January 28, 2018 “Information Clearing House” – The problem with Donald Trump is not that he is imbecilic and inept—it is that he has surrendered total power to the oligarchic and military elites. They get what they want. They do what they want. Although the president is a one-man wrecking crew aimed at democratic norms and institutions, although he has turned the United States into a laughingstock around the globe, our national crisis is embodied not in Trump but the corporate state’s now unfettered pillage.

Trump, who has no inclination or ability to govern, has handed the machinery of government over to the bankers, corporate executives, right-wing think tanks, intelligence chiefs and generals. They are eradicating the few regulations and laws that inhibited a naked kleptocracy. They are dynamiting the institutions, including the State Department, that served interests other than corporate profit and are stacking the courts with right-wing, corporate-controlled ideologues. Trump provides the daily entertainment; the elites handle the business of looting, exploiting and destroying.

Once democratic institutions are hollowed out, a process begun before the election of Trump, despotism is inevitable. The press is shackled. Corruption and theft take place on a massive scale. The rights and needs of citizens are irrelevant. Dissent is criminalized. Militarized police monitor, seize and detain Americans without probable cause. The rituals of democracy become farce. This is the road we are traveling. It is a road that leads to internal collapse and tyranny, and we are very far down it.

The elites’ moral and intellectual vacuum produced Trump. They too are con artists. They are slicker than he at selling the lies and more adept at disguising their greed through absurd ideologies such as neoliberalism and globalization, but they belong to the same criminal class and share many of the pathologies that characterize Trump. The grotesque visage of Trump is the true face of politicians such as George W. Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The Clintons and Obama, unlike Bush and Trump, are self-aware and therefore cynical, but all lack a moral compass. As Michael Wolff writes in “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” the president has “no scruples.” He lives “outside the rules” and is “contemptuous of them.” And this makes him identical to those he has replaced, not different. “A close Trump friend who was also a good Bill Clinton friend found them eerily similar—except that Clinton had a respectable front and Trump did not,” Wolff writes.

Trump, backed by the most retrograde elements of corporate capitalism, including Robert and Rebekah Mercer, Sheldon Adelson and Carl Icahn, is the fool who prances at the front of our death march. As natural resources become scarce and the wealth of the empire evaporates, a shackled population will be forced to work harder for less. State revenues will be squandered in grandiose projects and futile wars in an attempt to return the empire to a mythical golden age. The decision to slash corporate tax rates for the rich while increasing an already bloated military budget by $54 billion is typical of decayed civilizations. Empires expand beyond their capacity to sustain themselves and then go bankrupt. The Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Mayan, Khmer, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires all imploded in a similar fashion. The lessons of history are clear. But the illiterate charlatans who seize power in the dying days of empire know nothing of history. They are driven by a primal and inchoate lust for wealth, one that is never satisfied no matter how many billions they possess.

The elites in dying cultures turn everything into a commodity. Human beings are commodities. The natural world is a commodity. Government and democratic institutions are commodities. All are mined and wrecked for profit. Nothing has an intrinsic value. Nothing is sacred. The relentless and suicidal drive to accumulate greater and greater wealth by destroying the systems that sustain life is idolatry. It ignores the biblical injunction that idols always begin by demanding human sacrifice and end by demanding self-sacrifice. The elites are not only building our funeral pyre, they are building their own.

The elites, lacking a vision beyond satiating their own greed, revel in the intoxicating power to destroy. They confuse destruction with creation. They are agents of what Sigmund Freud calls the death instinct. They find in acts of national self-immolation a godlike power. They denigrate empathy, intellectual curiosity, artistic expression and the common good, virtues that sustain life. They celebrate a hyper-individualism embodied in celebrity, wealth, hedonism, manipulation and the ability to dominate others. They know nothing of the past. They do not think about the future. Those around them are temporarily useful to their aims and must be flattered and rewarded but in the end are ruthlessly cast aside. There is no human connection. This emotional numbness lies at the core of Trump’s personality.

“[Stephen] Bannon described Trump as a simple machine,” Wolff writes. “The On switch was full of flattery, the Off switch full of calumny. The flattery was dripping, slavish, cast in ultimate superlatives, and entirely disconnected from reality: so-and-so was the best, the most incredible, the ne plus ultra, the eternal. The calumny was angry, bitter, resentful, ever a casting out and closing of the iron door.”

The elites in a dying culture confuse what the economist Karl Polanyi calls “real” and “fictitious” commodities. A commodity is a product manufactured for sale. The ecosystem, labor and money, therefore, are not commodities. Once these fictitious commodities are treated as real ones for exploitation and manipulation, Polanyi writes, human society devours itself. Workers become dehumanized cogs. Currency and trade are manipulated by speculators, wreaking havoc with the economy and leading to financial collapse. The natural world is turned into a toxic wasteland. The elites, as the society breaks down, retreat into protected enclaves where they have access to security and services denied to the wider population. They last longer than those outside their gates, but the tsunami of destruction they orchestrate does not spare them.

As long as Trump serves the interests of the elites he will remain president. If, for some reason, he is unable to serve these interests he will disappear. Wolff notes in the book that after his election there was “a surprising and sudden business and Wall Street affinity for Trump.” He went on: “An antiregulatory White House and the promise of tax reform outweighed the prospect of disruptive tweeting and other forms of Trump chaos; besides, the market had not stopped climbing since November 9, the day after the election.”

