WASHINGTON – January may be known as one of the slower months of the year as some come down from holiday highs and others hit new financial or emotional lows, but the White House has hit the ground running since President Donald Trump returned from his holiday break in Mar-a-Lago on New Year’s Day.
From the swearing in of Alabama Democratic senator, Doug Jones, to the retirement announcement from Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, GOP control in the Senate has changed this year. In an attempt to avoid a government shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., met at the White House to strike immigration and budget deals, but the negotiations fell through. On the one-year anniversary of the president’s inauguration, the federal government shut down for three days.
After having an amicable meeting with the prime minister of Norway, the president allegedly made derogatory remarks on the homelands of immigrants from Haiti and Africa. White House physician Dr. Ronnie Jackson delivered a clean bill of health for the president in January – even giving Trump a cognitive test, which Jackson said he passed. Toward the end of the month, the president traveled to the world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he pitched his “America First” plan to global leaders and top CEOs.
The president wraps up the month when he gives his first State of the Union address to Congress and the nation on Tuesday. Infrastructure is reported to be a main talking point, but with yet another government shutdown deadline approaching on February 8, how Trump speaks on issues like immigration, budget caps and defense spending are expected to be heavily analyzed.