NPR: “Russia’s defense minister ordered work to begin on new land-based intermediate range missiles Tuesday, to be ready within two years. The move comes in response to the U.S. decision to pull out of a key nuclear arms treaty that symbolized the end of the Cold War.”
Trump Previews His 2020 Message
Politico: “In an 82-minute speech to Congress Tuesday, Trump boastfully claimed a long list of accomplishments likely to form the contours of his campaign to reclaim the White House: An economic turnaround. Trade agreements to help American workers. Criminal justice reform. Defeating the Islamic State and concluding ‘endless wars.’”
Mike Allen: American First vs. Socialism.
Warren Battles Her Own Words
Rick Klein: “For a candidate who’s not even technically a candidate yet, Sen. Elizabeth Warren has done a whole lot of battling with herself. This time two words, in Warren’s own handwriting, are forcing her to explain herself. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that, in registering for the Texas bar in 1986, Warren wrote in for race: ‘American Indian.'”
“The problem for Warren isn’t just that she walked into something of a trap set by President Trump, with her DNA test and decision to litigate her heritage. The president’s racist taunts remain far worse than anything supposed offense by Warren regarding her ethnicity.”
“The problem is that in this era where authenticity is at a premium — where the clamor for Beto O’Rourke grows in his absence, to cite one example — Warren’s most important battle may be over how she defines herself. That’s a tough argument to win.”
Northam Mulls Leaving Democratic Party
Washington Post: “Over the past several days, he has even toyed with the idea of leaving the Democratic Party and governing as an independent — a sign of the degree that he is isolated from every political ally, from his state party and from the national party.”
Still the Party of Trump
Washington Post: “Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, with thunderous applause and gushing accolades from Republicans, offered a reminder that, for all their policy differences and frustrations, the GOP is still very much the party of Trump.”
USA Today: Republicans across the country cheer Trump’s speech.
A Weird Vibe at the State of the Union
Playbook: “There was definitely a weird vibe. It seemed a tad bit emptier than usual. Just two Democrats sat on the aisle to greet the president. Democrats chatted during parts of the speech. They barely stood, even when the president rattled off statistics about the growing economy that would’ve, in other years, had both sides on their feet.”
“The depleted House Republican minority was on its feet frequently, chanting and cheering, hooting and hollering months after their 40-seat loss. They were especially inspired when the president said there could not be ‘ridiculous, partisan investigations’ into his administration, perhaps forgetting that they investigated Barack Obama in ways that could be described in similar words.”
Los Angeles Times: “In his 1 hour, 22 minute speech to a joint session of Congress — one of the longest on record — Trump addressed two audiences and tried to accomplish two goals at odds with each other. Even as he exhorted members of Congress to come together on an agenda of shared legislative interests, he provoked Democrats on immigration, abortion and investigations of his administration.”
Politico: “President Donald Trump urged bipartisanship during his State of the Union address Tuesday. Then he promptly called for Democrats to help him build a border wall, enact a new abortion ban and preemptively end the House’s investigations. Needless to say, it did not go over well.”
Making Sense of Trump’s Zig-Zagging Speech
John Harris: “President Trump’s State of the Union address, as it unfolded, was a dizzying and even disorienting experience, a cascade of rhetorical passages that seemed to contradict each other every few moments.”
“Appeals for unity and bipartisanship jostled with ideological and cultural scab-picking. Theatrics used by all modern presidents to swell the heart or moisten the eye — We are joined in the gallery tonight by… — were followed by the honking boasts of a MAGA rally.”
“At first blush this all may have seemed like incoherence, as though the speech was a composite of recommendations from warring factions, every zig offset by a whiplashing zag. But taken as a whole, the address revealed a clear strategic purpose — one designed to revive and strengthen the ideological connection between the Trump of 2019 with the Trump who first began his astonishingly effective takeover of the Republican Party four years ago.”
The State of the Union Address
President Trump will deliver his State of the Union address in the chamber of the House of Representatives at 9 p.m. ET.
Stacey Abrams (D), who lost her bid for Georgia governor last year, will give the Democratic response. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will give his own response after Abrams, according to Vox.
The New York Times has live updates.
Leave your reactions in the comments.
Video Shows Trump Meeting with Russian Officials in 1995
A new video shows President Trump meeting with former Russian officials in Moscow in 1995 to discuss building an underground mall, the Independent reports.
“Mr Trump’s reported meeting with Moscow officials in 1995 and the newly-unearthed footage does not show any clear wrongdoing on the part of the president. It does, however, refute the notion that he had zero dealings in Russia before assuming the White House in 2016 — a frequent claim made by Mr Trump and his inner circle.”
