Iowa political leaders have not yet reached a consensus on the forecast for the second year of Donald Trump’s presidency.
After completing his first year in office, President Donald Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address to U.S. Congress this evening to highlight the accomplishments of the past year and preview the coming year’s plans.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a briefing Monday the theme of Trump’s address is “Building a safe, strong, and proud America,” and he will discuss “not only what we’ve been able to do in the first year but all of the great things that we’re going to do in the next seven years after this,” Sanders said.
Johnson County Democratic Party Chair Christopher Taylor said he is not expecting much from Trump’s State of the Union address, but he believes there are two ways his speech could go.
“Either the entire thing will be a return to the hateful rhetoric and self-aggrandizement and outright lies that we’ve seen for the last year of his administration,” Taylor said. “Or he might give us a very well-thought-out, well-planned strategy for moving the country forward that he has no intention of honoring, and he’ll spend the next three months backtracking from that.”
With the federal government coming back from a three-day government shutdown, which ended with a congressional vote Jan. 22 to approve a bill to fund the government through Feb. 8, people interviewed by The Daily Iowan said they expect Trump’s address to call for bipartisanship in Congress.
People on both sides of the aisle say unity and cooperation are necessary for getting work done, but Linn County Republican Party Chair Justin Wasson said hasn’t seen that happen yet.
“I’m all for seeing more bipartisanship, but … I think it’s pretty clear that anything [Trump] puts forward is going to be rejected by the other party,” he said.
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The only major legislative accomplishment marking Trump’s first 365 days in office was the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December 2017, Linn County Democratic Party Chair Bret Nilles noted — an act that passed the Republican-controlled Congress without Democratic support.
Aside from that, Nilles said, he hasn’t heard anything of significance from Trump.
“I think what we’ll hear in the State of the Union address is him reading off a prepared script that’s going to try to highlight the economy, and that’s just based on what was done in the Obama administration,” Nilles said.
While there still remains work to be done on issues such as health care and immigration, Wasson said, he remains optimistic about the next year under the Trump administration, and so do the people around him.
Polling data suggest Americans aren’t as optimistic, however. Gallup Polls consistently show Trump’s average approval rating since January 2017 has been around 38 percent — a low rating rarely seen so early in a president’s term.
If Trump’s surprise 2016 victory is any indicator, Wasson said, the 2018 midterm elections won’t be a concern, and the State of the Union address will only highlight more cause for optimism.
“I think the other party is struggling with finding a coherent, concise, and unified message,” Wasson said. “Their only message is ‘I hate Trump,’ and if that’s their only message, I think Republicans have a good chance of maintaining all three branches of government.”
