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| Trump Grades His Presidency With an ‘A.’ One Democrat Plans a Shunning. | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The State of the Union is … not happening this year, technically. But in a prime-time address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, President Trump is expected to deliver the equivalent: a speech intended to set the course for his near-term policy agenda and mollify concerns on Capitol Hill after his uneven first month in office. | |
| ■ Mr. Trump’s address is scheduled to begin shortly after 9 p.m. The New York Times will be providing live coverage. | ■ Mr. Trump’s address is scheduled to begin shortly after 9 p.m. The New York Times will be providing live coverage. |
| ■ The president tries to set the tone in an early-morning interview on “Fox and Friends.” He gives himself a grade of A so far. | ■ The president tries to set the tone in an early-morning interview on “Fox and Friends.” He gives himself a grade of A so far. |
| ■ Representative Eliot L. Engel, Democrat of New York, said he would break a nearly 30-year streak and not try to greet the president, citing policy differences. | ■ Representative Eliot L. Engel, Democrat of New York, said he would break a nearly 30-year streak and not try to greet the president, citing policy differences. |
| Here is what to keep an eye on: | Here is what to keep an eye on: |
| Mr. Trump gave his presidency an A so far in an interview broadcast Tuesday morning, but he added that he would only give himself a C for communicating how great he has been. | |
| Appearing on “Fox and Friends,” which he has called one of his favorite shows, Mr. Trump blamed former President Barack Obama for organizing opposition against him, called Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, “incompetent” and gently criticized his own press secretary for how he has handled leaks. | |
| The interview, shown just hours before Mr. Trump was to deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress, set the stage for a day when he will have perhaps the biggest audience available to him for the rest of his first year in office. He highlighted his plans to increase military spending, tighten borders and replace Mr. Obama’s health care program, and he boasted that he had already brought back jobs to America. | |
| “I think I’ve done great things, but I don’t think I have — I and my people — I don’t think we’ve explained it well enough to the American public,” he said. “I think I get an A in terms of what I’ve actually done, but in terms of messaging, I’d give myself a C or a C-plus.” | “I think I’ve done great things, but I don’t think I have — I and my people — I don’t think we’ve explained it well enough to the American public,” he said. “I think I get an A in terms of what I’ve actually done, but in terms of messaging, I’d give myself a C or a C-plus.” |
| He acknowledged that he did not have the support of a majority of Americans in polls, but he said those who do back him were more intense. “The love is great,” he said. “And I saw a poll where I was at 45 or 46 percent, but one of the things they said is that the level of enthusiasm for me is as strong as they’ve ever seen.” | |
| Mr. Trump rejected criticism by Ms. Pelosi, who said that for all the sound and fury, the president had not actually accomplished much in his first month in office. “I’ve been watching Nancy’s tape, and so I think she’s incompetent, actually,” Mr. Trump said. | |
| Asked by the Fox hosts if he thought Mr. Obama was responsible for some of the protests against his policies, Mr. Trump agreed but brushed it off. “I think he is behind it,” he said. “I also think it’s politics,” adding, “And look, I have a very thick skin.” | |
| Mr. Trump, who has railed against leaks, said some of them had probably come from holdovers from the Obama administration. But he said his press secretary, Sean Spicer, was wrong to have brought a group of staff members into his office and inspect their cellphones in the presence of White House lawyers. | |
| “Sean Spicer is a fine human being; he’s a fine person,” Mr. Trump said. “I would have done it differently. I would have gone one-on-one with different people.” He added: “I would have handled it differently than Sean. But Sean handles it his way, and I’m O.K. with it.” | “Sean Spicer is a fine human being; he’s a fine person,” Mr. Trump said. “I would have done it differently. I would have gone one-on-one with different people.” He added: “I would have handled it differently than Sean. But Sean handles it his way, and I’m O.K. with it.” |
| It is a complicated time to be a Republican in Congress. Long-promised plans to dismantle the Affordable Care Act have hit roadblocks, despite the party’s control of the White House and both congressional chambers. Town hall-style events back home have drawn simmering fury from voters displeased with the administration’s early direction. | It is a complicated time to be a Republican in Congress. Long-promised plans to dismantle the Affordable Care Act have hit roadblocks, despite the party’s control of the White House and both congressional chambers. Town hall-style events back home have drawn simmering fury from voters displeased with the administration’s early direction. |
| Now, lawmakers are looking to the speech as a moment for Mr. Trump to steady himself, and his allies, as they prepare to slog through a period of turning campaign promises into legislation. | |
| Tax overhaul? The border wall? Repealing the health care law? It is unlikely that the president will offer all the specifics that some members are seeking. But the administration’s broad budget outline this week did offer a preview: Mr. Trump is calling for sharp increases in military spending and drastic cuts to domestic agencies. | |
