In my opinion, it is poor tactics to put down a milestone (end of the shutdown) before giving the state of the union.
He wants Pelosi to be sitting over his left shoulder during the entire speech, squirming and squirming, trying to force a smile onto her frozen-botoxed face, cracking half smiles, etc., all the time while Trump goes on and on about how wonderful he’s helped to make our country these past two years.
And I hope he turns around once in a while to give her a small smile.
I’d give anything to see her having fits behind Trump’s left shoulder.
FR NeverTrumpers landing in 3, 2, 1...
She has him in box. If he doesn’t declare an emergency, it won’t get done. If he declares, the dems will tie him up in court for over two years and he will lose in 20.
His recourse? Realize she is not negotiating. He can negotiate all he wants but not with someone who isn’t playing.
Build the wall and tell the court they have no standing on emergencies. So far he surrenders his authority to judicial fiat for immigration and security. So our safety is at the mercy of a judge. His only recourse now is to bulld substantial parts of the wall in the next 20 months.
I don’t disagree with this writer’s opinion - Trump is yielding now and showing patience for a final victory, and having this in a month or two will be just fine.
Spin, spin, spin.
POTUS caved to Pelosi on this pure and simple. She should have NO RIGHT whatsoever to dictate if and when a SOTU address can occur.
“Long game” my arse.
This president has spent three and a half years dealing with the biggest negative campaign against one public person in history, and he’s survived fighting pretty much on his own. I figure he knows political strategy better than any of us here!
Yep...at the end of the day, as my British friends like to say, Speaker of the House, Democrat, Nancy Pelosi will be Speaker for a very short time. POTUS, Trump is a strategic thinker and he knows that Pelosi has two major problems less then a month into her leadership.
One is, she is mentally unfit for this job to begin with, but, even worse, she is a carbon copy of failed ex-Speaker of the House, Republican, John Bohner. The Democrat Caucus is out of control in so many ways, one cannot list them all. The newly elected “lunatic” Progressives could care less about anything Pelosi brings forward....they don’t need her and they do not want her. They want the power for them...not for her.
Pelsoi within six months to one year will surrender her job to Democrat, Steny Hoyer...period.
POTUS, Trump wisely opted to wait for his golden opportunity to be the king and ruler of the hill...while Pelsoi sits in her House chamber chair squirming and twisting as Trump plays to his advantage, the “Angel” Moms, Dads, Families, The Venzuelans & The Cubans that Trump has invited to fill the House Chamber galleries during his SOTU address.
Meanwhile her uncontrollable Democrat Nutcases will not be able to refrain from screaming out at Trump, walking out, running out, all the while cursing the POTUS while millions of Americans get to watch the Freak Show across the country. Actually, methinks Pelosi will get sick the day of Trump’s SOTU and will not attend the speech. Now...ain’t that just peachy!!! I love it.
This president has spent three and a half years dealing with the biggest negative campaign against one public person in history, and he’s survived fighting pretty much on his own. I figure he knows political strategy better than any of us here! Sorry, but you Freepers having the vapors need to chill!
Trump now has the high ground. And I don’t think he would do this unless he knows he’s going to win on border security.
Plus he gives us an informal state of the union everyday on Twitter.
No one I reasd noticed, but Trump had a nice zinger in his message when he stated that she changed her mind, which is her prerogative.
On the one hand, it could be her prerogative because she is Speaker. On the other, it could be a reference to the saying “It is a woman’s prerogative to change her mind”. I am SURE that Mrs. Pelosi caught that and doesn’t like it. Those in the media won’t pick up on it because it has truth in it. She broke a formal invitation. Jennifer Rubin might write about it, because she unintentionally writes pieces that are utterly unconvincing but still reveal the anti-Trump psyche, and because she is not that clever.
I had hoped that Trump would pursue giving the speech in the Senate, forcing Schumer to join Pelosi in blocking Trump from speaking to the People.
The fact that we heard nothing serious about this happening (beyond Rand Paul suggesting it) tells me that McConnell wasn't going along with it for some reason.
My guess is that McConnell is too wedded to his precious Senate traditions, and he wouldn't use the Senate as a platform to make the Democrats look bad. McConnell probably felt that he has to work with them (they never work with him, only obstruct), but then, that's why our side never engages, I suppose.
-PJ
I think it is as simple as Nancy told him she would authorize impeachment proceedings to emerge to the floor if he tried to test her authority. That’s why he used the word “prerogative”.
He could have ordered both Houses into a joint session under the Constitution and flexed his muscles, but he calculated it was not worth it.
The media likes to remind us that President Trump owns the government shutdown but what they don’t like to talk about is the fact that Pelosi owns any violence or death from an unsecured border. With the new caravan passing through Mexico presently, she is in an unenviable position.
I’m not thrilled with Trump’s decision. However, I’ll admit that he has turned out much better as President than I imagined possible. I’ll wait and see if this works out too. The bottom line though is that if he doesn’t get funding for the Wall, he needs to build it anyways under his emergency powers. I want some serious mileage completed months before the 2020 election.
Caesar returned to Rome to celebrate his triumphs: one over Gaul, where he had brought many large tribes under Roman control and subdued others which had rebelled (resisted) ...
One of THE most important characteristics of a leader is that he is willing to take short-term hits for long-term gains!
POTUS has his eye on the Big Win!
He just lost.
The author soooo gets it!
I was hoping he would give the SOTU in the dead center of the Capitol rotunda. The physical epicenter of the Whitehouse to show that in his union address there is no irrational uber-left or alt-right like activists paint.