Compared to the aggressive rhetoric of his campaign, Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Monday night showed signs of a more hopeful tone. The President refrained from digressions such as insults to the press, and in many ways, "he sounded like an ordinary politician", as reported in The Atlantic.  

Despite the good reception his address to Congress received -which the White House now wants to use to advance his legislative agenda- there were still some key elements missing.

According to David Frum, senior editor at The Atlantic, there were three main failures in Trump's speech: 

The first failure is the lack of a coherent agenda. The purpose of the speeches is to mobilize support in Congress and the country for the president’s legislative plans. President George W. Bush’s 2001 address argued for his tax cut. Barack Obama’s in 2009 defended and advanced his recovery program. Donald Trump omitted to do anything like that. He avoided indicating a clear preference, neither on the Israel-Palestine issue, nor healthcare, tax-reform, infrastructure or immigration.

The second failure: There’s still no plan to build a majority coalition to support a Trump program. The President forgets that he has to deal with a fifty-six percent disapproval in popular vote.

The third failure: The scandals accumulate unanswered: Trump family’s newest hotel, financed by the son of a Malaysian plutocrat with a criminal record. Suspicions of ethical violations and foreign-espionage (Russia connection story).

 Despite the lack of details on how he intends to move forward on his agenda, Trump acted "normal".And now the President wants to take advantage of the good reception his address to Congress received to advance his legislative agenda, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Wednesday.

In a meeting with journalists off-camera, Spicer said that it was a "great night" for the president, whose first speech before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening was generally well-received, reported EFE.

Analysts said that Trump's address to the Congress was considerably more conciliatory and optimistic than his dark and apocalyptic speech on Inauguration Day.

While Republicans applauded the President, Democrats warned the risks of normalising him. Trump merely showed that he can read from a teleprompter without insulting someone, they argued, and was still guilty of making claims that were false, lacked detail or were as divisive as ever, as reported in The Guardian.

According to a survey conducted by CNN among its TV viewers, 78 percent of those who saw the speech felt it was positive - with 57 percent saying "very positive" and 21 percent saying "somewhat positive - while just 21 percent viewed it as negative, as reported in EFE.

Spicer also  said that Trump would not sign on Wednesday the revised executive order replacing his controversial temporary ban on US entry for refugees and citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations, although several top government officials had earlier said that he would.

Spicer said he did not want to speculate on whether Trump would sign the revised order before the week is out.