Tag Archives: Speech

Trump says to address trade, immigration in State of the Union speech

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while participating in the swearing-in ceremony for the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 29, 2018.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Monday he will address his proposed immigration overhaul in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday and will seek Democratic support for it.

Speaking to reporters after a swearing-in ceremony for new Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Trump said his immigration overhaul will have to be bipartisan “because the Republicans don’t really have the votes to get it done in any other way.”

Trump also said his speech will cover his efforts to lower trade barriers around the world for American exports. “We have to have reciprocal trade. It’s not a one-way deal anymore,” he said.

(Reporting By Steve HollandEditing by Chizu Nomiyama)

South Korea says Trump’s warning to North Korea ‘firm and specific’

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in receives the Global Citizen Award at an Atlantic Council event in New York, U.S. September 19, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Yang

By Christine Kim and Kaori Kaneko

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech to the United Nations, where he warned he would “totally destroy” North Korea if threatened, reinforced the need for Pyongyang to realize it must give up its nuclear weapons, South Korea said on Wednesday.

In a hard-edged speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a “rocket man” for his repeated ballistic missile tests.

“We view the speech as portraying a firm and specific stance on the key issues regarding keeping peace and safety that the international community and the United Nations are faced with,” the office of South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in a statement on Wednesday.

“It clearly showed how seriously the United States government views North Korea’s nuclear program as the president spent an unusual amount of time discussing the issue,” the presidential Blue House’s statement said.

Trump’s speech “reaffirmed that North Korea should be made to realize denuclearization is the only way to the future through utmost sanctions and pressure”, it said.

Moon came to power in May on a platform of more engagement with North Korea. Since Pyongyang’s sixth and largest nuclear test earlier on Sept. 3, however, Moon has said the time is not right for dialogue.

He and Trump plan to meet in New York early on Wednesday U.S. time, Moon’s office said.

“GREAT STRENGTH”

Trump’s most direct military threat to attack North Korea was his latest expression of concern about Pyongyang’s repeated weapons tests.

“The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” Trump told the 193-member world body. “Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime.”

U.S. ally Japan, which Pyongyang often threatens to destroy, has taken a consistently hard line on North Korea, pushing for increased sanctions and pressure.

“We greatly appreciate President Trump’s approach to changing North Korea’s policy stance, denuclearizing the country and calling on the international community, including China and Russia, for their cooperation toward strengthening pressure on North Korea,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

Suga also welcomed Trump’s reference to a Japanese girl who was kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1977.

The plight of abductees is a key issue for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has pledged to rescue them while in office, and an emotive one for the Japanese public.

North Korea admitted in 2002 it had kidnapped 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies. Five of them returned to Japan but Tokyo suspects that hundreds more may have been taken.

STRICT SANCTIONS

North Korea, which has conducted more than 80 missile tests under third-generation leader Kim, says it needs its weapons to protect itself from U.S. aggression. South Korea and the United States are technically still at war with North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, interviewed by Fox News on Tuesday, highlighted Washington’s policy of pressuring North Korea through sanctions.

“We have the strictest sanctions ever put in place. We do believe there are early signs of those having an effect,” he said. “Ultimately, though, we’re going to need the assistance of the neighbors in the region.”

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously imposed nine rounds of sanctions on North Korea since 2006, the latest earlier this month aimed at restricting fuel supplies and cutting off textile exports, a key foreign exchange earner.

The United States has urged China, North Korea’s main ally and trading partner, and Russia to do more to rein in Kim, something Trump appeared to allude to in his speech.

“It is an outrage that some nations would not only trade with such a regime but would arm, supply and financially support a country that imperils the world with nuclear conflict,” Trump told the General Assembly.

China’s Foreign Ministry, asked to respond to Trump’s comments about destroying North Korea if it had to, said U.N. resolutions were clear the Korean peninsula issue should be resolved peacefully through political and diplomatic means.

The resolutions passed by the U.N. Security Council on North Korea reflected the “common will and consensus of the international community” to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular briefing.

(Reporting by Christine Kim in SEOUL and Kaori Kaneko in TOKYO; Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason at the UNITED NATIONS and Michael Martina and Philip Wen in BEIJING; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Paul Tait and Michael Perry)

Trump vows if threatened to ‘totally destroy’ North Korea

Trump vows if threatened to 'totally destroy' North Korea

By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his standoff with North Korea over its nuclear challenge on Tuesday, threatening to “totally destroy” the country of 26 million people and mocking its leader, Kim Jong Un, as a “rocket man.”

