WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 5: U.S. President Donald Trump, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence looking on, delivers the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on February 5, 2019 in Washington, DC. President Trump’s second State of the Union address was postponed one week due to the partial government shutdown. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)By: Sydney Donovan | Writer
February 8, 2019
President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address for the second time on Tuesday, this time to a Democratic majority House of Representatives. During the State of the Union address, President Trump opened his speech attempting to be bipartisan by saying, “The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican agenda or a Democrat agenda. It is the agenda of the American people.”
President Trump covered a number of topics during the address on Tuesday; from his continued call for a southern border wall, to the strong economy and the record number of women representatives in Congress, Trump addressed a variety of topics.
The speech comes after a 35-day partial government shutdown. Another shutdown is possible in the next few weeks if Congress and the president cannot agree on a budget.
“I only watched a short bit of the speech,” San Clemente High School junior Rachel Hartnett said, “but I was for another government shutdown if the Democrats can’t agree on a budget.”
Trump appealed for bipartisanship, but refused to back down with immigration policies like the U.S.-Mexico border wall. He said, “Now is the time for Congress to show the world that America is committed to ending illegal immigration and putting the ruthless coyotes, cartels, drug dealers, and human traffickers out of business.” He asked Congress to fund the wall on the Mexican border, but he did not threaten to shut down the government again or declare a national emergency if the wall wasn’t funded.
He touted the success of tariffs on Chinese imports. He asked Congress to approve the renegotiated North American Trade Agreement. Trump called for the end of U.S. military presence in the Middle East. His administration is currently negotiating an end to the Afghanistan War. He also set the dates for the next meeting with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.
Junior Presley Stevens sees conflict arising out of Trump’s agenda. “If we stop military presence in Afghanistan many Americans won’t agree,” Stevens said. “We all want to feel safe rather than fearful if something could happen.”
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