Good Tuesday morning. I'm Anna Palmer and welcome to your playbook audio briefing sponsored by

U.S. Chamber of Commerce. And I'm Jake Sherman. Last year we laid out why we thought the State of the

Union was a bit worthless, both on a practical level and specifically because of how Donald Trump

governs. He speaks publicly all the time, so a speech in the House chamber, while longer than most of his missives, is not terribly unique.

As always, both sides are in their corners.

But this year, we are seeing signs that the State of the Union will be less believable than ever before.

The White House is teeing up that the message for this State of the Union is bipartisanship and working across the aisle. But the only right partisanship

we can see is that members of both parties are increasingly opposed to Trump. Republicans have

begun speaking out against his foreign policy, have snubbed him on his wall, and are prepared to block him

if he tries to build it on his own. The most recent example of bipartisanship was when the president ended the shutdown.

And in that case, he adopted the Democrats' position.

Trump is a president who frequently urges moderation and yet exercises his most extreme instincts.

So you might forgive people who are naturally skeptical of the White House's message.

The First Lady has invited a child named Joshua Trump to the State of the Union because, quote,

he has been bullied in school due to his last name.

Of course, this is sad and bullying is awful.

But again, it's a bit rich for the Trump White House to make bullying its issue du jour.

Crying Chuck, lying Hillary, denang Dick, Pocahontas, lying Ted.

Here's what you should watch for.

Any incremental movement on the border wall.

Will the president alter in any way his position?

A call for infrastructure spending would be well received in the chamber.

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