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| Donald Trump to call for bipartisan unity after mocking Schumer on Twitter | Donald Trump to call for bipartisan unity after mocking Schumer on Twitter |
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| Donald Trump is expected to call for bipartisan unity in his second State of the Union address on Tuesday night but there was little expectation the annual ritual would bring harmony in this new era of divided government. | Donald Trump is expected to call for bipartisan unity in his second State of the Union address on Tuesday night but there was little expectation the annual ritual would bring harmony in this new era of divided government. |
| Halfway into his term, having just endured a drubbing in November’s congressional elections and after prompting the longest government shutdown in US history, Trump will use his remarks to seek to regain momentum by calling on Congress to come together on infrastructure projects and his trade deal with Canada and Mexico. | Halfway into his term, having just endured a drubbing in November’s congressional elections and after prompting the longest government shutdown in US history, Trump will use his remarks to seek to regain momentum by calling on Congress to come together on infrastructure projects and his trade deal with Canada and Mexico. |
| He will promise that “we can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions,” the White House previewed. | He will promise that “we can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions,” the White House previewed. |
| “Together, we can break decades of political stalemate. We can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions, and unlock the extraordinary promise of America’s future,” he will say. “The decision is ours to make.” | “Together, we can break decades of political stalemate. We can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions, and unlock the extraordinary promise of America’s future,” he will say. “The decision is ours to make.” |
| But hours before Trump was due to deliver his carefully scripted, teleprompted address, he fired a missive across the aisle on his preferred messaging platform. | But hours before Trump was due to deliver his carefully scripted, teleprompted address, he fired a missive across the aisle on his preferred messaging platform. |
| “I see Schumer is already criticizing my State of the Union speech, even though he hasn’t seen it yet,” the president wrote on Twitter in response to a speech the Democratic leader Chuck Schumer made on the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon, accusing Trump of “blatant hypocrisy”. | “I see Schumer is already criticizing my State of the Union speech, even though he hasn’t seen it yet,” the president wrote on Twitter in response to a speech the Democratic leader Chuck Schumer made on the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon, accusing Trump of “blatant hypocrisy”. |
| Trump continued: “He’s just upset that he didn’t win the Senate, after spending a fortune, like he thought he would. Too bad we weren’t given more credit for the Senate win by the media!” | Trump continued: “He’s just upset that he didn’t win the Senate, after spending a fortune, like he thought he would. Too bad we weren’t given more credit for the Senate win by the media!” |
| Schumer replied: “Thanks for watching my speech but you must have missed this line: ‘Even more empty than his policy promises are President Trump’s calls each year for unity.’” | Schumer replied: “Thanks for watching my speech but you must have missed this line: ‘Even more empty than his policy promises are President Trump’s calls each year for unity.’” |
| The president will command one of the biggest stages in American politics on Tuesday night but, unlike last year’s address, Capitol Hill will be something of a hostile environment. | The president will command one of the biggest stages in American politics on Tuesday night but, unlike last year’s address, Capitol Hill will be something of a hostile environment. |
| Along with Vice-President Mike Pence, the Democratic speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi – a formidable adversary who has thwarted his border wall at every turn – will sit just over his shoulder on the dais, her facial expressions watched closely by millions of primetime TV viewers. | |
| Seated in front of Trump will be a record number of female House members, most Democrats and some dressed in white, in homage to the suffragist movement. In the gallery overhead there will be two former employees of Trump’s New Jersey golf club, both immigrant women who have gone public about its hiring practices, and the sexual assault survivor who confronted the Republican senator Jeff Flake in an elevator during the fraught confirmation of the conservative supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh. | |
| “Tonight, we expect the occupant of the White House to utter the customary phrase, ‘The state of our union is strong,’ Ayanna Pressley, a newly elected Democrat from Massachusetts, said at a press conference ahead of the address. “If that is true, it has little to do with the Trump administration.” | |
| Among the guests seated with the first lady, Melania Trump, will be family members of a couple killed in Nevada last month, allegedly by someone who was in the country illegally, and Joshua Trump, a boy who was bullied at school because he shares a last name with the president, though is no relation. | |
| During his speech, Trump will make the case for his “zero tolerance” immigration policies, calling it a “moral duty” to address what he has claimed to be a “crisis of illegal immigration” at the US-Mexico border. | During his speech, Trump will make the case for his “zero tolerance” immigration policies, calling it a “moral duty” to address what he has claimed to be a “crisis of illegal immigration” at the US-Mexico border. |
| “No issue better illustrates the divide between America’s working class and America’s political than illegal immigration,” he will say, in defense of his demand for a wall along the border. “Wealthy politicians and donors push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and guards.” | “No issue better illustrates the divide between America’s working class and America’s political than illegal immigration,” he will say, in defense of his demand for a wall along the border. “Wealthy politicians and donors push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and guards.” |
