in 2016, he promised the American people that the wealthy would not benefit from his tax cut plan. In fact, Trump lied. On Twitter, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi explained that she ripped up a copy of Trump's State of the Union address because "what Trump read was a lie."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore up a hard copy of Mr Trump's speech immediately after it ended. Photo: AFP

What was shown from President Trump’s speech predicts that American politics will continue to be “hot” in the coming time and the election race will also be extremely intense. This division is not only in politics but also in American society.