President Trump’s State of the Union receives mixed reviews

President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union Tuesday night, and while some saw it as a unifying speech, others heard it as just another campaign speech.

“It was built as a unity speech. I think that failed miserably,” says Barry Dill, a partner at FirstStrategic Communications. “I think what happened is the president handed out a bunch of candy tonight. Everyone is on a sugar high. Tomorrow everything is going to crash and we’ll be back to chaos.”

Annie Vogt, associate director at Veridus, believes the speech went very well. Vogt says Trump’s speech was powerful, optimistic and patriotic. It was the rallying Republicans needed, Vogt says, and applauds Trump for trying to reach across the aisle with many of the issues so he could address both Republican and Democratic concerns.

Dill believes Trump’s demeanor shifted when he began talking about immigration, becoming angrier and less cooperative. Vogt, on the other hand, believes immigration “is one of the issues where we’ve seen him mature the most, no only in his views but his leadership and governance on the issue.”

In Vogt’s perspective, Trump showed compassion for Dreamers and was stricter when it came to border security. Dill wishes the president leave the “DACA kids out of the immigration debate” and have a standalone DACA bill instead.

“He was talking about themes that should be bipartisan,” Vogt says. “I would characterize his tone as optimistic.”