What you need to know from President Trump’s first State Of The Union address

Last night, President Trump took the podium on Capitol Hill, and gave the first State Of The Union address of his presidency. The speech sought to ignite a spark of unity in the American people, as he addressed a number of topics regarding our nation, including immigration, the economy, and our national security.

Congress is faced with a March 5th deadline to come up with new legislation that will protect those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. In his speech, President Trump outlined the ways he wants to eventually overhaul legal immigration policies, paving the way for over 1.8 million undocumented immigrants to achieve their citizenship. He said, “My duty, and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber, is to defend Americans — to protect their safety, their families, their communities, and their right to the American dream. Because Americans are dreamers too.”

This was met with boos from the Democrats in the room, who have not been satisfied with President Trump’s stance on immigration since taking office. This spells out the difficulties Congress is faced with in reaching a bipartisan deal. Addressing the discontent from Democrats, Trump said, “Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve.”

Continuing on with defending his immigration policies, Trump pointed out several guests in the room whose children had been killed by the MS-13 gang, which operates throughout the country and Mexico. He called on to Congress to “finally close the deadly loopholes that have allowed MS-13, and other criminals, to break into our country.”

He went on to add “For decades, open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities. They’ve allowed millions of low-wage workers to compete for jobs and wages against the poorest Americans. Most tragically, they have caused the loss of many innocent lives.” This was met with tears from the families in attendance who were affected by the senseless violence.

Trump touched on the economic prosperity and success of his GOP tax plan which was passed last month, marking it as the greatest underlying achievement of his first year in office. He also called for a new $1.5 trillion package to rebuild America’s infrastructure.

“We built the Empire State Building in just one year. Isn’t it a disgrace that it can now take 10 years just to get a minor permit approved for the building of a simple road?” Trump challenged.  “I am asking both parties to come together to give us the safe, fast, reliable, and modern infrastructure that our economy needs and our people deserve.”

Trump also promoted his administration’s success in fighting ISIS and maintaining a tight level of national security. He called for an increase in military spending in order to “modernize and rebuild” our nuclear arsenal in order to make it stronger than ever “to deter any acts of aggression.” He cited North Korea as being the most prominent nuclear threat our country faced, saying their “reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland.” He addressed several guests in the room, including the parents of Otto Warmbier, a college student who was detained in North Korea and sent home after being badly injured, where he passed away soon after.