Trump’s State of the Union to highlight economic record, trade deals
Trump, while striking a note of optimism, will also urge Congress to work with him on supporting and promoting working families
President Trump is slated to deliver his third State of the Union address on Tuesday night, during which he’s expected to highlight a recent pair of trade deals and the strength of the U.S. economy in the midst of a hyperpartisan and contentious impeachment trial.
The speech will have a heavy emphasis on the economy, and Trump intends to expand on themes that he hit during his speech before global business titans and world leaders in Davos, Switzerland, including job creation, trade improvements and a so-called “blue-collar boom,” according to a senior administration official.
In January, Trump inked a partial trade deal with China and a revised U.S., Mexico and Canada agreement, which Larry Kudlow, his top economic adviser, speculated could boost GDP growth in the U.S. to 3 percent in 2020. Last year, the economy grew 2.3 percent, below the 2.9 increase from 2018 and the 2.4 percent gain in 2017.
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The deal with China, part of what is expected to be a broader pact, includes, among other aspects, a commitment from Beijing to purchase $200 billion of U.S. goods over the next two years in exchange for an agreement from the U.S. to suspend planned tariffs on Chinese products. (The U.S. will maintain levies on about $375 billion worth of merchandise).
Trump, while striking a note of optimism, will also urge Congress to work with him on supporting and promoting working families, including passing paid family leave. The president previously toyed with signing legislation that would give federal workers 12 weeks of paid family leave.
Among developed nations, the U.S. remains an outlier: Out of 41 nations, it’s the only country that does not require companies to provide paid time off for new parents, according to data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. And last March, a mere 17 percent of all workers had access to paid family leave, the Department of Labor found.
Trump also intends to focus on reducing the cost of health care for Americans, while taking aim at progressive Democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders for their support of Medicare-for-all, the single-payer health care system.
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So far, Trump has released several plans to cut health care costs, including a wide-ranging proposal that would require hospitals and insurers to give consumers more information about what they're required to pay for health care. Under the rule, hospitals would have to report the rates they strike with individual insurers for all services, including drugs, supplies, facility fees and care by doctors who work for the facility. If the hospitals fail to comply, they could be forced to pay a $300 per day fine. In December, hospitals sued the administration over the rule, arguing it’s “unlawful, several times over.”
The chamber of the House of Representatives is seen at the Capitol in Washington, Monday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The senior administration official declined to preview what Trump might say about the impeachment trial during the speech.
The third impeachment trial in U.S. history is rapidly heading toward a close, with Trump’s acquittal all but guaranteed after the Senate on Friday rejected a call to allow new witness testimony. At the heart of the impeachment case is the allegation that Trump intentionally withheld military aid from Ukraine in order to pressure the country to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who served on the board of Burisma, Ukraine’s largest natural gas company, while his father was vice president.
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Trump has maintained that he acted appropriately.
The Senate will vote Wednesday on the two impeachment charges against Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of justice.
The State of the Union is generally the largest speech that presidents deliver. More than 48 million people watched President Obama deliver his first official State of the Union address in 2010. Last year, Trump’s speech lasted for an hour and 20 minutes.
FOX Business’ Blake Burman contributed to this report