Trump's State of the Union 2018: President talks tough on North Korea and keeps Guantanamo Bay open as he lays out his American dream - as it happened
Mr Trump hails a 'New American Moment' in speech that also called for more co-operation between Republicans and Democrats
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.President Donald Trump took centre stage in the House chamber to deliver his first State of the Union address – an 80-minute speech that swerved between bipartisan rhetoric and expressions of his ‘America First’ agenda.
His address came less than two weeks after disagreements over immigration policy led to a government shutdown, and about a week before disputes regarding government spending could result in another closure.
Despite Mr Trump's calls for unity, the divisions over the issue of immigration bubbled to the surface during the speech, with Democrats booing Mr Trump as he described his aversion to the practice of 'chain migration' - when families members join those who have already moved to the the US.
The Democrat rebuttal of Mr Trump's speech, by Joe Kennedy III, involved a number of lines of Spanish during his emotional speech, telling childhood immigrants to the US that their country would not walk away from them. A reference to those left in limbo after Mr Trump ended a programme protecting them from deportation, which has become the main bone of contention between the two parties in recent months.
Please wait a moment for the live blog below to load. If you cannot see the blog, please click here
“To all the Dreamers watching tonight, let me be clear: Ustedes son parte de nuestra historia. Vamos a luchar por ustedes y no nos vamos alejar,” the Representative from Massachusetts said referiing to.
In English, he added: “You are a part of our story. We will fight for you. We will not walk away.”
Mr Trump began his address by highlighting American heroism in horrific attacks and natural disasters over the past year.
He pointed out House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, calling him the “legend from Louisiana”, who survived a life-threatening shooting at a congressional baseball practice last June.
“In the aftermath of that terrible shooting, we came together not as Republicans or Democrats, but as representatives of the people,” Mr Trump said. “But it is not enough to come together only in times of tragedy.”
The President, who is said to have disparaged immigrants in conversations with those in Congress and his advisers, later said he was “extending an open hand to work with members of both parties, Democrats and Republicans, to protect our citizens, of every background, colour, religion and creed.”
Mr Trump also highlighted his accomplishments across the world, touting military victories against Isis.
“One year later, I am proud to report that the coalition to defeat Isis has liberated very close to 100 per cent of the territory just recently held by these killers in Iraq and Syria,” Mr Trump said.
He also had some tough words regarding North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying Mr Kim has brutalised his own people and must give up his nuclear programme.
“Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation,” Mr Trump said. “I will not repeat the mistakes of the past administrations that got us into this dangerous position.”
Mr Trump made no mention of the federal probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential election, a controversy that is dogging his presidency. Mr Trump has denied collusion and has called the probe a “witch hunt.”
The speech was also short on details about Mr Trump's policy proposals, but the president sought to be optimistic, saying: "This is our new American moment".
The measured approach was welcomed by the public. A CNN/SSRS snap poll said 48 per cent of those surveyed had a “very positive” response to the speech and 22 per cent “somewhat positive.”
A 15-time LPGA Tour winner says that President Donald Trump "cheats like hell" on the golf course.
Which begs the question, if he lies on the links, can he be trusted to tell the truth during tonight's State of the Union? Or, are golf and statesmanship actually completely unrelated and drawing lines between the two is quite a stretch?
Here's our report on Mr Trump's alleged tendency to cheat while golfing. We'll leave the State of the Union fact checking until after the speech is delivered.
More from that event Mr Trump undertook with news anchors earlier:
Asked what he has learned in his first year as president, Mr. Trump said, "I've really learned a lot. You know, governing -- when you're a businessperson, you don't have to worry about your heart, the heart. You really do what's best for you -- you know, for almost purely monetary reasons. You know, you make your money. You competing against people. In many cases, you don't like them, you want to beat, and all that stuff. And I build a great company -- far better than anybody at this table says. I mean, I have some of the greatest assets in the world. I've built a great company," he said.
"In doing what I'm doing now, a lot of it is heart, a lot of it is compassion, a lot of it is far beyond money -- such as immigration, such as the things we're talking about. From a purely economic standpoint -- if I was doing this purely from an economic standpoint, I would sit down and tell you in one second what I'd be doing, okay? It's so simple."
It is only during this presidency that this is something that has needed to be kept track of - but unusually for Mr Trump ahead of a big speech, he has not tweeted today.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has joined President Donald Trump's anti-FBI streak, saying that there should be a "cleansing" of the intelligence organisation.
Mr Ryan called for the clean-up just a day after the deputy director of the agency, Andrew McCabe, stepped down from his post. That stepping down followed after public criticism from Mr Trump, who has been noticeably annoyed by investigations into possible ties between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russian meddling in that election.
Whether Mr Trump will address the Russia probe during the State of the Union tonight is something of an open question.
First Lady Melania Trump is promoting the guests she'll be sitting with at her husband's first State of the Union address.
The first lady tweeted that she'll be joined at the speech "by an honorable group of Americans," including "heroes who have served our nation in times of need, families who have suffered at the hands of evil, and citizens who have embraced the American dream."
The mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, is expected to attend President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address at the invitation of New York Senator Kristen Gillibrand.
Ms Cruz publicly feuded with Mr Trump after Hurricane Maria devastated her island. There remain roughly 450,000 residents of Puerto Rico without access to electricity, months after the storm made land fall.
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels says that she never had an affair with President Donald Trump.
A previously conducted interview in which she claims she did was recently published by In Touch magazine, after a report indicated she was paid $130,000 in hush money by Trump lawyers in 2016.
Education is not the kind of headline-grabbing issue that regularly captures the imagination, but there is a good chance President Donald Trump will mention the issue during tonight's State of the Union.
As Education Week notes, education issues were a surprisingly big part of his first speech last year to a joint session of Congress, when he gave a big shout-out to school choice.
While the national press corps has focused intensely this year on healthcare, then taxes, and now immigration (not to mention the Russia investigation, which is a constant source of intrigue), education has generally been overlooked.
Mr Trump was able to achieve modest gains when it comes to school choice this past year, which includes allowing parents to use 529 college savings plans to help pay for their kids' K-12 education, Education Week pointed out.
Mr Trump's efforts to implement a new private school voucher programme, for example, were dead in the water, however.
We shall see if he wants to make education reform a big part of his second year. The general consensus is that he will put something of a big focus on health care during tonight's speech -- which he was similarly unable to make big gains on -- so why not mention education, too?
More than 20 Democratic legislators have invited so-called "Dreamers" - young immigrants who were brought to the US as children and are living here illegally, to President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address. Congress has been unable to come up with a legislative solution for their legal status, which was at the centre of the recent government shutdown.
"Of all the places where the rule of law needs to be enforced, it should be in the hallowed halls of Congress," Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona tweeted. "Any illegal aliens attempting to go through security, under any pretext of invitation or otherwise, should be arrested and deported."
A spokeswoman for Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said, "The speaker clearly does not agree."
President Donald Trump's re-election campaign is trying to raise cash from his first State of the Union speech and giving donors a taste of the spotlight.
Those who contribute will have their names displayed under the livestream of the speech on the campaign's website Tuesday night.
Trump's middle son, Eric, says in a fundraising email that, "Even if you choose to only give $1, the proof of your support will send shockwaves around the world as they see every American who proudly stands behind our President."
The government watchdog group Public Citizen has criticised the campaign over the move, saying it is using the speech as a campaign fundraising event.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments