The president’s address to Congress won points from some in the minority party for his inclusion of issues important to them, but compromise is likely to remain elusive.
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES
Congress heard the softer-toned side of President Donald Trump on Tuesday night, with the president earning cheerful praise from Republicans and some plaudits from Democrats for mentioning a few issues dear to their hearts.
But the evening was not the start of a beautiful friendship.
"I think in many ways he continued down a dark, divisive and misleading path. He seems to be in another world when it comes to understanding the kind of country President Obama left him," says Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas. "His tone was not as bombastic, but his words were very divisive."
While Trump's tone was more subdued than in earlier addresses – especially his inaugural speech – "we don't agree with very much of what he said tonight," says Rep. Joe Crowley, New York Democrat and chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "He was speaking out of both sides of his mouth, talking about tolerance and talking about rounding up people [in immigration raids] as we speak, at the same time," Crowley adds, standing next to his guest, Queens business owner Sarker Haque. Haque, who is from Bangladesh, was beaten in 2015 by an attacker who said he wanted to "kill Muslims."
And while Democrats said they were pleased to hear Trump talk about repairing and rebuilding infrastructure, they were concerned about the lack of detail he provided about how he would pay for that program – as well as others, such as a massive increase in military spending.
"His tone was softer and more appropriate, and that was good," says Rep. Peter Welch, Vermont Democrat. But "in his policies, he's continuing to pursue positions that are going to be divisive, that will increase the deficit and I doubt will decrease unemployment."
Republicans cheered loudly during Trump's address, his first before a joint session of Congress and a rare speech before an audience with built-in detractors. "A home run!" House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., declared as he walked from the House chamber back to his Capitol office.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., concurred, calling Trump's speech "probably the best-toned speech I've ever heard him give … probably the best speech I've ever heard him give." McCarthy says he was pleased to hear Trump talk about providing tax credits for people to buy health insurance, something the Republican leader says his caucus supports."There was something in that speech for every American to be for," McCarthy adds.
Democrats, facing a president most believed would never get the GOP nomination, let alone win the presidency, were largely well-behaved.
They did, however, laugh derisively (when Trump said he had "begun to drain the swamp of government corruption"), deliver theatrical thumbs-down (when Trump called President Barack Obama's health care reform law a "disaster," and said it must be repealed and replaced) and shake their heads in disbelief when the president insisted Obamacare was imploding. A loud groan came from the Democratic side – especially from the white-clad House female Democrats, so dressed to honor the suffragette movement – when Trump said he had ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create a special office called Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement, or VOICE, to serve American victims of crimes committed by immigrants.
Trump at the speech hosted family members of people who were victims of criminals in the country illegally. Democrats, meanwhile, brought their counter-guests – immigrants who had themselves been victims of bias crimes or who had made tremendous contributions to the country. The lawmakers note that immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than citizens.
"There are millions of immigrants who work their hearts out" to make America a better place, says Babak Movahedi, a transplant surgeon at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center and former Iranian refugee in Belgium who attended the speech. "I wish I had heard more about that." Movahedi, who was a guest of Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, is worried about how Trump's travel ban could affect his family, McGovern's office said.
On military matters, Trump got a mixed reaction. His calls to increase defense spending by $54 billion did not get every Republican on his or her feet. Some Republicans say that while they would like to hike military spending, there just isn't enough money to do so without blowing Congress's self-imposed spending caps.
"In a perfect world, you allow for more robust defense expenditures. We don't live in a perfect world," says Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C. "It's very easy to add and very difficult to subtract in Washington, D.C."
Sen. Christopher Coons, Democrat of Delaware, also took issue with Trump's mention of William "Ryan" Owens, a Navy SEAL who died in a raid in Yemen, becoming the first American sailor to die in a military operation in Trump's young presidency. Democrats as well as Republicans heartily applauded Owens' service, and the sacrifice of his widow, who was in the chamber.
But Trump has been adamant about saying the mission was a success, despite reports citing senior officials saying no actionable intelligence was gained from the mission. And his assertion was backed by an Associated Press report published shortly after the address that cited a senior official who said the raid resulted in a wide collection of intelligence. Trump has also lashed out at Navy veteran Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for calling the mission a failure.
In his speech, Trump quoted Defense Secretary James Mattis in saying Owens was "part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence."
"Having been at the dignified transfer ceremony with Ryan Owens' family, I think it was unfortunate that he chose to inject that particular factual disagreement" in his speech, Coons says. "I wish he .. had instead focused on how grateful as a nation we are … rather than litigating it in front of the whole country in a major address."