The Russia investigation—launched when Robert Mueller became special counsel in May and which appears to be focused on money laundering, fraud and shady business practices, things that have always characterized Trump’s financial empire—is unlikely to unseat the president. He will not be impeached for mental incompetence, over the emoluments clause or for obstruction of justice, although he is guilty on all these counts. He is useful to those who hold real power in the corporate state, however much they would like to domesticate him.

Trump’s bizarre ramblings and behavior also serve a useful purpose. They are a colorful diversion from the razing of democratic institutions. As cable news networks feed us stories of his trysts with a porn actress and outlandish tweets, the real work of the elites is being carried out largely away from public view. The courts are stacked with Federalist Society judges, the fossil fuel industry is plundering public lands and the coastlines and ripping up regulations that protected us from its poisons, and the Pentagon, given carte blanche, is engaged in an orgy of militarism with a trillion-dollar-a-year budget and about 800 military bases in scores of countries around the world.

Trump, as Wolff describes him in the book, is clueless about what he has unleashed. He is uninterested in and bored by the complexities of governance and policy. The faster Trump finds a member of the oligarchy or the military to take a job off his hands the happier he becomes. This suits his desires. It suits the desires of those who manage the corporate state. For the president there is only one real concern, the tumultuous Trump White House reality show and how it plays out on television. He is a creature solely concerned with image, or more exactly his image. Nothing else matters.

“For each of his enemies—and, actually, for each of his friends—the issue for him came down, in many ways, to their personal press plan,” Wolff writes of the president. “Trump assumed everybody wanted his or her fifteen minutes and that everybody had a press strategy for when they got them. If you couldn’t get press directly for yourself, you became a leaker. There was no happenstance news, in Trump’s view. All news was manipulated and designed, planned and planted. All news was to some extent fake—he understood that very well, because he himself had faked it so many times in his career. This was why he had so naturally cottoned to the ‘fake news’ label. ‘I’ve made stuff up forever, and they always print it,’ he bragged.”

Yes, the elites wish Trump would act more presidential. It would help the brand. But all attempts by the elites to make Trump conform to the outward norms embraced by most public officials have failed. Trump will not be reformed by criticism from the establishment. Republican Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee, who denounced Trump, saw their approval ratings plummet and have decided not to run for re-election. Trump may have public approval of only 39 percent overall, but among Republicans the figure is 78 percent. And I don’t think those numbers will decrease.

The inability of the political establishment and the press to moderate or reform Trump’s egregious behavior is rooted in their loss of credibility. The press, along with political and intellectual elites, spent decades championing economic and political policies that solidified corporate power and betrayed and impoverished American workers. The hypocrisy and mendacity of the elites left them despised and distrusted by the victims of deindustrialization and austerity programs. The attempt to restore civility to public discourse and competency to political office is, therefore, fruitless. Liberal and establishment institutions, including the leadership of the two main political parties, academia and the press, squandered their moral authority. And the dogged refusal by the elites to address the engine of discontent—social inequality—ensures that they will remain ineffectual. They lay down the asphalt for the buffoonery of Trump and the coming tyranny.

Chris Hedges, spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than 50 countries and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times, for which he was a foreign correspondent for 15 years. https://www.truthdig.com/author/chris_hedges/</s>It is not, as it happens, the first time women have used clothing to send a message: at Mr. Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress last year, many of them wore suffragist white. In both cases, they let their clothes do the talking for them.

— Vanessa Friedman

Voices from speechwriters past.

Jonathan Horn, speechwriter for former President George W. Bush, has these thoughts:

“That’s part of the problem for Donald Trump going into the State of the Union. He could come out with a very traditional State of the Union and for a normal president, that would help set the agenda for at least, you know, maybe a few weeks. In Washington, you’d plan other policy speeches to follow up on certain aspects of the State of the Union and there would be an entire rollout around the State of the Union. I think with this president, you would expect it would be much shorter. Even if there is a surprise — Oh, look, Donald Trump sounded presidential — but then the next day there could be a tweet, and then, you know, work on a very, very long speech is overshadowed by a 280 characters. That’s my one prediction. In some sense, whatever he ultimately says is overshadowed by a 280-character tweet.”

Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at N.Y.U. School of Law and a speechwriter for former President Bill Clinton, also weighed in:

“The power of that podium is not just the audience watching. It’s the sense that the president is somebody who speaks for the whole country. And the way he has governed over the past year has been so filled with denunciations and racial division and flat-out falsehoods that he doesn’t have a lot in the tank when it comes to credibility for anybody who isn’t already an avid supporter. Often, these State of the Union addresses can be a time when the panoply of the presidency can give whoever the president is, sort of, a second chance with a lot of people. I’d be surprised if that’s the case here.”

Cody Keenan, chief speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, also had concerns:

“President Obama always wanted to close his State of the Union addresses with an argument about the state of our politics. You know, what can we do to make them better? What can we do to be better citizens? I always remember reading criticisms the next day, certainly from the left, saying why is he wasting real estate in the speech on that? It’s never going to happen. “Well, that’s part of leadership. You know, there’s a vision of what we should be, even if the odds of us getting there in one year or eight years is pretty slim.”

— Interviews by Michael D. Shear

Unfamiliar with the guests in the first lady’s box? Here’s some history.</s>WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump will deliver his maiden State of the Union address on Tuesday with both a resurgent economy and a sagging approval rating as his backdrop.

