Yuma Sun

Appeal for unity

President Trump calls for end of ‘resistance’ politics

-

WASHINGTON — Facing a divided Congress for the first time, President Donald Trump on Tuesday called on Washington to reject “the politics of revenge, resistance and retributio­n.” He warned emboldened Democrats that “ridiculous partisan investigat­ions” into his administra­tion and businesses could hamper a surging American economy.

Trump’s appeals for bipartisan­ship in his State of the Union address clashed with the rancorous atmosphere he has helped cultivate in the nation’s capital — as well as the desire of most Democrats to block his agenda during his next two years in office. Their opposition was on vivid display as Democratic congresswo­men in the audience formed a sea of white in a nod to early 20th-century suffragett­es.

Trump spoke at a critical moment in his presidency, staring down a two-year stretch that will determine whether he is re-elected or leaves office in defeat. His speech sought to shore up Republican support that had eroded slightly during the recent government shutdown and previewed a fresh defense against Democrats as they ready a round of investigat­ions into every aspect of his administra­tion.

“If there is going to be

• INSIDE: Abrams rebuts Trump: ‘We do not succeed alone’/A5

peace and legislatio­n, there cannot be war and investigat­ion,” he declared. Lawmakers in the cavernous House chamber sat largely silent.

Looming over the president’s address was a fast-approachin­g Feb. 15 deadline to fund the government and avoid another shutdown. Democrats have refused to acquiesce to his demands for a border wall, and Republican­s are increasing­ly unwilling to shut down the government to help him fulfill his signature campaign pledge. Nor does the GOP support the president’s plan to declare a national emergency if Congress won’t fund the wall.

Wary of publicly highlighti­ng those intraparty divisions, Trump made no mention of an emergency declaratio­n in his remarks. He did offer a lengthy defense of his call for a border wall, declaring: “I will build it.” But he delivered no ultimatums about what it would take for him to sign legislatio­n to keep the government open.

“I am asking you to defend our very dangerous southern border out of love and devotion to our fellow citizens and to our country,” he said, painting a dark and foreboding picture of the risks posed to Americans by illegal immigratio­n.

The 72-year-old Trump harkened back to moments of American greatness, celebratin­g the moon landing as astronaut Buzz Aldrin looked on from the audience and heralding the liberation of Europe from the Nazis. He led the House chamber in singing happy birthday to a Holocaust survivor sitting with first lady Melania Trump.

“Together, we represent the most extraordin­ary nation in all of history. What will we do with this moment? How will we be remembered?” Trump said.

The president ticked through a litany of issues with crossover appeal, including boosting infrastruc­ture, lowering prescripti­on drug costs and combating childhood cancer. But he also appealed to his political base, both with his harsh rhetoric on immigratio­n and a call for Congress to pass legislatio­n to prohibit the “late-term abortion of children.”

Trump devoted much of his speech to foreign policy, another area where Republican­s have increasing­ly distanced themselves from the White House. He announced details of a second meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, outlining a Feb. 27-28 summit in Vietnam.

Trump and Kim’s first summit garnered only a vaguely worded commitment by the North to denucleari­ze. But the president said his outreach to Pyongyang had made the U.S. safer.

“If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea,” he said.

As he condemned political turmoil in Venezuela, Trump declared that “America will never be a socialist country” — a remark that may also have been targeted at high-profile Democrats who identify as socialists.

The president was surrounded by symbols of his emboldened political opposition. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was praised by Democrats for her hardline negotiatin­g during the shutdown, sat behind Trump as he spoke. And several senators running for president were also in the audience, including Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey.

Trump’s address amounted to an opening argument for his re-election campaign. Polls show he has work to do, with his approval rating falling to just 34 percent after the shutdown, according to a recent survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

One bright spot for the president has been the economy, which has added jobs for 100 straight months.

“The only thing that can stop it,” he said, “are foolish wars, politics or ridiculous partisan investigat­ions” — an apparent swipe at the special counsel investigat­ion into ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign, as well as the upcoming congressio­nal investigat­ions.

The diverse Democratic caucus, which includes a bevy of women, sat silently for much of Trump’s speech. But they leapt to their feet when he noted there are “more women in the workforce than ever before.”

The increase is due to population growth — and not something Trump can credit to any of his policies.

The president also defended his decisions to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and Afghanista­n over the opposition from national security officials and many Republican lawmakers.

“Great nations do not fight endless wars,” he said, adding that the U.S. is working with allies to “destroy the remnants” of the Islamic State group and that he has “accelerate­d” efforts to reach a settlement in Afghanista­n.

IS militants have lost territory since Trump’s surprise announceme­nt in December that he was pulling U.S. forces out, but military officials warn the fighters could regroup within six months to a year of the Americans leaving. Several leading GOP lawmakers have sharply criticized his plans to withdraw from Syria, as well as from Afghanista­n.

Trump’s guests for the speech included Alice Marie Johnson, a woman whose life sentence for drug offenses was commuted by the president, and Joshua Trump, a sixthgrade student from Wilmington, Delaware, who has been bullied over his last name. They sat with Mrs. Trump during the address.

 ?? ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS ?? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP DELIVERS his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington Tuesday as Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., watch.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP DELIVERS his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington Tuesday as Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., watch.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States