Trump Ripped Democrats at Lunch with News Anchors
“For public consumption, President Trump planned to use his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to appeal for bipartisan unity. But at a private lunch for television anchors earlier in the day he offered searing assessments of a host of Democrats,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Trump dismissed former Vice President Joe Biden as ‘dumb,’ called Senator Chuck Schumer of New York a ‘nasty son of a bitch’ and mocked Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia for ‘choking like a dog’ at a news conference where he tried to explain a racist yearbook photo.”
Warren Claimed Indian Heritage for the State of Texas Bar
Using an open records request during a general inquiry, the Washington Post obtained Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) registration card for the State Bar of Texas, providing a previously undisclosed example of Warren identifying as an “American Indian.”
“Warren filled out the card by hand in neat blue ink and signed it. Dated April 1986, it is the first document to surface showing Warren making the claim in her own handwriting. Her office didn’t dispute its authenticity.”
Trump Inaugural Chair Sought to Profit from Event
“The investment firm founded by the chairman of Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, Tom Barrack, developed a plan to profit off its connections to the incoming administration and foreign dignitaries,” according to a confidential memo obtained by ProPublica.
From the memo: “The key is to strategically cultivate domestic and international relations while avoiding any appearance of lobbying.”
Beto O’Rourke Will Decide By End of Month
“Beto O’Rourke, the Texas Democrat whose near miss Senate bid last yearcatapulted him to national fame, said on Tuesday that he would decide by the end of February whether to run for president in 2020,” the New York Times reports.
“Unlike many prospective rivals — who have either declared their intentions or are taking more traditional steps toward a run, like building campaigns-in-waiting and assembling early-state teams — Mr. O’Rourke has done little formal preparation for a bid. Instead, he has driven around the country, alone, interacting with strangers and publishing journal entries online about his travels.”
Democrats Revive Push to Make Mueller Report Public
“House Democrats plan to move quickly to protect special counsel Robert Mueller and ensure his findings are made public, in their first move since taking power to confront the White House over the Russia investigation,” Politico reports.
“Still undetermined, however, is whether Democrats would pass a combined package or one measure to prevent President Trump from firing Mueller and another to ensure the release of his final report.”
Trump Said Early Drafts Were ‘Too Gentle’ on Democrats
“President Trump is to deliver what aides called a message of bipartisan unity on Tuesday night in his first address to Congress in the new era of divided government, but any hope of harmony was dispelled long before he left the White House,” the New York Times reports.
“The president and Democrats spent the hours before his State of the Union address exchanging political fire, making clear that whatever ritualistic calls for across-the-aisle cooperation he would issue later in the evening were unlikely to transform an environment that has turned increasingly toxic.”
“Still stung by his failure to use a partial government shutdown to pressure Congress into paying for his border wall, Mr. Trump has hardly been in the mood for collaboration with the other party, anyway. As he and his team have drafted his address in recent days, he has groused about the text, complaining that it is too gentle on Democrats.”
Pelosi and Democrats Send Their Own Message to Trump
“She won’t be delivering a speech, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be sharing the spotlight Tuesday night as President Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a newly divided Congress that is likely to be skeptical of his agenda,” the Washington Post reports.
“While Trump will have the microphone, Pelosi and her fellow House Democrats are using the occasion to send messages of their own — largely through the guests they have invited to the House chamber for the speech.”
Axios reports House Democratic women are wearing “suffragette white” tonight.
GOP Lawmakers Told to Play Up Crimes by Immigrants
“House Republican lawmakers are being encouraged by their party’s leadership to play up gruesome murders, rapes, and other crimes committed by undocumented immigrants in the United States,” according to The Intercept.
“In a newsletter sent on Friday, House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) provided the caucus and staff with a messaging update that compiled immigrant crimes by date and congressional district. The newsletter is used by the GOP caucus to provide talking points and messaging guidance.”
Prosecutors Seek Interviews with Trump Executives
“Federal prosecutors in New York have requested interviews in recent weeks with executives at the Trump Organization, signaling a growing potential threat to President Trump and those in his orbit from criminal investigations by the Manhattan US Attorney’s office,” CNN reports.
“Trump and his legal team have long harbored concerns that investigations by New York federal prosecutors — which could last throughout his presidency — may ultimately pose more danger to him, his family and his allies than the inquiry by special counsel Robert Mueller… Prosecutors’ recent interest in executives at Trump’s family company may intensify those fears.”
