Republicans welcome Trump’s ‘unity and strength’ speech

Republicans gave a unanimous welcome to US president Donald Trump's inaugural speech to Congress on Tuesday night, but Democrats accused the president of failing to provide concrete plans on how he plans to implement legislation.

Mr Trump surprised his critics by delivering his most measured speech to date in an address to the joint Houses of Congress on Tuesday night, as he called for Democrats and Republicans to unite and help deliver his agenda for the US.

“I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart,” he said to a packed House of Representatives in Washington.

Heralding a “new chapter of American greatness”, Mr Trump said the US should “not allow the mistakes of recent decades past to define the course of our future”, as he pledged to keep the promises he made to the American people in the election.

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But Democrats accused the president of prioritising rhetoric over reality. Speaking on Wednesday morning, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said "speech and reality have never been more detached in a presidential speech", accusing the White House of "never once" reaching out to Democratic lawmakers since Trump's inauguration.

But vice-president Mike Pence took to the airwaves to defend the president, telling MSNBC: "What the American people saw last night is the president I serve with every day . . . broad shoulders, big heart, reaching out, focusing on the future."

Softer tone

Despite striking a softer tone in his hour-long address than in previous public utterances, Mr Trump reiterated his commitment to his most controversial policies, including the construction of a wall on the Mexican border.

For years, the US had “defended the borders of other nations, while leaving our own borders wide open, for anyone to cross”, he said, allowing drugs to pour in at an “unprecedented rate”.

Similarly, America had spent trillions of dollars overseas, while infrastructure at home had crumbled, he added.

A central theme of the speech was Trump’s doctrine of economic nationalism as he pledged to prioritise American companies and revive the manufacturing industry.

“For too long, we’ve watched our middle class shrink as we’ve exported our jobs and wealth to foreign countries,” he said, as he vowed to usher in tax reform that would help American companies “compete and thrive”.

The speech, which was greeted by rapturous applause from the Republican side of the house and stony silence by most house Democrats, also referenced the country’s drugs and crime problems, with the president drawing on individual stories to support his call for Congress to enact measures to “keep America safe”. Among those who attended the address at Mr Trump’s invitation were families of murder victims whose loved ones had been killed by illegal immigrants.

While Mr Trump pledged to “repeal and replace Obamacare with reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower costs and, at the same time, provide better healthcare”, he provided few details of how this would be achieved.

In a speech notable for its lack of detail on foreign policy, Trump moved to reassure US allies of the country's leadership role in the world. "Our allies will find that America is once again ready to lead," he said, while also referencing a continuing commitment to Nato.

But he also suggested that the US would be willing to "find new friends" in the world, a remark that may unnerve many who fear a US rapprochement with Russia. "America is willing to find new friends, and to forge new partnerships, where share interests align. We want harmony and stability, not war and conflict."

In one of the few policy details to emerge from the speech, Trump said he would explore a “merits-based” approach to legal immigration, citing the Canadian and Australian immigration systems. Mr Trump is expected to issue a new executive order very soon on illegal immigration.