Trump's first state of the union address was if not the best but no doubt the most stage-crafted ever. There were signals given by White House spokesperson before his speech that his speech could be nation binding this time rather than be dividing. However, all hopes of that came crashing after he started his speech which was full of the same typical Trump rhetoric which amused his core voter base. He didn't mention Russian meddling in the election nor the ongoing probe into his connection with the Russians. The Republicans seemed very happy from his address with Ted Cruz seen openly applauding him with standing ovations which even surprised some of his hardcore critics. The state of the union address could be summarised in the points mentioned below.
1> America First:
This is the message to which Trump has stuck from the beginning of his campaign and it has worked well for him. In this address, he called American's as the dreamers, which is the term commonly used for immigrants in America. He asked the Congress to cut the aid to countries which are not falling in line with America and only aid the "friendly countries".
The signal was clear: Trump is not just using "America First" as a piece of rhetoric; he's heavily focused on making it a policy reality as well.
2> Support for the military:
Trump asked for the unprecedented support for the military and has assured to make a substantial rise in the American military budget.
There were several military officers present in the chamber and even a North Korean defector.
3> Bipartisanship isn't happening:
In the early moments of Trump's speech, he made several calls for the country and the Congress to come together.
"Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve," Trump said at one point.
"If you work hard, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in America, then you can dream anything, you can be anything, and together, we can achieve anything," he said at another.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's reaction to Trump's mention of the need to come together for the good of the American people tells you everything you need to know about the chances of that actually happening.
4> The great unmentioned:
Nowhere in Trump's speech did he address -- even obliquely -- the special counsel investigation into Russia's attempted meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion with members of his campaign.
In fact, Trump uttered the word "Russia" only once. "Around the world, we face rogue regimes, terrorist groups, and rivals like China and Russia that challenge our interests, our economy, and our values," he said.