US President Donald Trump outlined his immigration reform plan, declared a victory over the “Islamic State,” and announced he would keep Guantanamo Bay prison open. DW looks at the key points of his first major address.
In his first State of the Union address, President Donald Trump extolled the successes of his tenure, while brushing off the scandals that have plagued his administration.
“Over the last year, the world has seen what we always knew – that no people on Earth are so fearless or daring or determined as Americans. If there is a mountain, we climb it. If there is a frontier, we cross it. If there is a challenge, we tame it,” he said.
In a speech that lasted nearly 90 minutes, Trump called on the country to unite as “one American family.”
Immigration plan
Trump spent the bulk of his speech addressing domestic topics, the most prominent of which centered around US immigration reform. Trump called for a “four-pillared” plan: “generously” offering a path to citizenship for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, securing the border with “our great wall,” ending the visa lottery system and ending “chain migration.” He added that “Americans are dreamers too” — referring to the “Dreamers” nickname of DACA recipients.
NAFTA
After pulling the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and threatening to leave the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2017, Trump claimed that “the era of economic surrender is totally over. From now on, we expect trading relationships to be fair. And very importantly, reciprocal.”
Nuclear renewal
Trump said America needs to modernize and rebuild its nuclear arsenal as a deterrent, “hoping never to use it.” He named China and Russia as countries “that challenge American values.”
‘Islamic State’
Trump used his speech to declare a victory over the “Islamic State,” saying that a coalition has “liberated almost 100 percent of the territory once held by these killers in Iraq and Syria.” However, he added that America will continue its “fight until ISIS is defeated,” using another name for the militants.
Guantanamo Bay
Trump announced that he has signed an executive order to keep Guantanamo Bay prison open, saying America needed to “continue to have all necessary powers to detain terrorists wherever we chase them down.”
Iran protests
Trump lauded recent protests in Iran against “a corrupt dictatorship,” adding that “America stands with the people of Iran in their courageous struggle for freedom.” He also called on Congress to address the Iran nuclear deal.