The President will use his remarks to argue for bipartisan cooperation while trumpeting the roaring stock market and low unemployment, aides have said. He told advisers he wanted to strike a unifying tone after a year of stoking divisions on race, politics and gender.

"Tonight, I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties, Democrats and Republicans, to protect our citizens, of every background, color and creed," Trump will say during his address, according to excerpts released by the White House.

Trump's first year of GDP growth is very, very average, historically speaking

Whether one hourlong address can achieve that goal remains to be seen. Trump remains deeply divisive, and Washington has fractured during his first year in office as controversies mount. Investigations into Russian election meddling are heating up as Trump prepares for a potential interview with special counsel Robert Mueller.

In his remarks, Trump plans to herald the large package of tax cuts he signed into law last year. He'll proclaim that a regulatory rollback has allowed industries to thrive. And he'll insist that his administration has "sought to restore the bonds of trust between our citizens and their government."

"This is our New American Moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American dream," Trump will say, according to the excerpts. "Americans love their country. And they deserve a government that shows them the same love and loyalty in return."

A president's State of the Union is typically his highest-profile platform of the year, and viewership is generally higher in the first part of a presidency. But television ratings for the speech have steadily fallen over the decades, and Trump has shown a penchant for bypassing traditional communication channels in favor of Twitter.

If the State of the Union has assumed a reduced importance, however, there were no signs the White House was taking it any less seriously. For months, Trump fed handwritten notes with lines for the speech to his team of speechwriters, a White House official said.

Trump practiced delivering the address from the Map Room on Monday, the official said. Trump's predecessors also rehearsed their addresses from a mock podium and teleprompter set up in the White House basement room.

Among the items Trump plans to raise in his remarks: a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, paid for by federal, state and private dollars; the sweeping tax cuts he signed into law late last year; and foreign policy matters, including "eye-opening" remarks on North Korea, according to a person familiar with the remarks.

Trump also plans to advocate for a possible immigration agreement that would allow some undocumented immigrations to remain in the country.

"Struggling communities, especially immigrant communities, will also be helped by immigration policies that focus on the best interests of American workers and American families," he will say, according to the excerpts.

A team of speechwriters and top policy aides helped Trump craft his address, White House officials said. They included National Economic Council director Gary Cohn, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, senior policy adviser Stephen Miller and staff secretary Rob Porter.

Trump first reviewed a draft of his State of the Union address in December, and has made handwritten edits in recent days with black felt tip pens. In the last several weeks, Trump has workshopped ideas for the speech or edited certain sections while in the residence at night, handing over his changes to staffers the next day.

Trump told a gathering of TV news anchors Tuesday ahead of his address that he would like to see the country "united" and hopes to help rally the country around a sense of national unity.

The President said he would consider unifying the country a great achievement and that he would like to achieve national unity without a "major event," such as a national tragedy or major terrorist attack.

While Trump acknowledged that the country is currently very divided, he also said he believes the country was more divided during the Bill Clinton impeachment, citing a conversation he had with a Democratic lawmaker.

The speech is not likely to touch on the Russia matter, people familiar with it said, opting instead to focus on policy. Trump hopes a serious-minded message can help improve his standing in the polls.

The President's approval rating stood at 40% in CNN's last survey, his highest mark since last September, but still the lowest for any elected president at the one-year mark since modern public opinion polling began.

RELATED: President Trump's approval rating edges up to 40%, according to a CNN Poll

Democrats selected Rep. Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts, a grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, to deliver the traditional response to the President's speech. A number of other responses are also planned, including by Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent Vermont senator who ran for President in 2016. A number of Democrats have planned to boycott the speech.

The White House announced on Monday that 15 guests would sit above the House floor in the first lady's box, a tradition that past presidents have used to illustrate their successes. This year's guests include a firefighter who helped battle blazes in California and the parents of children killed by the MS-13 gang.

The first lady herself also plans to attend the speech. Ordinarily, Melania Trump's presence at the State of the Union would not be notable -- but she hasn't appeared in public with her husband since reports emerged last week that Trump allegedly had an affair with a porn star.</s>In his first-ever State of the Union address, Donald Trump is expected to strike a bipartisanship with the Democrats and provide an overview of his achievements during his first year as President.

Trump will talk about America being ‘back’ and the importance of rebuilding the country, as well as ensuring the nation is ‘safe’ in relation to illegal immigrants, DREAMers and the Mexican border wall.

Despite this compromise with the Democratic party, another one of Trump’s aims is for the Republicans to retain their majority in Congress as well as push policies ahead of the midterm election season.

Many celebrities have already taken to the streets in protest of Trump’s SOTU 2018 and a celebration of the ‘resistance’ movement against the US President will take place in New York on January 29.

What is the State of the Union Address?

As stated in the US Constitution, the President of the United States is expected to give a State of the Union Address to Congress and advise on measures they deem ‘necessary and expedient’.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan sent an invitation to Trump on November 30 to deliver the speech.

This marks Donald Trump’s first State of the Union Address and his second speech to a joint session of Congress.

When is the State of the Union Address 2018?

The 2018 State of the Union Address will take place on January 30 and will be given at 9pm EST.

What will Trump discuss at the 2018 State of the Union Address?

White House Legislative Director Marc Short highlighted that Trump will 'talk about how America’s back. The president is also going to make an appeal to Democrats ...to say we need to rebuild our country. And to make an appeal that to do infrastructure, we need to do it in a bipartisan way'.

