PoliticoWill the State of the Union be ‘Teleprompter Trump’ or ‘Twitter Trump’?

Speaking to Congress is one of the few norms the president hasn’t turned upside-down

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This year’s State of the Union address will amount to something of a 2020 campaign kickoff for President Donald Trump. File photo: AP

Published: 1:07pm, 5 Feb 2019Updated: 1:07pm, 5 Feb 2019

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Anita Kumar on politico.com on February 4, 2019.

US President Donald Trump may be the most untraditional president in modern history, but he has taken a strikingly traditional approach to that most presidential of rituals – speaking to Congress.

In each of the past two years, Trump has delivered a lofty, optimistic annual message on Capitol Hill, reading dutifully from a Teleprompter and setting aside his personal insults, attacks on the media, even his rambling boasts.

His aides are suggesting that this year will be much the same. But this year’s State of the Union Tuesday (Wednesday morning Hong Kong time) could present an especially jarring contrast with the realities of Trump’s presidency.

Trump will speak amid a protracted battle with Congressional Democrats over his demand for US$5.7 billion to build a Mexican border wall.

In the days before the speech, Trump repeatedly slammed Democrats on Twitter. While the official said Trump would offer “a bipartisan way forward” on immigration, the president has dismissed talks meant to resolve the stand-off as a “waste of time.” And he threatened to resort a unilateral national emergency declaration to build the wall.

US President Donald Trump during his first State of the Union address in 2018. File photo: AP

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Speaking to Congress is one of the few norms the president hasn’t turned upside-down

Speaking to Congress is one of the few norms the president hasn’t turned upside-down