| | | | Happy SOTU night! 5 things to 👀 tonight |  | | Political Washington will celebrate one of its annual rites tonight when President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a bicameral session of Congress.
Despite the fact that it's a week later than originally scheduled -- due to the government shutdown -- tonight's SOTU will have all the pomp and circumstance of past addresses. There will be standing ovations. There will be paeans to bipartisanship. There will be pre- and post-buttals.
Here are 5 things to keep an eye on.
1. Does Trump use the word "wall"? The sticking point in the ongoing negotiations over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (and other parts of the government) comes down to this: Will Trump accept a deal that doesn't provide money for a border wall? While he's said in the past that he doesn't care if it's called a "wall" or "Peaches," of late Trump has demanded money be earmarked for a "wall." Does that change?
2. Do Republicans *not* applaud Trump at any point? Typically, these speeches are a cheer-fest for the party that controls the White House. If the President burps, his party gives him a standing O. But in recent weeks, congressional Republicans have broken with Trump -- most notably over his plan to pull American troops out of Syria. If Trump touts that decision, do Republicans sit on their hands?
3. Does Trump make ANY policy concession to Democrats? "Bipartisanship" is just a word. It means nothing without action -- or at least the possibility of action. Does Trump throw Democrats a bipartisan bone -- maybe on lowering prescription drug costs or on infrastructure spending? Or just tell them to, uh, be more bipartisan?
4. What's Trump's BIG idea for 2019? The SOTU is usually the chance for a president to take some big swings on issues he wants the Congress to focus on over the next year. What's the one big ask Trump makes from a policy perspective? Space Force? ("Mars Awaits!") Or is it the pre-leaked proposal to eliminate HIV transmissions by 2030? Something else?
5. Does Trump stray from the teleprompter? If there is one speech he gives every year where Trump has, generally, stuck to the prewritten text, it's the SOTU. Freelancing is his way, but it's hard to go too off-topic in a speech that usually runs for the better part of an hour. That said, Trump is an impulsive guy -- and if he's not getting the response he wants on, say, his wall proposal, he could call an audible.
The Point: Trump, for all his anti-establishment tendencies, loves the SOTU -- because the eyes of the country (or at least the political world) are on him. For a performer like Trump, this is a HUGE opportunity.
--Chris
PS: Check out CNN.com after the speech for my big takeaways from the Trump State of the Union address! | | "I got a boo."
-- 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a longtime bachelor, confirming in a radio interview Tuesday that he has a girlfriend. | | | With every guest ticket to the State of the Union comes the opportunity to publicize an issue close to someone's heart.
And boy, do we have some noteworthy invitees this year: - Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King invited one-half of the pro-Trump African-American duo Diamond and Silk (Diamond won the coin toss to determine who'd get King's lone guest ticket). King has, um, struggled, with issues around race: In January he was stripped of his committee assignments after racist remarks he made to The New York Times.
- First lady Melania Trump invited a fellow Trump (no relation, though): sixth-grader Joshua Trump, who the White House said has been bullied for his last name.
- New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is bringing another viral star to the chamber: Ana Maria Archila, who confronted then-Sen. Jeff Flake in an elevator over Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination.
- New Jersey Democrat Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman has invited former Trump National Golf Club employee and undocumented immigrant rights activist Victorina Morales.
Want a longer guest list? Check out all the guests compiled here. | |
WHAT IS LOVE? TV DON'T HURT ME | |  | Donald Trump's never-ending love of TV | | It's not surprising that America's first reality TV star-turned-president loves television. How much does he watch? He won't say. But we've got a pretty good idea.
Love The Point? Subscribe on YouTube! | | SDNY is requesting interviews with Trump Organization execs
Nancy Cook on the plan to keep Donald Trump's taxes hidden
Cliff Sims, profiled
The Democrats' zero-tolerance policy in the age of Trump, via Matt Viser
Bernie Sanders fakes a phone call to avoid hard questions
Joe Ricketts, call your office
There's a lot I don't agree with in this Jill Abramson Q and A. But it's an interesting read.
The lonely life of a yacht influencer. Yes, really. | | | This Lucy Dacus cover of Edith Piaf's "La Vie En Rose" is 🔥 | |  | | Today's topic: Why Donald Trump's SOTU speech won't change much. | | HOW MUCH THOSE MAR-A-LAGO TRIPS COST | | $13.6 million -- the total cost racked up by federal agencies for four trips by President Donald Trump to his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago, according to newly released numbers from the GAO.
Which made us wonder: What else costs $13.6 million? - 1,361,361 large cheese Dominos pizzas
- 2,002,945 double Filet-o-fish meals
- 2,781,186 12-can packs of Diet Coke
- 3,809,523 Big Macs (hamberders)
- 3,885,714 gallons of milk
| | Amy Klobuchar: The Minnesota senator is headed to Iowa as she ponders a presidential run, Politico reports.
Cory Booker: The New Jersey senator is also headed to Iowa later this week -- his first visit as a 2020 contender.
Elizabeth Warren: The Massachusetts senator has a big 2020 announcement coming on February 9 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Her post-announcement travel schedule is a big indicator of what she'll say: She's then scheduled to travel to major early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and California.
Bill Weld: The former Libertarian VP candidate has re-registered as a Republican, stirring questions of a potential primary challenge to Trump in 2020.
Beto O'Rourke: Sat down with Oprah this afternoon. | |
STATE OF THE FUN FACTS, PART TWO | | The Point's Brenna Williams is back with more facts on the history of the State of the Union speech, like: - The only time the speech has been postponed after the date was officially set by Congress was in 1986, after the Challenger disaster.
- The practice of selecting a "designated survivor" dates back to at least the 1960s, but they only regularly started making the selection public in the 1980s.
- The last time all nine sitting SCOTUS justices attended the speech was in 1977.
- George Washington delivered the shortest address: 1,089 words. (Shorter than Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart.")
- Jimmy Carter delivered the longest SOTU in writing: 33,667 words. (Longer than George Orwell's "Animal Farm.")
Brenna adds: "I got a lot of very thoughtful reader responses to my trivia question from yesterday. The answer is actually more simple than you'd guess: The most common words (not counting articles, prepositions and conjunctions) are "we" and "our." Are you as shocked as I was? "I" didn't come close! Just a small reminder that no matter where you land on the political spectrum, the union is ours and we are in this together. #deep" | | | | | | |
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