3 ways to read Trump's immigration ad-lib

An ad-libbed line about immigration was among the most noteworthy moments of President Trump's State of the Union. But does it actually mean anything?

Trump said Tuesday night, "I want people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally." Journalists immediately noted that he added the "largest numbers ever" bit, as the line as written for him was, "I want people to come into our country, but they have to come in legally."

This was especially significant because the Trump administration has done the precise opposite of what he described, instead pushing to reduce the amount of legal immigration into the United States.

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So what should we make of this ad-lib? The Atlantic's Reihan Salam speculates that it could be "a sign of things to come," including the possibility of Trump striking a truly bipartisan immigration deal with Democrats and potentially expanding H-1B visas.

On the other hand, it could very well be that the ad-lib is fairly meaningless. Bloomberg's Ramesh Ponnuru writes that Trump probably is not committed to either cutting or increasing legal immigration because he "says things serially without caring whether they cohere." So this, Ponnuru suggests, could just be an example of Trump making a remark because it sounds nice and bipartisan, but it doesn't mean he has any intention of following through.

Another interpretation is that Trump simply didn't think about what it means at all and just likes to brag about things being bigger than ever before. Axios' Jonathan Swan writes, "My best guess, having covered Trump a little while, is the 'largest numbers ever' addition means nothing. He just likes the sound of hyperbole."