What happened?
On Tuesday President Donald Trump spoke to a joint congress session in Washington, D.C. The White House also banned several media outlets from a briefing on Friday.

 

Speech

For the first time since taking office more than a month ago, Trump delivered a speech that seemed to try and unify the country. He didn’t mention “fake news” or the media at all; instead, he focused on his plans and objectives as he addressed Washington lawmakers.

“The time for trivial fights is over,” Trump said during his speech. “I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart.”

Despite signing a recent executive order to ban immigration from seven Muslim countries, Trump took a stand against racism in the beginning of his speech when he said, “Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week’s shooting in Kansas City remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms.”

This was a far cry from the Trump the country has gotten to know in the past month that in addition to the travel ban also ordered the deportation of thousands of people living here illegally over the past two weeks all over the country.

Trump said he is committed to making good on his campaign promises and according to a poll released by Politico on Tuesday, an American-based political journalism publication, 56 percent of the thousands polled felt Trump was living up to his campaign promises.

According to The New York Times, the 60-minute speech was lengthened by more than 90 applause breaks and standing ovations. Despite his strong stance against illegal immigrants and immigration that has led to slews of protest nationwide, he stuck true to one of his biggest campaign promises, building a wall to separate the United States and Mexico.

“We will soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border,” Mr. Trump declared, after which Republicans gave him a standing ovation. It was the only time he mentioned or referenced the wall or the travel ban.

While Trump supporters applauded his ability to galvanize America, many critics were left feeling confused about who the real Trump is.

Media

On Friday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer banned reporters from five media organizations from attending an informal White House press briefing.

According to Spicer, the White House turned reporters and photographers from BuzzFeed, CNN, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and Politico away from the briefing on Friday.

Spicer said the decision wasn’t made to exclude organizations critical of President Donald Trump and include those that were favorable towards him. Instead, Spicer said the decision was based on having a wide range of media represented, which he feels they did by including organizations like NPR, The Washington Post and FOX News.