USA Expert: Trump Delivered Perfect Political Theater

121

February 6, 2018

Published in Dagbladet
(Norway) on 31 January 2018
by (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Sean Melrose-Aukema. Edited by Margaret Dalzell.

Trump managed to engage his party colleagues with his first State of the Union address, but the political content was inedible for the Democrats, a United States expert believes. The U.S. president spent a large portion of his 80 minutes at the podium appealing for more unity from the American population and for more cooperation between the country's two major parties. In addition, the president presented a number of suggestions for reform. But the address should not be considered in terms of its political content, according to Søren Rasmussen, U.S. analyst for the Danish political site kongressen.com.

"This was perfect political theater, and we got a president that read directly from the teleprompter with a positive and conciliatory tone," he said. "But there is no doubt the ideas that were presented are completely inedible for the Democrats. Five years ago it would have also been inedible for the Republicans," says Rasmussen. He pointed specifically to Trump's suggestions for immigration compromises. "If the idea was to convince the most important group of people to reach an agreement on immigration - and that's the Democrats - then it failed miserably," said the United States expert.

Trump’s address took place as new polls came to light, showing weakened support for the president. Rasmussen believes this is a large reason why Trump acted in a disciplined way and stuck to the script. "Was it a good presentation? Will it do anything for his popularity? On these points, it was a very successful speech," he says.

USA-kjenner: - Trump leverte perfekt politisk teater

Trump greide å engasjere sine partifeller med sin første State of the Union-tale, men det politiske innholdet var uspiselig for demokratene, mener USA-kjenner.

Den amerikanske presidenten brukte en stor andel av sine 80 minutter på talerstolen til å appellere til mer samhold i den amerikanske befolkningen, og til mer samarbeid mellom landets to store partier.

I tillegg presenterte presidenten en rekke forslag til reformer. Men talen bør ikke vurderes på politisk innhold, mener Søren Dal Rasmussen, som er USA-analytiker for det danske politikknettstedet kongressen.com.

- Dette var perfekt politisk teater, og vi fikk en president som leste direkte fra teleprompteren med en positiv og forsonende tone, sier han.

- Men det er ingen tvil om at de ideene som ble presentert, er fullstendig uspiselige for demokratene. For fem år siden ville de også vært uspiselige for republikanerne, sier Rasmussen.

Han viser spesielt til Trumps forslag til innvandringskompromiss.

- Hvis ideen var å overtale de viktigste personene til å lage en avtale om immigrasjon – og det er demokratene – så mislyktes det kraftig, sier USA-kjenneren.

Trumps tale ble avholdt mens nye målinger viser dårlig oppslutning om presidenten. Rasmussen tror dette er mye av årsaken til at Trump var disiplinert og holdt seg til manus.

- Var det en god presentasjon? Vil det gjøre noe for hans popularitet? På disse punktene var det en veldig vellykket tale, sier han.

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

Hot this week

Block title

Pakistan: Trump’s Gaza Blueprint Unfolds

August 31, 2025. Published in Pakistan Today

These countries ... have demonstrated that moral courage can coexist with diplomacy and that choosing humanity over expediency carries weight on the international stage.