In a hard-edged speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump offered a grim portrait of a world in peril, adopted a more confrontational approach to solving global challenges from Iran to Venezuela, and gave an unabashed defense of U.S. sovereignty. (http://live.reuters.com/Event/Live_US_Politics/1092226107)

“The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” Trump told the 193-member world body, sticking closely to a script.

As loud, startled murmurs filled the hall, Trump described Kim in an acid tone, saying, “Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime.”

His remarks rattled world leaders gathered in the green-marbled U.N. General Assembly hall, where minutes earlier U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for statesmanship, saying: “We must not sleepwalk our way into war.”

Trump’s most direct military threat to attack North Korea, in his debut appearance at the General Assembly, was his latest expression of concern about Pyongyang’s repeated launching of ballistic missiles over Japan and underground nuclear tests.

His advisers say he is concerned about North Korea’s advances in missile technology and the few means available for a peaceful response without China’s help.

Inside the hall, one man in the audience covered his face with his hands shortly after Trump made his “totally destroy” comment. Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom crossed her arms.

“It was the wrong speech, at the wrong time, to the wrong audience,” Wallstrom later told the BBC.

Trump did not back down, instead tweeting out the line in his speech vowing to destroy North Korea if needed.

A junior North Korean diplomat sat in the delegation’s front-row seat for Trump’s speech, the North Korean U.N. mission said. North Korea’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In Germany, Chancellor Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would do everything in her power to ensure a diplomatic solution. “Anything else would lead to disaster,” she told a campaign event ahead of Sunday’s election.

CABINET CONTRAST

Trump’s saber-rattling rhetoric, with the bare-knuckled style he used to win election last November, was in contrast to the comments of some of his own Cabinet members who have stated a preference for a diplomatic solution.

Reaction around the United States was mixed. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, tweeted that Trump, a fellow Republican, “gave a strong and needed challenge” to U.N. members to confront global challenges.

But Democrat Ed Markey of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee denounced Trump’s remarks in a CNN interview, saying the president had yet to exhaust his other options in encouraging Pyongyang to negotiate.

“The least we should be able to say is that we tried, we really tried, to avoid a nuclear showdown between our two countries,” Markey said.

In a thunderous 41-minute speech, Trump also took aim at Iran’s nuclear ambitions and regional influence, Venezuela’s collapsing democracy and the threat of Islamist extremists and criticized the Cuban government.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ “Major portions of the world are in conflict and some in fact are going to hell,” he said.

His speech recalled the fiery nationalist language of his Jan. 20 inaugural address when he pledged to end what he called an “American carnage” of rusted factories and crime.

‘HOSTILE’ BEHAVIOR

His strongest words were directed at North Korea. He urged U.N. member states to work together to isolate the Kim government until it ceases its “hostile” behavior.

In what may have been a veiled prod at China, the North’s major trading partner, Trump said: “It is an outrage that some nations would not only trade with such a regime but would arm, supply and financially support a country that imperils the world with nuclear conflict.”

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously imposed nine rounds of sanctions on North Korea since 2006 and Guterres appealed for that 15-member body to maintain its unity.

Turning to Iran, Trump called the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor, Barack Obama, an embarrassment and hinted that he may not recertify the agreement when it comes up for a mid-October deadline.

“I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it,” he said.

He called Iran an “economically depleted rogue state” that exports violence.

There was no immediate comment from either Iran’s U.N. delegation or its foreign ministry in Tehran.

But French President Emmanuel Macron, in his U.N. speech, said his country would not close the door to negotiations over North Korea and staunchly defended the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. “Renouncing it would be a grave error,” Macron said.

Trump called the collapsing situation in Venezuela “completely unacceptable” and warned the United States was considering what further actions it can take. “We cannot stand by and watch,” he said.

Venezuela rejected Trump’s threats and said it was prepared to resist any U.S. actions, even a military invasion. Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza called Trump a white supremacist who was returning the world to the Cold War of the 1980s.

Financial markets showed little reaction to the speech, with most major assets hovering near the unchanged mark on the day.

“He stuck with his script,” said Lennon Sweeting, chief market strategist at XE.com in Toronto. “The dollar/yen jumped around a bit but it’s basically flat. I don’t think we will see any more volatility out of this.”

(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols, Arshad Mohammed, John Irish, Parisa Hafezi, David Brunnstrom, Yara Bayoumy and Anthony Boadle at the UNITED NATIONS, Richard Leong in NEW YORK and Dan Williams in JERUSALEM; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Howard Goller)

Trump to single out North Korea, Iran in first speech at U.N.

Trump to single out North Korea, Iran in first speech at U.N.

By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will urge United Nations member states on Tuesday to turn up the pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, using his maiden speech to the world body to address what he considers the top global challenge.

