Twitter Trump vs. TelePrompter Trump

James Hohmann: “The president has proven adept at reading from a script when the moment calls for some self-discipline. It is a very low bar but one that he’s learned to clear. In his maiden speech to a joint session of Congress, Teleprompter Trump delivered. Republicans who have been backing him up on the Hill breathed a sigh of relief.”

“Trump concerns himself primarily with the performance aspects of politics, which is why he can rise to the occasion during events like the one last night. The open question of his presidency is who will control the substance. And last night’s speech offered some important clues.”

“The preparation of any State of the Union style-address always involves a lot of cooks in the kitchen, no matter who the president is. Everyone in the White House and every cabinet secretary wants shot-outs for their priorities and pet projects, which is why these speeches often grow so long and usually turn into unmemorable exercises in box-checking. If you listened carefully as Trump spoke, you could hear the voices of a few of his top aides, but none more so than chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, as channeled by Stephen Miller, and Ivanka Trump.”