W hat could he say? After a disastrous 35-day shutdown of the federal government that put America’s national security, air travel, and food supply at risk and jeopardized the financial stability of hundreds of thousands of federal employees and government contractors.

What was left to say? And, after yet another indictment of someone close to the Trump campaign for obstructing justice, what on earth was Donald Trump going to say about the State of the Union?

Well, he lied. But that’s not unusual. He told of a strong economy, without accurately describing the ticking time bomb he and congressional Republicans set off with a $1.5tn tax cut for the uber wealthy and corporations that blew a hole in the nation’s finances, exploded the deficit, and brought little to none of the promised benefits to middle and working class Americans.

He misrepresented his tariff wars that were supposed to be “easy to win” but which have actually backfired and dried up $12bn of soybean sales, forced Harley Davidson and other companies to either close up shop or move some production out of the US, and helped fuel massive layoffs at GM plants in Ohio and Michigan. Read More

Related news: John Kirby: “Trump needs to think before he speaks”

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