monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

By whom?

The feel-good moment of the 2019 State of the Union address occured when the president recognised the record number of women serving in the US Congress, prompting the white-clad legislators to stand and cheer in an unscripted show of exuberance.

It probably wasn't lost on the president, however, that most of those cheering were Democrats - and that they won their recent elections by running against his policies.

They - along with most other Democrats - were decidedly not cheering for the rest of the president's speech. They were stone-faced as the president spoke about immigration. They sat on their hands as he urged Congress to pass new anti-abortion legislation. There were audible groans when Mr Trump warned that "ridiculous partisan investigations" of his administration might threaten the "economic miracle" in the US.

Even Pelosi gave her colleagues the nudge to get up and clap.

Just a matter of decorum.