| For almost three decades, Representative Eliot L. Engel, a New York Democrat, has stood along the aisle of the House chamber for every presidential address to Congress, waiting to shake the president’s hand. | For almost three decades, Representative Eliot L. Engel, a New York Democrat, has stood along the aisle of the House chamber for every presidential address to Congress, waiting to shake the president’s hand. |
| But on Tuesday evening, Mr. Trump will become the first president since 1989 to not receive a greeting from Mr. Engel. | But on Tuesday evening, Mr. Trump will become the first president since 1989 to not receive a greeting from Mr. Engel. |
| As curious reporters mused whether Mr. Engel would repeat his annual ritual of claiming his seat long before the address begins, the lawmaker bypassed the prime empty aisle seat and a chance to shake hands with his fellow New Yorker. | |
| Among other disagreements that factored into his decision to skip the handshake, Mr. Engel said, were Mr. Trump’s unwillingness to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election and his attacks on the news media. | |
| “The president needs to work with all people,” Mr. Engel said. “And therefore I will listen to what he has to say today, but I will not greet him and shake his hand.” | “The president needs to work with all people,” Mr. Engel said. “And therefore I will listen to what he has to say today, but I will not greet him and shake his hand.” |
| Mr. Engel, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, has been among Mr. Trump’s most vocal critics in the House, pressing for further investigations into the administration’s ties to Russia. In January Mr. Engel introduced legislation that would punish any foreign entity found to have intervened in a federal election. | |
| Some Democrats planned to make a statement with their wardrobe as well: A group of female members planned to wear white, the color of the suffragist movement, in a signal to Mr. Trump on women’s rights. | |
| Representative Lois Frankel of Florida, the chairwoman of the Democratic Women’s Working Group, said on Twitter that the choice of attire symbolized “a pledge to protect women’s health, fair pay, paid leave & more!” | |
| Based on the preview that his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, gave reporters on Monday, Mr. Trump is expected to hark back to his “law and order” theme by promising more aggressive federal policing of gun crimes, drugs and other areas in response to a rise in violent crime in some big cities. | Based on the preview that his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, gave reporters on Monday, Mr. Trump is expected to hark back to his “law and order” theme by promising more aggressive federal policing of gun crimes, drugs and other areas in response to a rise in violent crime in some big cities. |
| Crime is near historic lows nationwide and remains far below levels seen in the 1970s and ‘80s. | |
| But Mr. Sessions, a former senator and prosecutor who was an important campaign adviser to Mr. Trump, told reporters he was worried that the increase in violence in some major cities, like Chicago and Baltimore, was “not a blip” and could signal “a longer-term trend.” Mr. Sessions gave speech of his own on that topic Tuesday morning to the National Association of Attorneys General in Washington. | |
| Mr. Sessions said he wanted to let local police officers know “that they’re being supported” in Washington, and he suggested that morale was lagging in some departments because of a lack of federal leadership. | Mr. Sessions said he wanted to let local police officers know “that they’re being supported” in Washington, and he suggested that morale was lagging in some departments because of a lack of federal leadership. |
| Muslims. Immigrants. A recent detainee. | Muslims. Immigrants. A recent detainee. |
| Officially, the Democratic rebuttal to Mr. Trump’s speech will come from Steven L. Beshear, the former governor of Kentucky, who will defend the Affordable Care Act. | |
| But inside the House chamber where Mr. Trump will speak, Democrats plan to assemble a cadre of human symbols, bringing as guests several people imperiled by the president’s policies. Eschewing wide-scale boycotts of the speech — a feature of Mr. Trump’s inaugural address — members of Congress have used their invitations as another form of protest. | |
| Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is bringing an Iraqi refugee who settled in the state in 2010 and is now an American citizen. Representative Nydia M. Velázquez of New York invited Hameed Khalid Darweesh, who worked as a translator for American forces in Iraq and was detained last month at Kennedy International Airport under the Trump administration’s travel ban. Other guests include undocumented immigrants who were protected from deportation under Mr. Obama, an Iranian graduate student and the founder of the Syrian Community Network. | Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is bringing an Iraqi refugee who settled in the state in 2010 and is now an American citizen. Representative Nydia M. Velázquez of New York invited Hameed Khalid Darweesh, who worked as a translator for American forces in Iraq and was detained last month at Kennedy International Airport under the Trump administration’s travel ban. Other guests include undocumented immigrants who were protected from deportation under Mr. Obama, an Iranian graduate student and the founder of the Syrian Community Network. |