After nearly a whole year of scandals and a vocal outcry among the American people against President Donald Trump’s administration, it is no wonder that last night’s State of the Union address was one of the most anticipated in recent memory. And boy, it did not disappoint.

President Trump’s address covered key political, economic, and social issues in America that ranged from jobs coming back to the United States from overseas to addressing a problem with patriotism in America regarding NFL (National Football Association) players kneeling during the National Anthem as a form of protest.

While President Trump is arguably not the most eloquent speaker, his strategy last night was both an interesting and effective one. Throughout the address, President Trump would state his argument for a policy or change he wants to implement and would then proceed to tell an anecdote relevant to the discussion and call out the person/people the anecdote happened to and everyone would clap (or mostly everyone). President Trump would use these anecdotes as his response to the questions “well, why do we need to pass this bill” or “why should we implement this policy.” This tactic makes it very hard to be openly against him because then you would, in theory, be going against the people whose lives have been laid bare by said issue.

President Trump also spoke about his plans to get rid of the Visa Lottery System, where the United States government would randomly give out visas to waiting participants of the program. During his speech, Trump referred to his points about border security as “pillars.”

Here’s what the president had to say:

“The third pillar ends the visa lottery — a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit, or the safety of our people. It is time to begin moving towards a merit-based immigration system — one that admits people who are skilled, who want to work, who will contribute to our society, and who will love and respect our country.”

President Donald Trump, 1st SOTU

President Trump also included a piece on North Korea, which included two stories and emphasized that we must be ever vigilant of North Korea and oppose the threat that they pose to the United States and her people.

“My Administration has also imposed tough sanctions on the communist and socialist dictatorships in Cuba and Venezuela. But no regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea. North Korea’s reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland. We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from happening. Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. I will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations that got us into this dangerous position. We need only look at the depraved character of the North Korean regime to understand the nature of the nuclear threat it could pose to America and our allies.”

President Donald Trump, 1st SOTU

Overall, the President’s first State of the Union was very optimistic about the prospective future of the United States and seemed focused on attempting to create patriotic support and try to restore the trust from the people towards the government. Did the President succeed in restoring faith? That remains to be seen.