David E. Sanger

This is sort of taking the Ronald Reagan idea of putting prominent guests and heroes in the State of the Union audience and moving it to the next level by awarding them these medals in front of the entire Congress.

So he talked about America as a young nation.

Then he talked about America as an innovative nation.

Then he talked about Americans as people who could never be defeated, whose ideas and spirit sort of carried through and could do anything in the world.

Who did that sound like?

Joe Biden, who used to say at every speech, there's nothing Americans can't accomplish.

And in some ways, it was not like Donald Trump.

But he delivered it with some passion.

And it made you realize that he has within him the ability to talk in unifying terms.

He just can't help himself.

You know, I don't think, Michael, that he moved the needle.

He had to go convince Americans in this speech that the evidence indicated that they didn't need to feel this economically insecure.

I don't think he met that.

He had to go lay out a rationale for why we may be at war in the next couple of days.

He certainly didn't do that.

He had to go make the case that the Republican Party had a full policy agenda that was ready to go between now and the midterm elections.

And there was very little policy in this speech.

So my overall sense is President Trump talked about how he believes the country should view him.

rather than how it does view him.

And that raised the question of whether or not he is yet in tune with the rest of the nation.