Washington's most recent debate offered few signs of co-operation between President Donald Trump and Democrats. Photo / AP
Washington's most recent debate offered few signs of co-operation between President Donald Trump and Democrats. Photo / AP
The White House says President Donald Trump will call for optimism and unity in today's State of the Union address, using the moment to attempt a reset after two years of bitter partisanship and deeply personal attacks.
But will anyone buy it?
Scepticism will emanate from both sides of the aisle when Trump enters the House chamber for the primetime address to lawmakers and the nation.
Democrats, emboldened after the midterm elections and the recent shutdown fight, see little evidence of a President willing to compromise. And even the President's staunchest allies know that bipartisan rhetoric read off a teleprompter is usually undermined by scorching tweets and unpredictable policy manoeuvres.
Still, the fact that Trump's advisers feel a need to try a different approach is a tacit acknowledgement that the President's standing is weakened as he begins his third year in office.
The shutdown left some Republicans frustrated over his insistence on a border wall, something they warned him the new Democratic House majority would not bend on. Trump's approval rating during the shutdown dipped to 34 per cent, down from 42 per cent a month earlier, according to a recent survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research.
White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway said the President would use his address "to call for an end to the politics of resistance, retribution". "He's calling for co-operation," she said, adding that Trump will point to examples of where this has happened on his watch. Officials said the President is also expected to highlight infrastructure, trade and prescription drug pricing as areas in which the parties could work together.
But Washington's most recent debate offered few signs of co-operation between Trump and Democrats. Under pressure from conservative backers, Trump refused to sign a government funding bill that did not include money for his long-sought border wall. With hundreds of thousands of Americans missing pay cheques, Trump ultimately agreed to reopen the government for three weeks to allow negotiations on border security to continue.
With the new February 16 funding deadline looming, Trump is expected to use his address to outline his demands, which still include funding for a wall along the US-Mexico border. He's teased the possibility of declaring a national emergency to secure wall funding if Congress doesn't act, though it appeared unlikely he would take that step today.
Stacey Abrams, shown in Georgia on Election Day in November 2018, is scheduled to deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address. Photo / Washington Post
Advisers have also been reviewing options to secure some funding without making such a declaration.
"You'll hear the State of the Union, and then you'll see what happens right after the State of the Union," Trump told reporters.
The President's address marks the first time he is speaking before a Congress that is not fully under Republican control. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who won plaudits from Democrats for her hardline negotiating tactics during the shutdown, will be seated behind the President — a visual reminder of Trump's political opposition.
In the audience will be several Democrats running to challenge Trump in 2020, including senators Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
Another Democratic star, Stacey Abrams, will deliver the party's response to Trump. Abrams narrowly lost her bid in November to become Georgia's first black governor, and party leaders are aggressively recruiting her to run for Senate.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer previewed Democrats' message for countering Trump, declaring yesterday: "The number one reason the State of the Union has such woes is the President." While White House officials cautioned that Trump's remarks were still being finalised, the President was expected to use some of his televised address to showcase a growing economy. Despite the shutdown, the US economy added a robust 304,000 jobs in January, marking 100 straight months of job growth. That's the longest such period on record.
Republicans' guest Nadia Murad is a Yazidi activist who escaped Isis and went on to win the Nobel Peace Price.
Trump and his top aides have also hinted that he is likely to use the address to announce a major milestone in the fight against Isis (Islamic State) in Syria. Despite the objections of some advisers, Trump announced in December that he was withdrawing US forces in Syria.
In a weekend interview with CBS, Trump said efforts to defeat the Isis group were "at 99 per cent right now. We'll be at 100".
US officials say Isis now controls less than 10sq km of territory in Syria, an area smaller than New York's Central Park. That's down from an estimated 400 to 600sq km that the group held at the end of November before Trump announced the withdrawal, according to two officials who were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
However, a Defence Department inspector general report released yesterday said Isis "remains a potent force of battle-hardened and well-disciplined fighters that could likely resurge in Syria" in the absence of continued counterterrorism pressure. According to the Pentagon, the group is still able to co-ordinate offensives and counteroffensives.
Administration officials say the White House has also been weighing several "moonshot" goals for the State of the Union address. One that is expected to be announced is a new initiative aimed at ending transmissions of HIV by 2030.
Trump's guests for the speech include Anna Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old woman whose life sentence for drug offences was commuted by the President, and Joshua Trump, a sixth-grade student from Wilmington, Delaware, who was allegedly bullied because of his last name. They will sit with first lady Melania Trump during the address.
Lawmakers also get to invite guests. Democratic Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman has invited Victorina Morales, an undocumented worker who recently worked for Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and left after she publicly disclosed her immigration status.
Republican Representative Jeff Fortenberry will be accompanied by Nadia Murad, a Yazidi activist who escaped Isis and went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