Senior White House officials said Trump would also target Iran’s nuclear program, single out Venezuela for criticism and refer to Islamist militants as “losers,” in his first appearance in the green-marbled U.N. General Assembly hall, where applause from world leaders is generally muted.

“Big day at the United Nations – many good things, and some tricky ones, happening. We have a great team,” Trump wrote in an early morning post on Twitter that also noted his “big speech.”

The speech, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT), will mark his latest attempt to lay out his America First vision for a U.S. foreign policy aimed at downgrading global bureaucracies, basing alliances on shared interests, and steering Washington away from nation-building exercises abroad.

Trump’s first major turn on the global platform offered by the United Nations has been dominated by Iran and North Korea, which have been the focus of his talks with other world leaders.

Now eight months in the White House, Trump also has found time to criticize the world body, alleging gross mismanagement and demanding that the United States, the largest donor to the United Nations, get more for its investment.

In his speech, he will seek to rally the world to help the United States and its Asian allies reduce North Korea to pariah status and pressure Iran to rein in everything from ballistic missile launches to interference in Syria.

With North Korean nuclear tests and missile launches stirring global tensions, the U.S. ambassador to the United States, Nikki Haley, has said that most non-military options have all but been exhausted.

The U.N. Security Council has imposed several rounds of sanctions on North Korea.

A senior White House official, briefing reporters on the contents of the speech, said Trump would single out North Korea for “destabilizing, hostile and dangerous behavior.”

North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said on Monday that the more sanctions that Washington and its allies imposed on Pyongyang, the faster it would move to complete its nuclear plans.

‘SHARED MENACE’

Trump will also voice concern about Iran, which aides say he considers in violation of the spirit of a 2015 deal negotiated by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, and aimed at containing Iran’s nuclear program.

“Theirs is a shared menace and nations cannot be bystanders to history and if we don’t confront the threats now, they will only gather force and become more formidable,” the official said of North Korea and Iran.

Trump has set U.S.-Iran relations on a far more confrontational path than the detente Iranian President Hassan Rouhani enjoyed with Obama.

Trump’s rhetoric against Iran, coming as he appears to be leaning against recertifying the nuclear deal by a mid-October deadline, prompted a retort from Rouhani on Monday.

Rouhani told CNN that exiting the Iran nuclear deal “would carry a high cost for the United States of America, and I do not believe Americans would be willing to pay such a high cost for something that will be useless for them.”

Later on Tuesday, Trump is scheduled to meet with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. White House officials have said Trump on Wednesday will meet with leaders from Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Britain and Egypt.

Trump is using his four days in New York to voice his concern about Venezuela, telling Latin American leaders on Monday night the United States would take additional steps if Caracas moved toward authoritarian rule.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Howard Goller)

Ann Coulter rejects Berkeley’s bid to reschedule speech

FILE PHOTO: Commentator Ann Coulter speaks to the Conservative Political Action conference (CPAC) in Washington, February 12, 2011. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

By Dan Whitcomb and Mark Hosenball

(Reuters) – Conservative commentator Ann Coulter said on Thursday she could not speak at the University of California, Berkeley, on a new date chosen by the university and intended to show up for the original event, which was canceled over security fears.

Officials at U.C. Berkeley, who abruptly canceled her planned April 27 speech on Wednesday citing security concerns, reversed course on Thursday and rescheduled the event for May 2.

U.C. Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said in a statement the university had canceled the April 27 event based on specific threats “that could pose a grave danger to the speaker.”Dirks said the university, in its commitment to free speech, had found an “appropriate, protectable” venue where Coulter’s speech could go forward in a safe environment on May 2.

However Coulter, who had vowed after the cancellation to show up for her April 27 speech anyway, said she and her security detail could not arrange to be on campus on May 2 ” … and there will be no students there that week!”

“So I’m planning on speaking on the 27th as scheduled. Maybe they will arrest me,” she said in an email to Reuters.

The university’s academic calendar shows that May 1-5 is a “reading/ review/ recitation period” before final exams.

Harmeet Dhillon, an attorney representing two groups organizing Coulter’s speech, also sent a letter to the university on Thursday demanding she be allowed to speak on the original date.

One of the country’s best-known conservative pundits, Coulter had been scheduled to speak to a college Republican club about her 2015 book, “¡Adios, America!: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole.”

Berkeley is known as the birthplace of the student-led Free Speech Movement of the 1960s. As with other U.S. colleges and universities, it has tried to find a balance between ideological openness, student safety and student opposition to what some describe as “hate speech.”

Several conservative speakers have been met with disruptive, sometimes violent, protests when invited to speak at U.S. universities with liberal-leaning student bodies in recent months.

