President Trump will address the nation from the House chamber Tuesday night, delivering his first State of the Union speech to a Congress where Democrats control one chamber. White House officials say Trump will call for unity and optimism, but lingering tensions from the five-week government shutdown and two years of frequent taunts might make that a hard sell for Democrats.
Trump is also expected to speak about immigration, make another case for his proposed border wall, highlight the economy, and maybe propose ending HIV transmissions by 2030 or another "moonshot" goal. In a letter to Democrats on Monday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she hoped "we will hear a commitment from the president on issues that have bipartisan support in the Congress and the country, such as lowering the price of prescription drugs and rebuilding America's infrastructure."
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Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who narrowly lost her bid to become Georgia's first black governor, will give the official Democratic response, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will follow that with his own livestreamed response. Democrats are urging Abrams to run for Senate, but delivering the opposition response has traditionally been a thankless job.
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