President Donald Trump's maiden State of the Union address lacked his trademark bravado. Instead of flaying his opponents in politics and media, he was more measured and used economic numbers to spotlight the achievements made during one year of his presidency.

The conciliatory tone aimed to unite the divided nation. Trump talked about the "new American moment" as he offered an olive branch to Democrats on the contentious issue of immigration.

He talked about the all-time low unemployment rate for African-Americans, the roaring stock market and the creation of 2.4 million jobs. Many in the audience were not convinced. For example, Senator Kamala Harris told CNN that more jobs for black American were due to the policies launched by Barack Obama.

Similarly, it was said that the stock market was not a true reflection of how common people live in the United States, as only 10 percent of the richest people own about 85 percent of investments in stock. But it would hardly bother Trump who likes to live in a bubble oblivious of realties.

His assertion that America is getting stronger and the economy doing great is not reflected in the surveys regarding his job approval rating which stands at just 38 percent. It is the lowest for any president for the first year in office in the history of Gallup polling.

Trump's American movement claim is also a mirage. There are serious questions about his leadership and policies. Leaving aside the surveys, his actual performance over the last year hardly supports the claim that America was doing great. The truth is that his tenure has been the most divisive in recent American history.

But he rejects criticism and instead of lowering rhetoric often racks up new controversies that alienate friends and allies. He is the only president who issues late night tweets against so-called enemies.

The State of Union address was also devoid of solid guidelines on the burning foreign policy matters related to North Korea, Afghanistan and the Middle East. He called the North Korean regime "depraved" and warned of the threats from its nuclear missiles which according to the Korean leader are capable of hitting America.

But criticism and calling names is not an answer. Trump used more incisive adjectives against Korea and its leadership in the past. But to what end? It would have been far better if Trump could put forward a solution or roadmap to tackle the Koran problem.

Similarly, he offered nothing tangible to extricate his forces from Afghanistan with honor. His idea of a troop surge is not a solution. Once there were over 140,000 international troops under American command. They failed to stabilize the security situation. Trump through his speech added to the uncertainty by scraping the idea of any deadline to leave Afghanistan.

He took credit for defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria but overlooked the new explosive situation in Syria where U.S. supported Kurdish forces are fighting regular Turkish troops – a NATO ally. The Turkish operation in Afrin has further complicated the settlement of the Syrian problem.

The State of Union address can also be compared with Trump's recent address at the World Economic Forum at Davos, where he had talked about economic recovery and also used the same economic data to highlight achievements. He had also said that "America first does not mean American alone."

Overall, the State of the Union speech was less inciting. But the emphasis was unevenly split as he used a full one hour of the 80-minute address to talk about his achievements while being in office. Trump was trying to send an optimistic message to his audience. But the point is: how many people will believe what he has said?

According to a report on CNN's website, "while it's important not to over-analyze what the speech means for Trump's presidency – his first year in office suggests what he says one day means very little for what he will do the next."

It shows that despite the display of rare sobriety in the address, it is doubtful if Trump's words will bring him any respite or help him mend fences with domestic detractors or opponents abroad. 

Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)