| He will also tout his stewardship of a strong economy after what he will call “decades of calamitous trade policies” and commit to rebuilding America’s “crumbling infrastructure”. | He will also tout his stewardship of a strong economy after what he will call “decades of calamitous trade policies” and commit to rebuilding America’s “crumbling infrastructure”. |
| On foreign policy, he will reiterate the administration’s support for the people of Venezuela as they protest the authoritarian rule of president Nicolás Maduro. The US and more than two dozen countries recognize Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader, as the country’s interim president. He is also expected to announce a second summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un tonight, to take place at the end of the month. | On foreign policy, he will reiterate the administration’s support for the people of Venezuela as they protest the authoritarian rule of president Nicolás Maduro. The US and more than two dozen countries recognize Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader, as the country’s interim president. He is also expected to announce a second summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un tonight, to take place at the end of the month. |
| His remarks will come hours after Senate Republicans voted overwhelming in favor of a resolution opposing Trump’s plans for an abrupt withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan and Syria. | His remarks will come hours after Senate Republicans voted overwhelming in favor of a resolution opposing Trump’s plans for an abrupt withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan and Syria. |
| “As a candidate for President, I pledged a new approach,” Trump will say on Tuesday night. “Great nations do not fight endless wars.” | “As a candidate for President, I pledged a new approach,” Trump will say on Tuesday night. “Great nations do not fight endless wars.” |
| Trump is expected to make a commitment to end the transmission of HIV, the virus that causes Aids, by 2030, according to Politico. | Trump is expected to make a commitment to end the transmission of HIV, the virus that causes Aids, by 2030, according to Politico. |
| When the speech is over, Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost the race for governor in Georgia in an election marred by accusations of voter suppression, will become the first African American woman to deliver the Democratic rebuttal. | When the speech is over, Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost the race for governor in Georgia in an election marred by accusations of voter suppression, will become the first African American woman to deliver the Democratic rebuttal. |
| In her remarks, Abrams will call voting rights the “next battle for our democracy”. | In her remarks, Abrams will call voting rights the “next battle for our democracy”. |
| “We must reject the cynicism that says allowing every eligible vote to be cast and counted is a ‘power grab’,” she will say, according to excerpts released in advance of her remarks. “The foundation of our moral leadership around the globe is free and fair elections, where voters pick their leaders – not where politicians pick their voters.” | “We must reject the cynicism that says allowing every eligible vote to be cast and counted is a ‘power grab’,” she will say, according to excerpts released in advance of her remarks. “The foundation of our moral leadership around the globe is free and fair elections, where voters pick their leaders – not where politicians pick their voters.” |
| Trump inaugural committee ordered to give documents to prosecutors | Trump inaugural committee ordered to give documents to prosecutors |
| Trump made his debut in the House with an address to a joint session of Congress two years ago. | Trump made his debut in the House with an address to a joint session of Congress two years ago. |
| A year later, Trump gave his first formal State of the Union address, a full hour and 20 minutes that stressed unity and earned rapturous applause from Republicans. But the November midterms changed the balance: while the Senate majority Republicans will be out in force, Trump will be reminded that Democrats swept the House, with a record number of women, whose appreciation is likely to be muted. | A year later, Trump gave his first formal State of the Union address, a full hour and 20 minutes that stressed unity and earned rapturous applause from Republicans. But the November midterms changed the balance: while the Senate majority Republicans will be out in force, Trump will be reminded that Democrats swept the House, with a record number of women, whose appreciation is likely to be muted. |
| Cameras are bound to focus on new congresswomen such as Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who recently promised “We’re gonna impeach the motherfucker!”, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to see whether they clap any of Trump’s lines or attempt some type of protest. | Cameras are bound to focus on new congresswomen such as Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who recently promised “We’re gonna impeach the motherfucker!”, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to see whether they clap any of Trump’s lines or attempt some type of protest. |
| The public gallery will also include, at Democrats’ invitation, undocumented immigrants and temporary residents threatened by the Trump administration’s policies, climate scientists, labor leaders, gun violence victims and federal workers who went without pay for 35 days during the government shutdown, who are worried about a repeat. | The public gallery will also include, at Democrats’ invitation, undocumented immigrants and temporary residents threatened by the Trump administration’s policies, climate scientists, labor leaders, gun violence victims and federal workers who went without pay for 35 days during the government shutdown, who are worried about a repeat. |
| Only four of the nine Supreme Court justices attended the address, including Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, both of whom Trump appointed. Among the five not attending is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal member of the court who had cancer surgery in December. | |
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