The theme of the 2018 State of the Union address is ‘building a safe, strong and proud America’ and Trump will reveal how he intends to enforce this in his second year as President.

Trump will also reportedly use this opportunity to discuss the economic progress the US has made under his presidency, a teaser of which he revealed on Twitter when he lashed out at Jay-Z with misleading claims that his policies had lowered African American unemployment.

During the speech, Trump will continue to elaborate on his immigration policies and in line with tradition to invite ‘themed guests’, Democratic members of Congress will welcome two dozen DREAMers to the event.

Trump will also promote his proposal for $25 million for a wall to be built along the Mexican border and for the 2 million young people who entered the US as children to become citizens.

Despite a compromise with the opposition, another one of Trump’s aims is for the Republicans to retain their majority in Congress and address the widely debated tax overhaul.

The US President will also address a literal rebuilding of the nation with a $2 trillion plan to trigger $1 trillion in private and public spending on roads, bridges and other projects.

On North Korea, Trump will provide an update on the current state of events and advise on plans to combat terrorist threats from other countries or groups.

Joe Kennedy will provide a response to Trump’s State of Union Address on behalf of the Democrats, following in the footsteps of his great-uncle Senator Ted Kennedy in 1982.

How to watch the State of the Union Address

The full State of the Union address will run from 9pm to 10:30pm EST.

The State of the Union Address will be available to watch via The White House’s online stream or via Twitter.

The State of the Union Address will also be featured on CBS News, the CBS YouTube channel and the CBS All Access mobile app with coverage starting at 5pm EST.

C-SPAN will also be airing on cable here starting at 8pm EST.

Who will be attending the State of the Union Address this year?

Melania Trump will be attending the State of the Union Address alongside some ‘themed’ invitees.

Evelyn Cuevas, the mother of Kayla Cuevas who was killed on Long Island by MS-13 members in 2016, is expected to attend.

Other invitees include TV scientist Bill Nye, Miss America 2018 Cara Mund, Mexican border wall contractor Tommy Fisher, and Sunayana Dumala, the widow of Indian immigrant Srinivas Kuchibhotla who was killed in the 2017 Olathe, Kansas shooting.

Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other Congress members have invited DREAMers to the event and many have also invited members of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements.

Who is protesting the 2018 State of the Union address?

In line with many actresses at the Golden Globes, Democratic members of Congress will wear black in solidarity and in protest of sexual harassment and assault.

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members will also wear red pins in honour of Recy Taylor, a black woman who was gang raped by six white men in 1944.

After Trump’s ‘s***hole countries’ comment, Representatives John Lewis and Maxine Waters said they would not be attending the event, with Frederica Wilson and Pramila Jayapal also boycotting at a later date.

The travel ban and the President’s response to the Unite the Right rally also resulted in Representative Jan Schakowsky announcing her non-attendance. Gregory Meeks and Albio Sires will also not be attending.

Mark Ruffalo and other celebrities who form part of the ‘resistance’ movement are hosting a People’s State of the Union on January 29.

Ruffalo told People: ‘In essence, it’s a better reflection of our state of the union based on a more populist point of view, based on the people’s point of view.’

'I think it’s important because we have a President who has a difficult time with the truth, who has a radical, divisive agenda, and spends an enormous amount of time focusing on the negative and hopelessness and despair.’</s>You can watch a live stream of President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union Address in the video below, starting at about 9 p.m.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump will give his first State of the Union address at 9 p.m. Eastern time, talking up the U.S. economy and calling for bipartisanship – after a year in office during which his aggressive, mercurial politics often overshadowed the former and undermined the latter.

“For the last year we have sought to restore the bonds of trust between our citizens and their government,” Trump plans to say, in a speech excerpt released by the White House on Tuesday evening.

In another excerpt, Trump will say “This is our New American Moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American dream.

Trump also intends to use the speech to call for a bipartisan deal on immigration. On Thursday he proposed a deal that would allow “dreamers” – young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children – to be given a path to citizenship, in exchange for an increase in border-security funding and large cuts to legal immigration.

“So tonight I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties, Democrats and Republicans, to protect our citizens, of every background, color, and creed,” Trump will say, according to the excerpts.

That tone will be markedly different from the one that Trump used in a Twitter messages earlier last week, in which he taunted the Senate’s top Democrat, Charles Schumer, N.Y., for not agreeing to a bipartisan immigration deal. That tweet came after a short-lived government shutdown, which ended when Democrats backed down.

“Cryin’ Chuck Schumer fully understands, especially after his humiliating defeat, that if there is no Wall, there is no DACA,” Trump wrote. “DACA” is an acronym for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program that allowed some “Dreamers” to avoid deportation.

And Trump’s call for bipartisanship and an end to division seemed unlikely to change the tone in Washington – where, in the hours leading up to Trump’s address, lawmakers seemed more divided than ever. One major cause was the fight over a House Intelligence Committee “memo” that purportedly raises questions about federal investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Many Republicans have used that memo, which was written by staff members of the committee chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., as a reason to question the validity of scrutiny of Trump and his staff by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

The divisions over immigration will be visible in the gallery that overlooks the House chamber. More than 50 Democratic lawmakers have invited “dreamers” to attend as guests to dramatize their demand for legal status. In response, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar, Ariz., tweeted that he had asked the Capitol Police to check all guests’ IDs, and arrest “any illegal aliens in attendance.”

