What to expect: President Trump’s border security address tonight
Tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern time, President Trump will deliver his first ever primetime presidential address live from the Oval Office, and it’s all about illegal immigration and the ongoing border security crisis at the southern border between the United States and Mexico. Although Trump has done two nationally televised addresses before Congress during his term so far, this will be the first address made by him directed towards the American people. One of President Trump’s key campaign promises was to “build the wall” along the southern border, and we haven’t seen much action yet on his behalf to build that wall — until recently. President Trump, alongside congressional Republicans, essentially forced a government shutdown in order to demand $5.6 billion dollars in funding for the Trump border wall, which has sparked a massive political debate between the two sides. Meanwhile, the government remains partially unfunded because of the debacle.
First, some background, and a reminder of what’s going on in American politics right now. With the government shutdown entering its third week now, the Trump administration and Congress need to find a solution to reopen the government, but neither side is willing to budge entirely in order to accomplish said task. The Trump administration is now having to consider other options to fund the Trump border wall, including an option to declare a national emergency. This move would activate U.S. troops and send resources to the southern border to construct portions of the Trump wall; a move that would essentially bypass the landlocked Congress. President Trump wants his beloved border wall, in order to stay true to his “promises made, promises kept” agenda, he needs to get something done quickly or he could potentially face major backlash from members of his own party.
The cause for getting the wall built has basically become “do or die” at this point, as Republicans know that this could be their last shot at getting it done under President Trump’s current term, and thus they need to act fast. Tonight’s address appears to be a way of presenting President Trump’s arguments for building the wall directly to American people. There won’t be any Twitter ranting nonsense or incoherent speaking before various members of the press, instead, you can expect a speech laying out the border crisis, and what the President plans to do about it. This notion isn’t likely to change anyone’s opinions on the border wall, as either people love it or they hate it, but it will hopefully set the record straight as to what’s going on.
Although it is unlikely President Trump will formally announce a decision to declare a national emergency tonight (he is still likely “undecided” on this option), we could hear a more in-depth explanation from the President on why this option is being considered and how it would play out. Keep in mind, legal experts believe the President may face significant legal challenges for declaring such an emergency, so he may just avoid the topic entirely. Instead, it appears President Trump will provide an emphasis on the movement of illegal drugs across the southern border, and will also note a few examples of human trafficking, which are two arguments that Democrats may have a hard time fighting back against. Fact checkers should be excited though, as the emphasis on drugs and trafficking likely means the President will lay out some hefty statistics during the address.
The address, which begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, will be nationally televised on all major TV networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, C-SPAN, and Fox television networks. Cable news networks CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC have also allocated time for the primetime address this evening. Additionally, several publications, including the Washington Post, plan to stream the event online on websites like YouTube. It is expected to last between seven to eight minutes, according to the White House deputy chief of staff for communications, Bill Shine. Despite an initial debate within the news networks whether or not to allocate time for President Trump’s address, slowly each network agreed to broadcast it, with CBS agreeing first and then the other networks following soon afterwards.
Presidential addresses like Trump’s address tonight are not uncommon, as former President Obama used Oval Office addresses quite frequently throughout his presidency. Presidents in the past have used these addresses for all kinds of purposes, such as informing the public after a major act of terrorism, or explaining policy reform in a simple manner to the American people. It is also not uncommon for the television networks to deliberate on whether or not to broadcast said speeches. In fact, back in 2014, major networks ABC, NBC, and CBS refused to air an address by President Obama about immigration.
There are actually numerous factors that are explored when determining whether or not to broadcast presidential addresses, including the urgency of the subject to be addressed, the regularly scheduled programming that would be interrupted by the address, and the television ratings that said address may receive. With President Trump’s address, however, there are even more factors to consider. Since this is the President’s first Oval Office address, it does carry some significance in American history, and thus refusing to broadcast it would be considered a big deal. President Trump’s habits of presenting factually dubious information and frequently rambling off script are also factors that have to be considered by the network executives.
It is extremely important that the Trump administration present only solid facts tonight that are not misleading or dubious, as fact checkers are anxiously awaiting any slip-ups the President might make tonight. Such mistakes not only shoot the President’s case in the foot, they further undermine his position and credibility, while creating a sense of complicity against the networks that agreed to air the speech in the first place.
Additionally, the networks are also debating whether or not to fact check President Trump in real time or not, as media executives and critics of President Trump are concerned about factually inaccurate claims being spread by the address tonight. This would most likely be done via a chyron or lower-third graphic presented on-screen. Although no networks have announced if they will be using graphics to correct the president, you can expect that political commentators, political fact-check organizations, and even the news anchors themselves will be standing by, ready to issue any corrections after the event is over.
The Democratic Party, on the other hand, is not very excited about the Commander in Chief laying out his plan on border security tonight, and as a result, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will be delivering their own response just a few minutes after the conclusion of President Trump’s address. All of the networks have formally agreed to air the Democratic response live, so viewers can expect a quick and swift rebuttal of President Trump’s address just minutes after it concludes.
“Now that the television networks have decided to air the President’s address, which if his past statements are any indication will be full of malice and misinformation, Democrats must immediately be given equal airtime.”
— Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a joint statement regarding the presidential address.
Critics of President Trump, on the other hand, are calling for a boycott of the address entirely, and are heavily criticizing the networks that agreed to broadcast the event, claiming that these networks are “complicit” in the spreading of misinformation. The hashtag “#BoycottTrumpPrimeTime” has been trending all day on Twitter. The address has already sparked a massive debate in the news industry over journalism and media ethics, as many begin to question whether or not it’s morally right to report on and broadcast the speech. Some believe that the President’s Oval Office address is important enough that it constitutes live coverage on the networks, while others disagree, saying that the President’s speeches are so prone to malice that they shouldn’t be broadcasted live at all.
The widespread debate surrounding Trump’s address tonight is yet another example of the polarizing differences of opinion in America right now. Those who have an extreme distaste for President Trump believe that the news networks are helping spread “Trump propaganda” by airing the speech. Meanwhile, the President’s supporters believe that the networks’ uncertainty in airing the speech is another example of “media bias” and that the news networks are just propaganda trying to shut down the Trump administration.
President Trump has planned a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, in another effort to heat up the political climate and emphasize his views on the border crisis. Meanwhile, the partial government shutdown is now in its eighteenth day, and is just days away from becoming the largest funding gap in U.S. history, and shows no signs of ending anytime soon. Whether or not you plan on watching the address, you can expect to hear a lot of discussion about it tonight and throughout the day Wednesday. Border security and the Trump wall are indeed some of America’s most discussed political issues right now, so good luck if you’re trying to avoid the issue entirely.