Immigration Prime Focus In Trump’s State Of The Union Address

Washington: US President Donald Trump said that his State of the Union (SOTU) address, slated on Tuesday night, will cover "a lot of territory," including immigration and trade.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said on Monday he'll talk about what he touted as "great success" of the stock market and tax cuts passed late last year.

"It's a big speech -- an important speech," Xinhua quoted Trump as saying. Trump said he will make push on immigration policies, while calling for bipartisanship as "the Republicans really don't have the votes to get it done in any other way." His remarks will come amid tough negations between Democrats and Republicans over the fate of so-called Dreamers, recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program that shields them from deportation but was terminated by Trump last year.

An impasse between bipartisan lawmakers over this issue led to a government shutdown earlier this month and could cause another in coming weeks if their divide remains unresolved. On Monday, Trump also stressed that his speech would focus on trade. "We have to have reciprocal trade," Trump said. "It's not a one-way deal anymore."

He made a similar argument at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, where he declared that he would "always put America first." According to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the speech, the president is expected to touch upon several other policy areas, such as infrastructure and national security

IANS