State of the Union Preview: What to Expect

After almost a week postponement due to the government shutdown, President Trump will deliver his second-ever State of the Union address tonight at 8 p.m. CST. 

While some Congressional Democrats say the state of the union is nothing to boast about, many expect a different tune from the president.

The president will have a mostly solid economy to back him up, and is expected to declare near-total triumph over the Islamic State group in Syria.

These are just some of President Trump’s self-proclaimed accomplishments over the past year.

“I’ve probably done more in the first two years than any president, any administration in the history of our country,” said the president in a press conference on January 4.

Democrats, however, view the recent government shutdown as a huge blow to the Trump administration’s credibility.

“We’re all glad the government’s back open – federal workers are back on the job, getting paid. But the recent government shutdown speaks to the fundamental uncertainty about the state of our union,” said New York Senator Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor Monday.

According to White House officials, the president will take the opportunity to call for bipartisanship among the government.

“He’s calling for cooperation and he’s calling for comity, and also compromise, and is going to point out a couple of examples where this has actually happened on his watch,” said Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president.

Another big topic on everyone’s mind: the border wall debate.

Some think the president will use the State of the Union to declare a national emergency in order to get his wall.

The president has been tight-lipped about that possibility. 

“I don’t want to say, but you’ll hear the State of the Union, and then you’ll see what happens right after the State of the Union, okay?” said President Trump.

Unsuccessful candidate for Georgia governor Stacy Abrams will deliver the rebuttal following the president’s speech.  She will be the first African American woman to do so.

Among those in attendance will be a family whose loved one was killed by an undocumented immigrant, and survivors of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. 

On the flip side, members of Congress will be using their plus one guests to send a message, many of them inviting undocumented immigrants who used to work on Trump properties.

Nebraska Congressman Jeff Fortenberry will host Nadia Murad, a Yazidi activist and Nobel Prize winner, as his guest.