Trump calls for unity as he touts his achievements

US President delivers rousing maiden State of the Union speech, mixing optimism with fear

US President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address as US Vice-President Mike Pence (left) and Speaker of the House US Rep. Paul Ryan (right) look on in the chamber of the US House of Representatives on Jan 31, 2018. PHOTO: AFP

US President Donald Trump, trumpeting "a new American moment to live the American Dream" in his first State of the Union address, has called on Republicans and Democrats to compromise after a bruising year of partisan battles in a country bitterly divided over his style and agenda.

But in a sign that it will be politics as usual, Democrats responded critically, with party leader Nancy Pelosi tweeting that Mr Trump "presented a self-congratulatory speech without vision. He promised unity, but sowed division. America deserves better".

Mr Trump stayed on script, delivering a rousing speech to the House of Representatives. But he mixed optimism with fear, and failed to elicit cheer from the Democrats who mostly sat through it in silence. Republicans, though, repeatedly applauded, helping to stretch the address to one hour and 20 minutes.

At least one poll, by CNN, found that 48 per cent of those who watched the speech had a "very positive" reaction, 22 per cent were "somewhat positive" while 29 per cent reacted negatively.

Mr Trump led off with a list of his achievements, including pro-business deregulation and tax cuts.

"Since the election, we have created 2.4 million new jobs, including 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone," he said.

"Unemployment claims have hit a 45-year low. African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded, and Hispanic American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history.

"Small business confidence is at an all-time high. The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining US$8 trillion (S$10.5 trillion) in value."

Even as he made a soaring appeal to renew America's pioneering spirit, Mr Trump tapped into the visceral fears of his base. He recounted the tragedies of some of his guests who had lost their daughters to the central American criminal gang known as MS-13.

Underlining the need to deal harshly with terrorism, Mr Trump said he had signed an order to keep the Guantanamo Bay prison open - reversing an earlier order by his predecessor Barack Obama, who, however, could never implement it.

On foreign trade, he reiterated his position, saying: "The era of economic surrender is over. From now on, we expect trading relationships to be fair and to be reciprocal. We will work to fix bad trade deals and negotiate new ones."

He made no mention of China on the trade front but briefly referred to it and Russia as among "rivals" that challenge US interests, values and the economy.

Responding hours later, China's Foreign Ministry said it hoped the US would abandon its outdated Cold War thinking and work with China to manage differences.

Mr Trump made a strong pitch for bipartisan support on immigration reform and a US$1.5 trillion infrastructure package, but these may not fly given the bitter divisions.

The speech was in many ways a standard State of the Union event with Mr Trump getting a platform to tout his record, indulge in rhetoric and introduce American heroes to strike emotional chords, Cornell University professor Glenn Altschuler told The Straits Times. But he added: "In the larger scheme of things it changes nothing."

Congress must now pass another federal spending measure by next Wednesday but as immigration reform remains contentious, the US may be headed towards another federal government shutdown.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 01, 2018, with the headline Trump calls for unity as he touts his achievements. Subscribe