Trump Makes Bipartisan Pitch In First State Of The Union, But Also Plays To Base
Updated on Jan. 31 at 12:47 a.m. ET
President Trump sought to strike a unifying tone with his first State of the Union address, but some of his rhetoric on immigration and his promise to put "America First" was clearly aimed at his base.
As a March 5 deadline approaches for Congress to come up with a legislative implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Trump outlined the ways he wants to roll back legal immigration as a compromise for giving a path to citizenship for up to an estimated 1.8 million undocumented immigrants brought here as children.
But his rhetoric elicited boos from Democrats in the chamber — underscoring the very real difficulty of reaching a bipartisan deal — as the president alluded to the common term of "DREAMers" for those immigrants.
"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," Trump said. "Because Americans are dreamers too."
Trump also pointed out guests in the chamber whose