In Trump’s box, he has guests who will highlight the threat posed by MS-13, a criminal gang active in both the United States and Central America. Trump’s guests will include a federal immigration agent who has investigated the gang, and two sets of parents whose children were killed by MS-13 members.

The excerpts released from Trump’s speech show he will also push for increased spending on infrastructure – and reductions in the environmental review process for some new projects. “We built the Empire State Building in just one year – isn’t it a disgrace that it can now take ten years just to get a permit approved for a simple road?” Trump plans to say.

The excerpts show that Trump will also tout his administration’s cutbacks on government regulations more generally. “In our drive to make Washington accountable, we have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in history,” he will say, according to the White House.

Trump will walk into the House chamber on Tuesday with an approval rating around 39 percent. That’s the lowest of any recent president at this point in his first term, going back to Harry S. Truman, according to the poll-aggregation site fivethirtyeight.com.

The divisions have changed even one of the most durable Washington traditions: the president’s triumphant walk down the House’s center aisle, shaking hands with lawmakers from both sides. Some Democrats who had traditionally staked out seats along the aisle have said this year that they won’t do it.

In the audience, some female Democrats have said they will be wearing black as a signal of their support for the #MeToo movement, raising awareness to combat sexual misconduct. A number of Republican women have said they will wear red, white and blue to show support for the U.S. military.

Trump faces a difficult political task: to reverse his approval numbers and refocus the public on the massive tax cuts pushed through by the GOP late last year.

He speaks at a time when Democrats feel increasingly confident – having won a series of special elections in Trump’s heartland, including a U.S. Senate seat from Alabama.

But that task will require more than simply reading a speech Tuesday. It will require Trump to focus on the GOP’s message and avoid distracting or damaging battles with the targets he’s favored so far: celebrities, federal law-enforcement officials and his own Cabinet members.

Last year, he couldn’t do it.

About a year ago, Trump gave his first address to a joint session of Congress – technically, not a “State of the Union” address – which was widely praised as his most “presidential” moment in office.

A few days later, Trump accused former President Barack Obama of having Trump’s “wires tapped” in Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign. He gave no evidence, and the FBI director later said there was “no information” to support Trump’s accusation.

“Success in the midterm hinges on selling the tax bill to the American people,” one senior Republican strategist told The Washington Post this week. “To do that successfully, we need the president and the White House making the case every day instead of every sixth day.”‘

This year, a CNN report indicates that Trump may already be planning a move that would distract from his State of the Union message – authorizing the release of the GOP memo that casts aspersions on the FBI’s investigation of Trump.

Follow the Bangor Daily News on Facebook for the latest Maine news.</s>WASHINGTON — Addressing a deeply divided nation, President Donald Trump called for a "new American moment" of unity Tuesday night and challenged lawmakers to make good on long-standing promises to fix a dangerously fractured immigration system, warning of evil outside forces seeking to undermine the nation's way of life.

Trump's State of the Union address blended self-congratulation and calls for optimism amid a growing economy with dark warnings about deadly gangs, the scourge of drugs and violent immigrants living in the United States illegally. He cast the debate over immigration — an issue that has long animated his most ardent supporters — as a battle between heroes and villains, praising the work of an immigration agent who arrested more than 100 gang members and saluting the families of two alleged gang victims.

He also spoke forebodingly of catastrophic dangers from abroad, warning that North Korea would "very soon" threaten the United States with nuclear-tipped missiles.

"The United States is a compassionate nation. We are proud that we do more than any other country to help the needy, the struggling and the underprivileged all over the world," Trump said. "But as president of the United States, my highest loyalty, my greatest compassion, and my constant concern is for America's children, America's struggling workers and America's forgotten communities."

Trump spoke with tensions running high on Capitol Hill. An impasse over immigration prompted a three-day government shutdown earlier this year, and lawmakers appear no closer to resolving the status of the "Dreamers" — young people living in the U.S. illegally ahead of a new Feb. 8 deadline for funding operations. The parties have also clashed this week over the plans of Republicans on the House intelligence committee to release a classified memo on the Russia investigation involving Trump's presidential campaign — a decision the White House backs but the Justice Department is fighting.

The controversies that have dogged Trump — and the ones he has created— have overshadowed strong economic gains during his first year in office. His approval ratings have hovered in the 30s for much of his presidency, and just 3 in 10 Americans said the United States was heading in the right direction, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. In the same survey, 67 percent of Americans said the country was more divided because of Trump.

At times, Trump's address appeared to be aimed more at validating his first year in office than setting the course for his second. He devoted significant time to touting the tax overhaul he signed at the end of last year, promising the plan will "provide tremendous relief for the middle class and small businesses." He also highlighted the decision made early in his first year to withdraw the U.S. from a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade pact, declaring: "The era of economic surrender is totally over."

He spoke about potential agenda items for 2018 in broad terms, including a call for $1.5 trillion in new infrastructure spending and partnerships with states and the private sector. He touched only briefly on issues like health care that have been at the center of the Republican Party's policy agenda for years.

Tackling the sensitive immigration debate that has roiled Washington, Trump redoubled his recent pledge to offer a path to citizenship for 1.8 million young immigrants — but only as part of a package that would also require increased funding for border security, including a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, ending the nation's visa lottery method and revamping the current legal immigration system. Some Republicans are wary of the hardline elements of Trump's plan and it's unclear whether his blueprint could pass Congress.

