Takeaways from the State of the Union

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, only the second U.S. president to deliver the State of the Union address bearing the brand of impeachment, used the 78-minute speech to make his case for a second-term in office.

Of the 5,917 words in Trump’s speech Tuesday night, impeachment did not appear once, but the “I-word” as Trump has previously dubbed it loomed large in the House chamber.

The acrimony between Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has championed his impeachment, was palpable. He snubbed the California Democrat as she reached out to shake his hand from the dais. She ripped up a paper copy of Trump's speech moments after he concluded his remarks.

"President Trump began the State of the Union against the backdrop of a messy kickoff to the Democratic primary season, his likely acquittal in the Senate, and a new personal approval ratings high — quite the turnaround for the president after a tense past few weeks of the impeachment trial,” said Ashley Koning, Director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University.

“This was certainly a reelection campaign kickoff for him, and Trump confidently treated it as such,” Koning said.

From a speech filled with made-for-TV moments here are some takeaways:

The I-word in the room

Trump, appearing to take a page from President Bill Clinton’s 1999 playbook by not mentioning his impeachment, stuck to touting his first-term accomplishments.

As Trump declared “the State of the Union is stronger than ever before,” in his line of sight were the seven House Impeachment managers sitting together, staring back at the president with stone expressions.

Republicans were just as eager to applaud, cheer and show a united front for Trump, in the chamber where House Democrats voted to impeach Trump over his dealings with Ukraine.

While Trump avoided the subject of impeachment, that didn’t keep some of his staunchest Democratic critics from raising the issue on Twitter as he delivered his speech.

“Might as well have Trump testify while we have him here in front of the Senate,” tweeted Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans), who represents portions of southwest Nassau County.

The Republican-majority Senate on Wednesday acquitted Trump on the two articles of impeachment handed down by the House.

Making the case for 2020

Trump made his way down the center aisle of the House chamber as Republicans chanted “Four More Years,” underscoring just how much of the nationally televised event was about making the case for Trump’s reelection.

The speech offered a preview of some of the key talking points Trump will take on the 2020 campaign trail.

He touted a “Blue-Collar Boom,” when describing the economy, and repeated some of his long-standing promises from the 2016 campaign. They included implementing hard-line immigration policies and withdrawing U.S. troops from the Middle East.

Trump campaign supporters argued that the speech hit all the right notes to lure voters focused on bread-and-butter issues.

Democrats cast the speech as divisive, particularly for Trump’s jabs at Obama’s record.

John Jay LaValle, a former Suffolk County GOP chairman now serving on the Trump campaign’s national finance committee, lauded Trump for focusing on the economy, saying Trump presented an “extremely positive and optimistic … future. It was exactly what America needed to hear.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a statement said the speech “was much more like a Trump rally than a speech a true leader would give. It was demagogic, undignified, highly partisan and in too many places, untruthful.”

Prescription drugs

Trump’s call for bipartisan legislation to lower the cost of prescription drugs prompted many House Democrats to jump out of their seats. They waved three fingers in the air while shouting “H.R.3.”

They were referring to the bill filed last year by the late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) that passed the House, but has yet to be taken up by the Senate.

Trump said he was working with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on the issue. But he did not mention Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s opposition to a prescription drug bill proposed by Grassley last year that was supported by Senate Democrats.

Grassley, in a tweet after the speech, noted the bipartisan support for lowering drug prices, saying “NOW is time 4 Senate to act.”

Taking aim at NYC's sanctuary status

Trump took aim at his hometown, decrying New York City’s so-called “sanctuary city” laws that stymie cooperation between local agencies and federal immigration enforcement authorities.

The president blamed the laws on the brutal killing of Maria Fuertes, a 92-year-old Queens resident who was raped and murdered by a Guyanese native with a deportation order against him.

“Just 29 days ago, a criminal alien freed by the sanctuary city of New York was charged with the brutal rape and murder of a 92-year-old woman. The killer had been previously arrested for assault, but under New York’s sanctuary policies, he was set free. If the city had honored ICE’s detainer request, his victim would be alive today,” the president said.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, in a tweet, accused Trump of exploiting the headline-grabbing case.

“Every time @realDonaldTrump opens his mouth he lies so I’m never surprised, but to exploit the murder of a 92-year-old woman in a craven attack on the extraordinary work the NYPD has done to protect our city is as loathsome as it gets,” de Blasio said. “He’s a corrupt disgrace.”