Trump's Congress address marks change in tone but it might not be the makings of a 'new' Donald
Updated
It was all pomp, ceremony and snipers on rooftops in Washington, DC, this week as the US President gave his first speech to Congress in a kind of replacement State of the Union.
It was all about unity, teamwork and bipartisanship to "Make America Great Again" and marked a drastic change in tone compared with the inauguration speech, when the incoming Commander in Chief was pretty darn negative about the state of the nation.
Even Van Jones, usually an ardent critic of Donald Trump, says it was one of the most "extraordinary moments in American politics":
However the former speechwriter for George W Bush, David Frum, says Mr Trump has set such a low bar that it was easy to impress:
And many are waiting to see if the speech was a one-off or the makings of a "new" Donald.
Some would say he was fresher than Paul Ryan's gum:
Or Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross's $500 slippers:
But seriously, it's worth noting that the President has previously shown himself to be more than capable of adopting a statesmanlike tone in a formal setting, particularly when reading from an autocue.
That doesn't mean he won't revert to his rally cry to the people style next time the crowd demands it.
Was there any softening of policy in the speech?
No. Here's a good wrap from the New York Times which described it as "soothing comfort food" for a country that's been experiencing some post-election heartburn of late.
Speaking of which, last Friday Mr Trump said:
"I like Campbell's Soup!"
The second time in the past week he's expressed his love of Campbell's soup. Good soup.
Was Trump practicing his speech in a limo?
The joint session was such a big speech for the President that he (seemingly) felt the need to practice beforehand:
What was he saying? Well, the folks at Bad Lip Reading have taken a stab:
What a nerd.
Wearing white for women's suffrage movement
Democrats were silent for the most part so no Bad Lip Reading opportunities there — but the female members of the party stood out in white for the women's suffrage movement:
And Steve Beshear, the former Kentucky governor who gave the official Democratic reply, took the calls for bipartisanship a little too far:
The messaging from the Democrats should improve now the party's finally elected its new chairman, Tom Perez.
In a tight vote over the weekend, the Obama-Clinton-backed Mr Perez narrowly edged the Bernie Bro, Keith Ellison:
The role is about fundraising first and foremost — but after the 2016 election loss and a growing chasm between the Clinton-wing and the Bernie-faction of the party, this was about unity.
That's why Mr Perez chose Mr Ellison to be his deputy — and the two are dead-set on being the best of friends:
Mr Trump was quick to congratulate Mr Perez (albeit a little disingenuously) over the weekend — and things escalated between the two pretty quickly:
Which leads us to this week's sign of the week:
The LA Times is giving you the chance to draw your own sign.
Here are some examples if you're looking for inspiration.
As mentioned above, the President's speech to Congress was a stark contrast from his usual serve of doom and gloom — and attacks on the media — which he delivered with both barrels at CPAC last week:
His actions spoke louder than words when, that afternoon, journalists from organisations that have doggedly pursued the links between the Trump Administration and Russia were excluded from a press briefing.
Those news organisations fought back:
Meanwhile, the NRA replied to the New York Times' new "truth" campaign with an ad of its own:
The President says any sense of chaos, by the way, is a media invention. The latest hint of it came this week with swirling controversy around Attorney-General Jeff Sessions and his meetings with the Russian ambassador during the campaign.
And the A-G did recuse himself from investigations involving the Trump election campaign, although denied wrongdoing over the fact that he didn't reveal the meetings when asked under oath during confirmation hearings.
When it comes to managing the media, Bush's advice is:
And then a new exhibit of water colour paintings.
As for #44...
Well, after landing a book deal worth more than $60 million, Barry got a Starbucks and took Malia to see some Broadway in New York.
Meanwhile, Michelle is back in DC visiting schools:
Mr Trump is now 40-odd days into his presidency.
It's time to start casting ahead to 2020's election, right?
Well Kanye, you might have competition:
Where's Bernie?
Fighting back, throwing shade and having a blast doing it — so it seems.
Check out his reaction when he heard Mr Trump marvel at the complexities of health care:
He also won this round with Mr Trump on Twitter this week:
Mr Trump, feeling the 'Bern.
By the numbers
$US54 billion — that's the amount the Trump administration wants to increase military spending by in his first budget.
Where will the $54 billion come from? Other departments. Particularly at risk: Foreign Aid, the State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Just for some perspective on US military spending:
Headline of the week:
The New York Post delivered this gem after Mr Trump's speech to Congress:
Here's a Twitter parody account playing the long game:
Like, really long:
Speaking of long, that's week six of Trump's America folks!
Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, donald-trump, united-states
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