Trump outlines his vision in State of the Union address
President drafts in US’s ‘forgotten’ citizens to claim credit for economy
DONALD Trump was set to adopt a tone of bipartisanship at the State of the Union address last night as he rallied support for infrastructure and immigration reform.
The speech, one of the US president’s most high-profile since taking office, was themed around “building a safe, strong and proud America”.
White House officials said before the address that Mr Trump would have a “unifying” message touching on the need to “transcend party differences”.
Mr Trump needs votes from Democrats to secure funding for the border wall with Mexico and approve an infrastructure spending plan costing more than $1trillion.
It comes after a year when Republicans forced though the biggest tax reforms in three decades without the support of Democrats in the Senate.
Criticism
Mr Trump’s rhetoric, lashing out at congressmen from both political parties via Twitter, has drawn criticism from Capitol Hill in the past.
The US president offered a nod to the “forgotten men and women” he pledged to represent by inviting little-known Americans to the speech.
A welder saving more money for his daughters’ education thanks to tax cuts, and parents of children killed by the El Salvadoran gang MS-13 were among his guests.
Others included a veteran who lost his sight and both legs fighting in Iraq and a young campaigner who has placed more than 40,000 US flags on soldiers’ graves.
However, a number of Democrats attempted to shine a light on Mr Trump’s own past by inviting campaigners from the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.
The State of the Union is one of the biggest US political speeches of the year and is watched by a television audience of tens of millions.
“The tone will be one of bipartisanship. It will be very forward looking,” said a senior US administration official.
Mr Trump, battling a probe into his election campaign’s alleged ties with Russia and struggling to convince Americans of his leadership qualities, was also expected to take credit for US economic gains.
Facing a deadline on an immigration controversy and strong Democratic opposition, Mr Trump was expected to call for a bipartisan compromise of the type that has eluded him during his turbulent first year in office.
Aides said the Republican president would use the televised speech to tout the benefits of a tax overhaul approved by the Republican-controlled Congress in December that was his first major legislative victory.
“The economy will be front and centre,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.
The atmosphere was tense yesterday in the House of Representatives chamber, where Mr Trump was to make his speech.
Several Democratic representatives said they would boycott the event.
Ahead of the president’s speech, Republicans and Democrats were deeply divided over immigration. Lawmakers are facing a February 8 deadline to reach a compromise on the issue and pass a new budget measure to avoid a second government shutdown.
To attract Democratic votes for an immigration deal, Mr Trump had said he was open to letting ‘Dreamers’ – immigrants brought into the country illegally when they were children – stay in the United States.
In return, he has demanded funding for a wall on the border with Mexico and measures to curb family sponsorship of immigrants, proposals that have failed to gain traction with Democrats in the past.
Senator Dick Durbin, the Senate’s number two Democrat, said that so far the two sides had made little progress in bridging differences on immigration.
“We didn’t agree on anything,” Mr Durbin said after a meeting with Republican politicians on Capitol Hill.
Mr Trump was also planning to promote a $1.7tn (€1.37tn) plan to rebuild America’s ageing roads and other infrastructure, but he was not expected to offer many details.
Hacking
His address, marking his first year in power, comes at a time when he is being buffeted by a drumbeat of headlines about US special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether Mr Trump or his aides colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
US intelligence agencies have concluded Russia interfered in the campaign, using hacking and propaganda to attempt to tilt the race in Mr Trump’s favour.
His job approval ratings in polls are about 40pc, an alarming number with congressional elections in November that will determine whether the Republicans maintain control of Congress.