State of the Union Address
By GRAHAM WALTER
On February 5th, 2019, President Trump delivered the State of the Union address in a truly Presidential fashion. His speech focused on unifying the parties, and while he stood firm on some partisan issues such as protecting ICE and building the wall, he brought many uplifting guests to raise inspiration for many of his goals for the upcoming year. The President was also sure to underscore the economic and political achievements by women over the course of his presidency.
Trump addressed late term abortion, hoping he could pass legislation barring women from terminating a fetus late in pregnancy. His meeting with Kim Jong Un will be February 27th and 28th in Vietnam, where they have a number of critical topics to discuss. While on the topic of Asia, he was hoping to target several key American industries and bring them back to the homeland from China; reworking negotiations with China and U.S.M.C.A are especially important to him in the upcoming year. At the same time, the United States is officially withdrawing from the INF treaty we have with Russia due to multiple infractions on Russia’s end.
The United States has secured over $100 billion from our NATO allies. While stepping up the fight on terrorism, Trump plans to start bringing troops home from Syria and begin building settlements in Afghanistan; Iran is also a part of Trump’s agenda regarding nuclear weapons acquirement.
Trump finished on a uplifting note, talking about how America is “winning each and every day,” with the overall state of the union being “strong.” The devil is in the details, but America will be sure to see legislative changes of some sort in the upcoming year.
Graham Walter ‘21 (grahamwalter@college.harvard.edu) eagerly awaits the public reaction and commentary to yesterday’s SOTU Presentation.