| 摘要 | Normally, I just read the text of presidential speeches rather than watch them being delivered. That way I get the substance and save a lot of time. But I was quite curious about how President Trump would do last night, and so I watched his remarks.
It was a good speech and at times a great one.
I was impressed by how much Mr. Trump seemed in command of the occasion. The president has positioned himself quite convincingly as the sworn enemy of the establishment, and he was speaking, well, before the establishment. The Democrats utterly disdain him — they remained sitting for more of the speech than is normal for the opposition party — and he has not yet had time to develop strong personal relationships with many of the Republicans. Any weakness would have been seized upon, and not just by the national press.
The president missed a word or two at the beginning of the speech, but he never seemed nervous, and he came across as authentic and forceful at all times.
The speech reiterated many of Mr. Trump’s themes on immigration and trade, but he didn’t just repeat talking points. One of the great powers of the presidency is the power to persuade, and Mr. Trump argued his case last night:
The parts of the speech referring to victims of crime and their families were skillfully done and integrated well into the main points of Mr. Trump’s remarks.
The president’s emphasis on rebuilding the military was music to my ears, and his budget submission on defense is a good step in the right direction, though, as Mr. Trump has recognized elsewhere, it will take a lot of effort, and many years, to make up for the damage done to America by the defense sequester.
I thought the ending was as strong as any I have heard in a presidential speech to Congress. Given the partisan rancor during the first month of Mr. Trump’s administration, and the refusal on the part of many to recognize the legitimacy of his presidency, his concluding remarks were generous and in places quite stirring. Note this passage:
Finally, I was pleased by the president’s theme, consistent with his inaugural speech but delivered in a much higher and more unifying tone, of putting America first. It amazes me that some find this remarkable or off-putting. I had thought that it should always be the object of the government of the United States, in all its policies, to advance the interests of the people of the United States. But the job of a leader is often to state, and restate, the obvious, and Mr. Trump showed himself a leader last night; I expect we will hear this theme often from him over the next four years. |
