Trump pleads for unity while promising national renewal
WASHINGTON — Saying that “the time for small thinking is over,” President Donald Trump on Tuesday outlined a robust agenda and pressed Congress to boost defense spending, overhaul the federal tax code and adopt sweeping revisions to the nation’s health-care system.
Following a turbulent and divisive first month in office, Trump delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress, where he directly faced his Democratic critics and Republican supporters, many of whom have waited years for the chance to simplify the tax code while scrapping the 2010 health law known as Obamacare.
In a nod to the intense fights that have divided the two political parties and the nation, Trump said “the time for small thinking is over, the time for trivial fights is behind us.” He added that, “from now on, America will be empowered by our aspirations, not burdened by our fears.”
“Each American generation passes the torch of truth, liberty and justice — in an unbroken chain all the way down to the present,” Trump said. “That torch is now in our hands. And we will use it to light up the world. I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart.”
Trump entered the chamber to loud cheers and applause, shaking hands with lawmakers from both parties, members of his Cabinet, and Chief Justice
John Roberts and four other justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.
No other freshly swornin president has delivered such a crucial speech at a time when the country and Congress are so bitterly polarized.
A NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released this week shows that just 44 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump has done in his first several weeks. That’s a historically low mark for new presidents, who normally enjoy high approval ratings during their first months in office.
During his more than onehour speech, Trump focused on many of the themes from his presidential campaign: cutting taxes, scrapping Obamacare and curbing immigration.
He urged the Republicancontrolled Congress to dramatically reshape the tax code to reduce taxes on American companies and the middle class. He called on Congress to “restart the engine of the American economy, making it easier for companies to do business in the United States, and much harder for companies to leave.”
“Right now, American companies are taxed at one of the highest rates anywhere in the world,” Trump said. “My economic team is developing historic tax reform that will reduce the tax rate on our companies so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone.”
He added that “we will provide massive tax relief for the middle class.”
Trump also called on lawmakers to “repeal and replace” the 2010 health law “with reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower costs and, at the same time, provide better health care.”
He insisted that Obamacare “is collapsing — and we must act decisively to protect all Americans. Action is not a choice — it is a necessity. So I am calling on all Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work with us to save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster.”
In perhaps a nod to Ohio Gov. John Kasich and other governors fearful of losing hundreds of millions of federal dollars to provide health coverage to low-income Americans, Trump said that “we should give our state governors the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid to make sure no one is left out.”
And even as Trump said that “real and positive immigration reform is possible,” he returned to many of the anti-immigration themes from his campaign, including a vow to “soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border.”
“By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions and billions of dollars, and make our communities safer for everyone,” Trump said. “We want all Americans to succeed — but that can’t happen in an environment of lawless chaos.”
He said any overhaul of the immigration system must include “a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially.”
“Yet, in America, we do not enforce this rule, straining the very public resources that our poorest citizens rely upon,” Trump said.
In the speech’s mostdramatic moment, Trump hailed Chief Special Warfare Operator William “Ryan” Owens, who was killed in action in late January during an anti-terrorist raid in Yemen. Trump told the lawmakers that “we are blessed to be joined tonight” by Owens’ widow, Carryn. The chamber erupted in applause as she struggled to fight tears.
Trump vowed to end the automatic spending reductions for national defense that were approved by Congress in 2013 and signed into law by then-President Barack Obama.
Instead, Trump called for what he insisted is “one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history,” adding that “to keep America safe, we must provide the men and women of the United States military” with the weapons they need to fight.