Donald trump is firmly on the 2020 stump

The US President has kick-started his campaign for re-election.

Donald Trump takes a break from his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday to play conductor as people sing Happy Birthday to Holocaust survivor Judah Samet, 81. Picture: AP

Donald Trump has moved into election mode, announcing the first “Make America Great Again” rally of the year a day after a giving State of the Union address filled with campaign-style pledges.

The US President is increasingly focused on his 2020 re-election bid and countering investigations of the administration.

Following Wednesday’s speech, Trump’s re-election campaign announced an event in El Paso, Texas, for Monday.

He referred to the city in his address as he made his case for a border barrier, noting that El Paso already had one.

El Paso is also the birthplace and stronghold of Beto O’Rourke, a rising Democratic star and ­potential presidential candidate.

Trump’s second State of the Union address stood in contrast to his freewheeling, combative rally speeches, offering a glimpse of a seasoned politician whose policy agenda echoed that of his party — and whose priorities appear to be tuned to 2020.

Trump didn’t use Wednesday’s platform to roll out any sweeping policy initiatives, as many of his predecessors have done.

Instead, he turned to an array of issues that he vowed to address in the second half of his term: blocking late-term abortion, lowering drug prices, battling childhood cancer and eradicating HIV.

At times, Trump manoeuvred between talking points aimed at shoring up his base and those aimed at expanding it.

He denounced the “new calls to adopt socialism in our country,” a jab at those within the Democratic Party who have advocated for democratic socialism, such as senator Bernie Sanders and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cor­tez, another Democrat rising star.

House Republican leaders praised the moment yesterday. Republican house minority leader Kevin McCarthy called it Trump’s “strongest statement” of the night. McCarthy also supported Trump’s call for a ban on late-term abortion, a priority issue for many conservative voters, after debates over state abortion laws in New York and Virginia made ­national news.

Trump also emphasised economic hallmarks during his administration, such as the falling jobless rate for African-Americans and Latinos, and praised the record number of women elected to congress, drawing cheers from Democrats.

A number of Democrats who have announced bids for the presidential nomination were in the House of Representatives chamber, including senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand.

Photos of Harris and Gillibrand looking exasperated during the President’s speech were spread by supporters yesterday.

Democratic house Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday called Trump’s speech interesting and pointed to areas where she thought she could work with the President, such as lowering healthcare costs and improving the nation’s infrastructure.

However, she said she interpreted Trump’s suggestion that legislators couldn’t advance legislation amid what he called “ridiculous partisan investigations” into his administration as a threat against the Democratic agenda.

“The President should not bring threats to the floor of the house,” she said. “He said he wasn’t going to co-operate unless we didn’t exercise our constitutional responsibility to oversight.”

The House Intelligence Committee yesterday said it was reopening its probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and said the investigation’s scope would include questions about possible leverage of foreign governments over Trump.

The committee’s new chairman, Democrat Adam Schiff, said in a statement that the panel had seen credible reports of money laundering and financial leverage and intended to pursue those leads aggressively.

Trump lashed out at Schiff yesterday, calling him a “political hack” who has “no basis” for investigating.

“It’s called presidential harassment,” he said.

GOP senators said they appreciated Trump’s more diplomatic tone in the address, although they acknowledged it might not determine how much legislation can clear the divided congress this year.

“I think Ms Pelosi’s going to decide whether anything gets passed,” said Republican senator John Cornyn.

“But it’s a positive message that appeals to the public generally and will help the President in his run-up to 2020.”

The Wall Street Journal