Trump to declare 'New American Moment' — but Hillary Clinton declared one first President Donald Trump seems to have borrowed the catchphrase for his first State of the Union — a “New American Moment” — from an unlikely source: Hillary Clinton. Clinton, whom Trump defeated in the 2016 presidential election, used the phrase in a 2010 speech to herald the foreign policy she was pursuing on behalf of President Barack Obama as secretary of state. That “new American moment” was “a moment when our global leadership is essential, even if we must often lead in new ways,” she said. By contrast, Trump’s “new American moment” is a distillation of the success he believes he’s had on the domestic front. “This is our New American Moment,” Trump will say after lauding his signature tax cut law, according to advance excerpts of his speech released by the White House. “There has never been a better time to start living the American dream.” Share this -







News analysis: Trump talks unity, sows division in address President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address was billed by the White House beforehand as a speech that would be "unifying" and "bipartisan." It was neither. A relatively sedate Trump poked seated and silent Democrats in the House chamber — and their constituents — with partisan jabs on Obamacare, immigration, gun rights, respect for the American flag and other issues that have generated fierce friction since he took office. READ MORE Share this -







Bernie Sanders has thoughts about Trump's speech Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., blasted the president as "compulsively dishonest" and a "bully" during his rebuttal to Tuesday night's State of the Union address. In his response, which was separate from the official Democratic rebuttal to Trump, Sanders also slammed the president as someone "who actively represents the interests of the billionaire class, who is anti-science, and who is trying to divide us up based on the color of our skin, our nation of origin, our religion, our gender, or our sexual orientation." The Vermont senator also hit Trump for barely mentioning Russia in his speech. "How can he not talk about the reality that Russia, through cyberwarfare, interfered in our election in 2016, is interfering in democratic elections all over the world, and according to his own CIA director will likely interfere in the 2018 midterm elections that we will be holding?" Sanders said. "How do you not talk about that unless you have a very special relationship with Mr. Putin?" Share this -







Trump overheard saying he will release Nunes memo As he exited the House Chamber Tuesday night, President Donald Trump seemed to guarantee a Republican congressman that he would release a classified memo believed to show the FBI abused its surveillance program. Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., who waited hours to guarantee an aisle seat that would allow him to greet the president, can clearly be heard telling Trump to “release the memo.” The memo was produced by House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes. “Don’t worry. One hundred percent,” Trump can be heard saying. However, earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that “there are no current plans to release the House Intelligence Committee’s memo." She added, "The president has not seen or been briefed on the memo or reviewed its contents.” Trump overheard saying he will release Nunes memo Jan. 31, 2018 00:23 Share this -







Most used words in State of the Union? Immigration, terror, North Korea While Trump's speech was the third-longest in modern history, he returned to specific words and themes repeatedly. Here are some of his most frequently mentioned words: Build/building: 14 Immigration/immigrant/s: 11 Terror/terrorism/terrorist: 9 Free/freedom: 9 Tax cut/reform: 7 North Korea: 7 Jobs: 6 ISIS: 6 Gang/s: 5 Criminals: 4 MS-13: 4 Trade: 4 Similarly, there were some words and themes that Trump's mentioned only sparingly, despite their having made headlines throughout his first year in office... Obamacare: 1 Russia: 1 (but only in the context of “rivals” like China) Syria: 1 Iraq: 1 WALL: 1 Debt: 0 Deficit: 1 (but only in the context of what he called the “infrastructure deficit”) Spending: 0 (in the context of government spending) Share this -







Partisan reactions pour in after speech Initial reactions to the president's speech were predictably partisan, with Democrats largely focusing on the uncertain path ahead for immigration reform and Republicans latching on to Trump's uncharacteristically serious and presidential tone. Share this -







Fact check: Has the U.S. released terrorists only to meet them later on the battlefield? "In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds of dangerous terrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield — including the ISIS leader, al-Baghdadi," Trump said, before announcing an order directing that the detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay be kept open. Trump is correct, though the trend fell dramatically under former President Barack Obama. However, his claim that the U.S. released the man who would become the leader of ISIS is somewhat misleading. The man known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was released into Iraqi custody in 2004 — not set free by the U.S. According to a March 2017 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 121 former detainees of the U.S. detention facility in Cuba were confirmed to have returned to terrorist activities. Another 87 were suspected of reengaging with terrorist activities, the report showed. Of the 121 who were confirmed to have returned to terrorism, 113 would have been released during the George W. Bush presidency. Of the 87 suspected of reengaging with terrorism, 74 would have been released during the George W. Bush presidency. Share this -







Fact check: Trump's right, ISIS did lose almost all its territory in Iraq and Syria “One year later, I am proud to report that the coalition to defeat ISIS has liberated almost 100 percent of the territory once held by these killers in Iraq and Syria. But there is much more work to be done,” Trump said. This is true. By early December, the Pentagon said 97 percent of ISIS-held territory in Iraq and Syria had been liberated. Now, analysts tell NBC News, the threat the U.S. must fight is dangerous lone wolf attacks and resurgences of the extremist group if forces do not continue to stamp it out. Share this -





