The president’s speech ‘will make clear that all groups are benefiting under this presidency,’ a White House official said

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Donald Trump will reach across the aisle with a tone of “bipartisanship” when he delivers his first state of the union address to Congress on Tuesday, the White House said.



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The US president has been criticised as uniquely divisive on issues ranging from tax cuts to immigration. On Friday he used Twitter to mock the Democratic minority leader in the Senate as “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer”, who, he said, took “a beating” over last weekend’s government shutdown.

But two years after Barack Obama used his final state of the union address to express regret over growing rancour and polarisation in Washington, Trump will seek to portray himself as a unifier presiding over a successful economy.

“I’d say to Congress the tone will be one of bipartisanship,” a senior administration official told reporters on Friday. “It will be very forward-looking.”

The official added: “In a sense, every state of the union is about where we are, where we’re going, what kind of country we want to be and certainly this will have a dimension of that which of course transcends party differences.”

The theme of the speech, the official said, will be “building a safe, strong and proud America”. It will cover five principal issues: the “roaring” economy, a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, immigration reform, fair and reciprocal trade with other countries and national security, which includes “returning to clarity about our friends and our adversaries”.

The White House could not specify whether the threat of climate change would feature in the speech or whether Trump would acknowledge female members of Congress planning to wear black to support the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.

Whereas immigration reform and border security remain bitterly divisive, the massive effort to rebuild America’s crumbling infrastructure is seen as having potential to get Democrats on board.



“It’s clearly something that the president believes has large bipartisan support,” the official said.

In the same spirit, Trump – whose approval rating is at record lows with women, African Americans and Latino people – will seek to broaden his appeal.

People will be reminded – in some cases surprised – about how much President Trump has accomplished for all Americans White House official

“The speech will make clear that all groups are benefiting under this presidency,” the White House official said. “I think you can expect that the president is going to show that it’s great for America that all income groups, all people, every background are being lifted up by these policies.”

Trump has been condemned as vulgar, sexist and racist, for example after recent alleged comments dismissing Haiti and African countries as “shitholes”, and his impulsive tweets at all hours are notorious for upending policies and diplomatic relations.

His address to a joint session of Congress last February, however, showed a more restrained side and optimistic vision.



On Tuesday, the president is likely to strike a triumphalist note, claiming credit for the stock market reaching record highs and unemployment hitting a 17-year low – achievements that critics say have been accompanied by attacks on workers’ rights.

The invited audience will include beneficiaries of last month’s tax cut and reform legislation as well as what the White House called “heroes” of the effort to combat the opioid crisis.

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The senior administration official added: “The president will be talking about several of his record-setting accomplishments for his first year, how the policies of his administration are lifting all Americans, which is setting the foundation for building a safe, strong and proud America.

“You can expect the president will be speaking from the heart. It will be a speech that resonates with our American values and unites us with patriotism and also unites us with the greatly expanded opportunities that is lifting up all Americans.

“People will be reminded - in some cases surprised - about how much President Trump has accomplished in his first year for all Americans.”

Congressman Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts – grandson of Bobby Kennedy and grand-nephew of John F Kennedy – will deliver the Democratic response to the address.

The pornographic film actor Stormy Daniels, who reportedly had an affair with Trump in 2006, will appear on Jimmy Kimmel’s show on ABC later that night.

