Trump pushes hardline immigration policies even as he urges unity
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -  U.S. President Donald Trump  urged lawmakers on Tuesday to work toward bipartisan compromises  but pushed a hard line on immigration  insisting on a border wall and other concessions from Democrats as part of any deal to protect the children of illegal immigrants.
 Trump   in  his  first State of the Union speech  gave no ground on the contentious issue of whether to shield young immigrants known as “Dreamers” from deportation.
Aiming to keep conservative supporters happy as  he  looks to November congressional elections   Trump  stood by a set of principles opposed by Democrats  including the border wall with Mexico and new restrictions on how many family members that legal immigrants can bring into the United States.
“Tonight  I call upon all of us to set aside our differences  to seek out common ground  and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve ”  Trump  said in  his  address.
 Trump  used the hour-and-20-minute speech  given annually by presidents to Congress  to try to overcome doubts about  his  presidency at a time when  he  is battling a probe into  his  campaign’s alleged ties with Russia and suffering low job approval ratings.
 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.  Trump  has denied collusion and has called the probe a “witch hunt.”
The speech was short on details about  Trump ’s policy proposals.
But  his  sober  measured approach was welcomed by the public. A CNN/SSRS snap poll said 48 percent of those surveyed had a “very positive” response to the speech and 22 percent “somewhat positive.”
There was little sign of unity inside the House of Representatives chamber where  Trump  spoke. Republican lawmakers cheered wildly at the president’s applause lines. Democrats often sat in their seats silently and many booed when he laid out his immigration proposals.
Turning to foreign policy late in the speech   Trump  denounced the “depraved character” of North Korea’s leadership and said Pyongyang’s “reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland.”
“We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from happening ”  he  said. In a surprise moment   he  singled out a North Korea defector in the crowd  Ji Seong-ho  as an example of  what he called the reclusive country’s brutal nature .
 Trump  also said  he  had signed an order to keep open the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay  Cuba  for foreign terrorism suspects. Former Democratic President Barack Obama had vowed to close the prison  which has been condemned by human rights groups  but was unable to shut it down completely.
Whether  Trump  would follow through on  his  appeal for bipartisan harmony was far from clear.  Trump’s  past attempts at a unifying message have been undermined by  his  later rancorous tweets and divisive statements that angered Democrats and frequently annoyed lawmakers in  his  own Republican Party.
 U.S. President Donald Trump  delivers  his  State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington  U.S. January 30  2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Republicans welcomed  Trump ’s immigration proposals  with U.S. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma saying  Trump  tried to strike a middle ground.
But Senator Patrick Leahy  a Vermont Democrat and the longest-serving senator  said  Trump ’s words about unity  after a year of “divisive actions  petty insults and disgraceful race-baiting ... ring hollow.”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -  [TGT]urged lawmakers on Tuesday to work toward bipartisan compromises  but pushed a hard line on immigration  insisting on a border wall and other concessions from Democrats as part of any deal to protect the children of illegal immigrants.
 [TGT]in  [TGT]  first State of the Union speech  gave no ground on the contentious issue of whether to shield young immigrants known as “Dreamers” from deportation.
Aiming to keep conservative supporters happy as  [TGT]  looks to November congressional elections   [TGT]  stood by a set of principles opposed by Democrats  including the border wall with Mexico and new restrictions on how many family members that legal immigrants can bring into the United States.
“Tonight  I call upon all of us to set aside our differences  to seek out common ground  and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve ”  Trump  said in  his  address.
 Trump  used the hour-and-20-minute speech  given annually by presidents to Congress  to try to overcome doubts about  his  presidency at a time when  he  is battling a probe into  his  campaign’s alleged ties with Russia and suffering low job approval ratings.
 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.  Trump  has denied collusion and has called the probe a “witch hunt.”
The speech was short on details about  Trump ’s policy proposals.
But  his  sober  measured approach was welcomed by the public. A CNN/SSRS snap poll said 48 percent of those surveyed had a “very positive” response to the speech and 22 percent “somewhat positive.”
There was little sign of unity inside the House of Representatives chamber where  Trump  spoke. Republican lawmakers cheered wildly at the president’s applause lines. Democrats often sat in their seats silently and many booed when he laid out his immigration proposals.
Turning to foreign policy late in the speech   Trump  denounced the “depraved character” of North Korea’s leadership and said Pyongyang’s “reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland.”
“We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from happening ”  he  said. In a surprise moment   he  singled out a North Korea defector in the crowd  Ji Seong-ho  as an example of  what he called the reclusive country’s brutal nature .
 Trump  also said  he  had signed an order to keep open the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay  Cuba  for foreign terrorism suspects. Former Democratic President Barack Obama had vowed to close the prison  which has been condemned by human rights groups  but was unable to shut it down completely.
Whether  Trump  would follow through on  his  appeal for bipartisan harmony was far from clear.  Trump’s  past attempts at a unifying message have been undermined by  his  later rancorous tweets and divisive statements that angered Democrats and frequently annoyed lawmakers in  his  own Republican Party.
 U.S. President Donald Trump  delivers  his  State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington  U.S. January 30  2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Republicans welcomed  Trump ’s immigration proposals  with U.S. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma saying  Trump  tried to strike a middle ground.
But Senator Patrick Leahy  a Vermont Democrat and the longest-serving senator  said  Trump ’s words about unity  after a year of “divisive actions  petty insults and disgraceful race-baiting ... ring hollow.”