What to Expect from Trump's Upcoming State of the Union

President Donald Trump’s upcoming State of the Union Address Tuesday will likely differ from President Obama’s previous speeches. Trump is expected to boast about the booming economy, the recent government shutdown and healthcare reform.

Taking over the presidential office at the economy’s highest point in years with a Republican grip on the House and Senate, Trump is sitting at much more comfortable spot than Obama during his first State of the Union Address. Inheriting the office in a time when the economy was in shambles, the Obama administration boosted the economy to economy to the state it is in today. With a reputation for boasting, Trump is likely to lay claim on these positive impacts still rippling in from the Obama administration.

Having claimed the creation of 1 million jobs just six months into his presidency, according to The Washington Post, this will not be the first time Trump has falsely attributed Obama’s work to himself. The Washington Post also says Trump’s approach to mentioning the positive state of the economy will likely differ from previous presidents as he is expected to claim full responsibility for the economy rather than distribute credit to Americans and businesses.

Another topic that Trump is expected to double back on is the dropping unemployment rates. Trump has taken credit for the decreasing numbers in the past, despite refuting the legitimacy of these same statistics while Obama was president. According to The Hill, unemployment rates dropped from 9.6 to 4.8 percent over the course of Obama’s two terms, but Trump will likely tout the statistics as one of his main achievements as president.

With the recent government shutdown that ended Monday, Trump is also likely to twist the shutdown into a positive talking point for his administration. He is expected to call the shutdown a success and mock the failed efforts of the Democrats to withhold the efforts of Republicans. Trump is likely to ignore the fact that the shutdown was due to the failure of Republican lawmakers to pass an effective replacement to Obamacare.

One of Trump’s most frequent takedowns of the Obama administration throughout his campaign and presidency has been Obamacare. The inability of Trump’s administration to effectively replace Obama’s healthcare plan after a year in office is a major setback, but Trump is expected to either feign responsibility or accredit the failure to Democrats.

The address is expected to further draw a line in the sand between Republican and Democrats, especially with the address’s placement following the party-line tensions surmounting from the recent shutdown.

“President Trump’s first State of the Union in advance of a midterm election will be comforting to Republicans and contentious to Democrats,” according to an article by The Hill. “This year will bring opposition that will be less than cooperative with a strategy that has drawn battle lines for November.”

Other topics likely to be addressed by Trump are international issues, specifically his recent storm of tweets challenging North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jon-un. Presidents often spend a portion of their State of the State Address expressing the United States current international standing, but Trump’s address is expected to be more pointed than the hopeful nature of Obama’s past addresses.

Mention of coal jobs also poses a chance of popping up during the address as Trump’s promise of coal industry revitalization has been a re-occurring theme in his speeches so far. This is a drastic turn around from Obama’s 2016 State of the State Address in which he proposed a strong future for renewable energy and a move from non-renewable energy sources such as coal.