Trump played to the culture wars, alluding to his public spat with professional athletes who led protests against racial injustice by kneeling during the national anthem, declaring that paying tribute to the flag is a "civic duty."

Republicans led multiple rounds of enthusiastic applause during the speech, but for the opposition party it was a more somber affair. Democrats provided a short spurt of polite applause for Trump as he entered the chamber, but offered muted reactions throughout the speech. A cluster of about two dozen Democrats, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus, remained planted firmly in their seats, staring sternly at the president and withholding applause.

After devastating defeats in 2016, Democrats are hopeful that Trump's sagging popularity can help the party rebound in November's midterm elections. In a post-speech rebuttal, Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, was seeking to undercut Trump's optimistic tone and remind voters of the personal insults and attacks often leveled by the president.

"Bullies may land a punch," Kennedy said, according to excerpts from his remarks. "They might leave a mark. But they have never, not once, in the history of our United States, managed to match the strength and spirit of a people united in defense of their future."

On international affairs, Trump warned of the dangers from "rogue regimes," like Iran and North Korea, terrorist groups, like the Islamic State, and "rivals" like China and Russia "that challenge our interests, our economy and our values." Calling on Congress to lift budgetary caps and boost spending on the military, Trump said that "unmatched power is the surest means of our defense."

The president also announced that he had signed an executive order directing the Department of Defense to keep open the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. The order reverses the Obama-era policy of the executive branch, long stymied by Congress, to close the prison.

First lady Melania Trump, who has largely stayed out of the spotlight following the latest allegations of Trump infidelity, arrived at the capitol ahead of her husband to attend a reception with guests of the White House. Those sitting alongside the first lady included an Ohio welder who the White House says will benefit from the new tax law and the parents of two Long Island teenagers who were believed to have been killed by MS-13 gang members.</s>75% Approve of Trump’s State of the Union Address

An “instant” poll of viewers who watched President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night found that 75% approved of the speech, while only 25% disapproved — a 50-point margin in the president’s favor.

CBS News remarked: “Eight in 10 Americans who watched tonight felt that the president was trying to unite the country, rather than divide it.”

The CBS News / YouGov poll may have been skewed somewhat by the fact that more Republicans watched the speech than Democrats. – READ MORE

President Donald Trump used his first official State of the Union address to propose a compromise on immigration. While offering an amnesty to 1.8 million so-called “Dreamers” — illegal aliens who entered the country as minors — Trump also insisted that “Americans are dreamers, too.”

So tonight, I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties — Democrats and Republicans — to protect our citizens of every background, color, religion, and creed. My duty, and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber, is to defend Americans — to protect their safety, their families, their communities, and their right to the American Dream. Because Americans are dreamers too. – READ MORE

In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump said his ongoing work to cut regulations and governmental red tape will enhance the American economy.

Trump pointed specifically to the city of Detroit, Michigan, which has seen an increase in urban blight and unemployment.

Trump said previously-enacted regulations “crippled” the American auto industry, hurting the Motor City. – READ MORE</s>Tuesday night President Donald Trump makes the annual presidential trip up Pennsylvania Avenue to address Congress.

Trump's first State of the Union address will be "must see TV" according to White House officials, who have been teasing the speech as an opportunity for the president to tout his administration's accomplishments over the past year. But exactly what is in the speech remains a mystery, even to many in the president's inner circle.

The president told his staff he wants his speech to be "positive and uplifting," and for months Trump has passed along notes and ideas to his team, according to a White House official. Senior Policy Advisor Stephen Miller, White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter, National Security Advisory H.R. McMaster, and Economic Advisor Gary Cohn were part of the team of advisers who helped write the speech.

On Tuesday, preparations were underway for the State of the Union, according to a White House official, who said Trump rehearsed his speech's delivery in the Map Room. In the afternoon, the president had a traditional off-the-record lunch with network news anchors at the White House.

Before departing for Capitol Hill, the first lady will hold a reception at the White House for honorary guests sitting with her at tonight's State of the Union address, according to a spokesperson for her office.

It is not clear whether President Trump will also attend this reception, but an administration official said the the guests will meet with the president in the Oval Office during the afternoon. Among those invited to join the first lady in her box tonight are the parents of two girls killed by MS-13 gang members, a wounded veteran and a family affected by the Opioid crisis. Looking down from the House gallery's balcony will also be Trump's children including Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka and Tiffany although Trump's youngest son Barron is not expected to attend.

With major legislative hurdles on issues like immigration and infrastructure ahead, White House officials say tonight's speech will strike an optimistic and bipartisan tone with a theme of "Building a Safe, Strong and Proud America."

The White House says the speech will largely focus on five main issues: tax cuts and the economy, the outline for a $1 trillion infrastructure plan, trade, national security by "peace through strength" and the framework for immigration reform including DACA legalization.

On Monday, Trump when asked about his State of the Union speech at the swearing in for Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Trump expressed hope his address will pave the way for finding a middle ground on immigration.

"It has to be bipartisan," Trump said. "But hopefully the Democrats will join us or enough of them will join us so we can really do something great for DACA and for immigration in general.”

But as the Russia investigation swirls around the White House, the question remains whether or not the President will address recent controversies surrounding the probe and a new classified memo about the FBI's management of the Russia investigation.

