Hollywood Reacts To Trump’s First Address To Congress

On Tuesday, after President Trump’s first speech to a joint session of Congress, Republicans called the address great.

Take the subject of immigration, which is top of the mind among Indians.

However, we have only heard campaign speeches from Donald Trump, he has yet to deliver the kind of meaty policy oriented or even ideological speech that gives Americans and the world an idea as to what kind of country he seeks to create, not just correct. But this is facile. He said during his address Tuesday night that the Homeland Security Department’s Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement office will provide a voice for people ignored by the media and “silenced by special interests”.

“The time for trivial fights is behind us”, Trump said in his nationally televised speech.

It resonated throughout his address to Congress, and offers little comfort to those Indians, Chinese and others who have been reaping the benefits of globalised prosperity.

This is not the first time Trump has floated the possibility of altering his stance on immigration.

He said this will cut corporate taxes on U.S. companies “so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone”. Trump’s clarion call -“The time for small thinking is over”. His opening weeks in office have been consumed by distractions and self-inflicted wounds, including the bungled rollout of a sweeping immigration and refugee executive order that was blocked by the courts. Washington Post acknowledged: “This may have been the best speech Trump has given since he entered politics in June 2015, and people rooting for his imminent demise may be disappointed”.

“If E-verify and ending the chain migration is done, then DACA kids could get amnesty”, said Roy Beck, president of Numbers USA, a group that supports the reduction of legal immigration. That excited Republicans who have had to suffer through bad week after bad week at the White House.

On February 24, the White House blocked several news organizations who have been critical of Trump, including CNN. Trump also refined his position on immigration, calling for merit-based entry, which was prevalent before the 1960s.

Instead this address to Congress was boilerplate Republican campaign rhetoric.

North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp – a Democrat from a red-state whom Republicans will need for a significant Obamacare replacement – said she actually thought Trump was very specific on his health care plan, but Republicans still have too many issues to figure out.

“The president has been very clear in his process that the immigration system is broken and needs massive reform and he’s made clear that he’s open to having conversations about that moving forward”, Sanders said in a Tuesday afternoon briefing with reporters.