Trump tries to broaden message, but cuts no ice in first State of the Union address

WASHINGTON - Checking off a list of achievements and talking up the robust economy and low unemployment, US President Donald Trump appealed for unity and bipartisanship on key pending agenda items such as immigration reform and infrastructure spending in his first State of the Union address.

It was in many respects a quintessentially conservative speech, aimed both at his blue-collar, white middle class and business supporters as well as attempting to bridge divisions with broad appeals to patriotism and the American spirit.

The rhetoric, however, is likely to dissipate quickly when it hits the rock of the country's visceral political divide especially over emotive issues such as immigration. As the President spoke of his plan to reduce immigration and appealed for support, some boos could be heard, and many Democrats looked expressionless or even annoyed.

Mr Trump stayed largely on script, forgoing the often controversial off the cuff remarks he is known for.

In soaring rhetoric, he invoked a return of the American spirit. He struck emotional notes with stories of special guests invited to the occasion - from business owners to firefighters, and parents who had lost their daughters to the notorious Central American MS13 gang. The latter example was clearly playing to immigration hawks.

Going into this speech, Mr Trump's job approval rating averaged 38 per cent nationwide, according to Gallup. But polls also show his Republican support has remained robust.

The speech may give him a brief boost. In a CBS poll, three in four Americans who tuned in approved of it. Just a quarter disapproved. Eight in 10 Americans who watched felt that Mr Trump was trying to unite the country, rather than divide it. But viewership of State of the Union addresses is typically partisan, and the majority of the television audience would have been Republican.

Over a dozen Democratic Party lawmakers reportedly did not attend the event. The Democrats are eyeing rolling back the Republican majority in both Houses of Congress in the mid-term elections just 10 months away. The divide over legal immigration, and an ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants, is emotional and cuts to a large part of the Democrats' base. Many of Mr Trump's critics see his plans to curb immigration as camouflaged white enthno-nationalism.

Even his US$1.5 trillion (S$1.97 trillion) infrastructure spending plan - the details of which have yet to be rolled out but which will rely on leveraging private funds - will be fiercely fought over.

"Unity speech? Get real," tweeted Dr Larry Sabato, Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia. "Trump's strategy has been clear from the start: Keep his base energised and 80-90% of the (Republican Party) unified. Hope for a divisive (Democratic) contest in 2020."

Clouding the atmosphere further is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's probe into alleged Russian connections of the Trump campaign. The President, who maintains that the probe is a witch hunt, did not mention the issue in his speech. Less than 24 hours before he spoke, FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, who was just weeks away from retirement, resigned, sparking a media frenzy. President Trump had accused Mr McCabe of being biased towards his presidential opponent Hillary Clinton. The White House has denied that the president played a role in the resignation.

When the controversy over the FBI's probe returns after the respite of the State of the Union speech, partisanship will be as strong, Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan, and editor of a new book on State of the Union addresses, told The Straits Times.

"Politicians are playing to their own bases and donors," he said.

State of the Union addresses always focus largely on domestic issues. The speech said little about foreign policy, except to reiterate the President's hard line on trade, and to paint the outside world as a scary place, Brian Eyler, director at the Stimson Centre's South-east Asia Programme, told The Straits Times.

"It was more inward looking than outward," he said. "In that respect it was a missed opportunity."