When asked if the House Republican's memo will be included in tonight's speech, Kellyanne Conway said to Fox and Friends "it's not," but then added "transparency and accountability are."

ABC News will begin livestreaming coverage of the State of the Union Address on Tuesday night starting at 8:15 p.m. EST. Then at 9:00 p.m. EST you can watch the full State of the Union Address followed by the Democratic response on abcnews.com, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and the ABC News app.</s>On Tuesday, President Donald Trump will speak to Congress and the American people in his first official State of the Union address. Here is everything you need to know about the annual remarks.

The concept for a State of the Union address is enshrined in Article II, Section 3, Clause I of the Constitution, which states that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."

According to the National Archives, George Washington first gave his "annual message" to Congress on January 8, 1790, in the Senate Chamber of Federal Hall in New York City -- which was then the temporary seat of government.

The third president, Thomas Jefferson, broke with his predecessors for his State of the Union address, electing to deliver his message in writing. Jefferson set a precedent that lasted for more than 100 years, until President Woodrow Wilson spoke in person to a joint session of Congress in 1913, according to the Archives.

President Calvin Coolidge's first -- and only -- address in 1923 was the first to be broadcast nationally on the radio, according to the Coolidge Foundation.

President Franklin Roosevelt was the first to call his speech the "State of the Union" address, according to the Senate Historical Office, and the term was made official under President Harry Truman.

Truman's was the first to be televised in 1947, but President Lyndon Johnson's 1965 address was the first to be broadcast in prime time, per the House Historical Office. President George W. Bush's address in 2002 was the first to be streamed on the internet.

President Bill Clinton holds the record for the longest State of the Union address. His 2000 address ran one hour, 28 minutes, 49 seconds, according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Washington had the shortest address, with his 1790 speech spanning just 833 words. It is believed to have lasted only 10 minutes.

Presidents William Henry Harrison and James Garfield never delivered a State of the Union address. Both died in office before they were able to.

President Barack Obama is the only African-American, president or not, to have ever addressed a joint session of Congress.

The State of the Union address has been postponed only once, in 1986. President Ronald Reagan's address was originally scheduled on the same day as the Challenger space shuttle explosion. It was delayed until the following week in light of the tragedy.

Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen and House Minority Leader Gerald Ford delivered the first opposition response to a State of the Union address in 1966. According to the Senate Historical Office, the rebuttals continued sporadically throughout the next decade and became an established tradition in 1982.

Rep. Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts will deliver the Democratic response to Trump's address. Kennedy, 37, is seen as a rising star in a party that has many in the senior ranks, well into their 70s.

The Massachusetts congressman comes from one of the most prominent families in American politics as the great-nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. He will follow in the footsteps of his great-uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was part of a group response to President Ronald Reagan's State of the Union in 1982.

At least one member of the President's Cabinet is selected to stay behind from the speech each year in case of emergency. The designated survivor goes to a distant, secure and undisclosed location outside Washington while everyone else gathers to listen to the President's address in the Capitol.

The designated survivor must be eligible to be president, and if a higher-ranking successor survives a potential incident, that person would become president ahead of the designated survivor. The practice started in the 1960s, during the Cold War, when there were fears of a nuclear attack.

Last year's designated survivor was Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin.

Reagan started the tradition of acknowledging guests when he recognized Lenny Skutnik, a federal employee turned hero, in his 1982 speech. The guests sit in the first lady's section of the gallery.

Many times these guests are ordinary citizens who may serve as a human connection to parts of the president's agenda for the year to come. Not all of the guests are necessarily recognized in the speech. Rosa Parks, Sammy Sosa and Hank Aaron are among the more well-known names who have been recognized, according to the American Presidency Project.

Last year, the President and first lady Melania Trump hosted:
• Jessica Davis and Susan Oliver, the widows of slain Detective Michael Davis and Deputy Sheriff Danny Oliver, respectively
• Jamiel Shaw Sr., whose son, Jamiel Jr., was shot and killed by an undocumented immigrant
• Carryn Owens, the widow of slain Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, who was killed during an operation in Yemen in January 2017.

The White House has not yet released the list of guests for this year's address. However, several members of Congress said they will bring victims and survivors of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements as their guests this year.

The State of the Union is delivered in the chamber of the House of Representatives with members of both the House and the Senate, as well as the justices of the Supreme Court, members of the president's cabinet and the diplomatic corps in attendance.

The president is escorted into the chamber by members of both the House and the Senate, and their arrival is announced by the sergeant-at-arms of the House of Representatives. The speaker of the House introduces the president.

The top members of each chamber of Congress are seated behind the president during the address: the vice president (who is the president of the Senate) and the speaker of the House. The president pro tempore of the Senate sits in the vice president's seat if the vice president is not in attendance.</s>GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Following President Trump’s first official ‘State of the Union’ address Tuesday night – and the Democratic response from Rep. Joe Kennedy III – a number of Michigan political figures gave their responses – predictably, along political lines. Below are some of the news releases sent out on their behalf:

Stabenow Statement on State of the Union Address

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) released a statement following the 2018 State of the Union Address:

“Tonight, I was honored to be joined by Michigan Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam veteran Jim McCloughan at the State of the Union Address. His participation is a reminder to all of us that we cannot take our values as a country or the people who keep us safe for granted. I remain committed to working with Republicans, Democrats, and the White House to get things done for Michigan families.”

