Trump’s address, what a ripper

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s boorish disregard for longstanding convention in ripping up Donald Trump’s State of the Union address says much about the frustration Democrats feel after their beleaguered party’s embarrassing debacle in the Iowa caucuses. But her deplorable display of rudeness is unlikely to do much to dent the strong case Mr Trump made for another four years in the White House. The President is never reticent when it comes to hyperbole. Even his most committed adversaries will find it hard, however, to argue against his assertion that after three years of what he calls the great American comeback, “Jobs are booming. Incomes are soaring. Poverty is plummeting. Crime is falling. Confidence is surging. And our country is thriving and highly respected again! America’s enemies are on the run, America’s fortunes are on the rise, and America’s future is blazing bright.”

He was always going to use the address — his third — to launch his campaign for re-election on November 3. It has to be seen as the opening shots in the campaign. Ms Pelosi’s display of grumpiness and the ill-will between them notwithstanding (he declined to shake hands with her), it says much about the President’s optimism that he felt able to deliver such a buoyant assessment of his achievements in a bitterly divided House of Representatives which, under her leadership, made him only the third US president to be impeached.

Anyone who thought Mr Trump would be cowed or chastened was, however, always going to be wrong. On the eve of his acquittal by the US Senate of all the charges brought by Ms Pelosi and her colleagues, a new Gallup poll showed his approval rating among all voters at 49 per cent, the highest of his presidency; his approval among Republicans is at a remarkable 94 per cent. Support even among independent voters is up 5 per cent. So much for the Democrats’ impeachment gambit. Unlike Bill Clinton in 1999 after he was impeached over Monica Lewinsky, Mr Trump carefully avoided saying anything about impeachment or Ukraine, treating it with the disdain he has adopted from the time Ms Pelosi launched her campaign to short-circuit his presidency. He was right to do so. Despite his many flaws, Mr Trump, as his address showed, has much to skite about as he sets about seeking re-election. As he said, “in just three short years, we have shattered the mentality of American decline, and we have rejected the downsizing of America’s destiny. We are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago, and we are never going back.”

Mr Trump boasted the US economy “is the best it has ever been”. He said the nation’s military is “completely rebuilt, with its power unmatched anywhere in the world”. US borders were secure and American families flourishing. “Our values are renewed,” he said to cheers. “Our pride is restored. And for all these reasons, I say to the people of our great country: The state of our union is stronger than ever before.” The contrast with his inauguration address in 2017 when he spoke of “American carnage” in articulating his case to “Make America Great” was telling. Such an exposition of achievement — creating seven million new jobs, getting wages growth of 16 per cent for low-paid workers, and seeing stockmarkets soar by 70 per cent — is one Democrats will have a hard time countering.

Democrats are unlikely to have much hope against Mr Trump until they recognise the centrality of the economy. As well, their chaos in Iowa shows the extent of their disarray. That an inexperienced former local mayor, Pete Buttigieg, and leftist candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren took the first three spots underlines the party’s woes. Mr Trump is benefiting from growing confidence among voters about the economy. Support for impeachment is in sharp decline. Caution is needed, of course. When things are going well for him, Mr Trump frequently shoots himself in the foot. But he has kept his promises. The final irony for Ms Pelosi will be if it turns out that her miscalculation over impeachment, and her shameful behaviour during the State of the Union, help him win in November.