This week, Senator Stabenow sent a letter to President Trump outlining important priorities for Michigan in any federal infrastructure package developed by Congress or the White House. She pointed to the critical needs of Michigan’s roads and bridges, water and sewer systems, broadband network, harbors on the Great Lakes, and Soo Locks.

Veterans’ health care has been a longstanding priority for Senator Stabenow. She recently introduced the Veterans Deserve Better Act to address serious problems in the federal Veterans Choice Program and announced bipartisan legislation to give veterans the same preventive health insurance coverage as the general public. She has championed the effort to open new and expanded VA clinics across the state, including in Alpena, Bad Axe, Cadillac, Clare, Cheboygan County, Grayling, Oscoda, and Wyoming.

 —-

For Immediate Release

 Date: January 30, 2018

 Lt. Gov. Brian Calley Statement on the State of the Union Address

 Lt. Gov. Brian Calley issued the following statement following President Trump’s State of the Union address:

 “President Trump focused on the past year of working to build a safe, strong and successful America in his speech tonight. We should be proud of the fact that Michigan is at the heart of America’s resurgence, and, as the President said, the Motor City’s engines are revving again.

 I also appreciated how the President stressed the importance of an all-hands-on-deck approach to the opioid crisis which has become a national emergency, as it is now claiming more lives than car accidents.

 I look forward to working with President Trump to continue to help Michigan and our country achieve success in the coming years.”

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Walberg Statement on President Trump’s State of the Union Address

Washington, D.C.—Congressman Tim Walberg (MI-07) released the following statement after President Trump’s first State of the Union address:

“President Trump’s message of growing jobs and paychecks are welcome words for Michigan workers and families who need a break. Thanks to the landmark tax cuts and regulatory relief we enacted into law, the foundation is in place for a booming economy. Hardworking families are already starting to see the benefits—bonuses, pay raises, and increased job creation and investment in our communities. I am also encouraged by the President’s call to find common ground to tackle issues like combating the opioid crisis, improving infrastructure, and expanding rural broadband. Our work is just beginning as we build on these reforms to improve people’s lives and ensure America’s best days are ahead.”

Congressman Walberg serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Education and the Workforce Committee as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions. For more information on Walberg’s work in Congress visit walberg.house.gov.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) issued the following statement after President Trump delivered his State of the Union address:

“At a time when America is deeply divided, it is more important than ever that Members of Congress from both parties come together to tackle the big challenges facing our nation. I hope President Trump will make good on his commitment tonight to work with both Democrats and Republicans to pass bipartisan legislation that will rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and support hard-working American families.

“As the Ranking Member of the Surface Transportation Subcommittee, I’m focused on promoting federal investments to upgrade and modernize our roads, bridges and ports, expand rural broadband networks, and lay the groundwork for smart transportation like connected and self-driving vehicles.

“Although President Trump campaigned on a promise to improve infrastructure, I’m concerned that his barebones infrastructure proposal lacks meaningful federal investments and instead forces cash-strapped state and local governments to make up for the lack of strong federal support or shifts the burden to American people through tolls and fees.

“A robust infrastructure package has the potential to drive innovation and create good-paying jobs in Michigan and across the country. I was honored to have Mike Jackson, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights, as my guest this evening to highlight the importance of protecting prevailing wage laws that ensure skilled workers get a fair wage and taxpayers get their money’s worth when infrastructure projects are completed on budget and on time.

“Ensuring workers can earn middle class wages should be part of a comprehensive approach to economic growth that includes boosting our manufacturing sector and fighting unfair trade practices. We need to enforce trade laws and help small businesses take action to protect American workers and ensure our international competitors are not using unfair practices to undercut fair wages, manipulate their currency or restrict access to American-made products in their markets.

“Moving forward, I hope that the President and Republicans in Congress will work in a bipartisan way to address these important economic issues, which means crafting a forward-looking bill that makes significant investments in the critical infrastructure without undercutting fair wages.”

WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel issued the following statement about President Trump’s State of the Union address:

“President Trump’s first year in office has been marked by policies that uplift the American people, strengthen our nation’s economy, and keep our communities safe,” said Chairwoman McDaniel. “From the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to rebuilding our military and working to defeat terrorism, the President has made the well-being of every single American his priority. He is committed to restoring our depleted infrastructure, securing our borders, and pursuing fair trade deals during his next year in office.”

“President Trump’s speech tonight was a home run. Congress needs to unite behind the President’s vision for a safe, strong, and proud America – now and in the years ahead.”

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Chairman Weiser Statement on President Trump’s State of the Union Address

LANSING, Mich., January 30, 2017 – Tuesday evening President Trump delivered his first State of the Union Address laying out his many first-year accomplishments and bold plans for 2018. The following is a statement from Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser about the address:

“In his first year, President Donald Trump has slashed taxes and regulations that held back the American economy, and as a result, we have stronger economic growth and lower unemployment. Abroad, the President has demonstrated to the world that the United States will put the interests of our citizens first, ending the Obama era of ‘go along, to get along’ foreign policy. President Trump is offering Americans continued relief and investment, including over $1 trillion to fix our depleted infrastructure, a plan that will create more jobs and continue to grow our economy. The Michigan Republican Party is proud of the President’s accomplishments and is ready to stand with him on his 2018 agenda. Together we will build a stronger America.”
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his first State of the Union Address to the 115th United States Congress in the chamber of the House of Representatives.