In canceling Coulter’s speech on Wednesday, UC Berkeley cited violence that broke out at the campus in February, hours before right-wing media personality Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak there.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who had taken office just days earlier, threatened to cut off funding to the school after the violence surrounding Yiannopoulos’ planned lecture and U.C. Berkeley’s decision to cancel it.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York, Mark Hosenball in Washington, D.C., and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Frances Kerry, Andrew Hay and Paul Tait)

On Good Friday, Pope speaks of shame for Church and humanity

Pope Francis leads the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession during Good Friday celebrations in front of the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, April 14, 2017. REUTERS/Max Rossi

By Philip Pullella

ROME (Reuters) – Pope Francis, presiding at a Good Friday service, asked God for forgiveness for scandals in the Catholic Church and for the “shame” of humanity becoming inured to daily scenes of bombed cities and drowning migrants.

Francis presided at a traditional candlelight Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) service at Rome’s Colosseum attended by some 20,000 people and protected by heavy security following recent attacks in European cities.

Francis sat while a large wooden cross was carried in procession, stopping 14 times to mark events in the last hours of Jesus’ life from being sentenced to death to his burial.

Similar services, known as the Stations of the Cross, were taking place in cities around the world as Christians gathered to commemorate Jesus’ death by crucifixion.

At the end of the two-hour service, Francis read a prayer he wrote that was woven around the theme of shame and hope.

In what appeared to be a reference to the Church’s sexual abuse scandal, he spoke of “shame for all the times that we bishops, priests, brothers and nuns scandalized and wounded your body, the Church.”

The Catholic Church has been struggling for nearly two decades to put the scandal of sexual abuse of children by clergy behind it. Critics say more must be done to punish bishops who covered up abuse or were negligent in preventing it.

Francis also spoke of the shame he said should be felt over “the daily spilling of the innocent blood of women, of children, of immigrants” and for the fate of those who are persecuted because of their race, social status or religious beliefs.

At the end of this month Francis travels to Egypt, which has seen a spate of attacks by Islamists on minority Coptic Christians. Dozens were killed in two attacks last Sunday.

He spoke of “shame for all the scenes of devastation, destruction and drownings that have become ordinary in our lives.”

On the day he spoke, more than 2,000 migrants trying to reach Europe were plucked from the Mediterranean in a series of dramatic rescues and one person was found dead. More than 650 have died or are unaccounted for while trying to cross the sea in rubber dinghies this year.

Francis expressed the hope “that good will triumph despite its apparent defeat.”

Security was stepped up in the area around the Colosseum following recent truck attacks against pedestrians in London and Stockholm. Some 3,000 police guarded the area and checked people as they approached. The Colosseum subway stop was closed.

Francis on Saturday is due to say an Easter vigil Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and on Easter Sunday, the most important day in the Christian liturgical calendar, he reads his twice-annual “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the City and the World”) message in St. Peter’s Square.

(This version of the story has been refiled correct spelling in final paragraph)

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Bill Trott)

Trump recommits to U.S. allies but says they must pay ‘fair share’

President Trump addresses Joint Session of Congress. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday reaffirmed support for the United States’ longstanding security alliances around the world but insisted that friends and partners from Europe to the Middle East to the Pacific must “pay their fair share of the cost.”

In his first nationally televised speech to Congress since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump sought to reassure allies still uneasy over doubts he raised during the 2016 presidential campaign about his commitment to their defense and to maintaining a U.S. global leadership role.

But he also made clear that he expects those countries to shoulder more of the burden of their own security needs, echoing a campaign message that some allies had taken advantage of Washington’s generosity in providing them a security umbrella.

“Our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust and meaningful engagement with the world,” Trump told a joint session of Congress. “It is American leadership based on vital security interests that we share with our allies across the globe.”

He specifically assured NATO allies of his new administration’s continued commitment to the decades-old alliance. However, he made no mention of one of the main sources of European concern: his friendly overtures during the campaign toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We strongly support NATO, an alliance forged through the bonds of two World Wars that dethroned fascism and a Cold War that defeated communism,” Trump said.

“But our partners must meet their financial obligations,” he said. “And now, based on our very strong and frank discussions, they are beginning to do just that.”

Then, deviating from his prepared remarks, Trump added: “In fact, I can tell you the money is pouring in. Very nice.” But he offered no specifics.

Some critics had accused Trump of failing to recognize the benefit that accrued to the United States of having strong democratic allies helping to stabilize volatile areas like the Middle East, Ukraine and South Asia.

Trump’s remarks followed the deployment earlier this month of senior Cabinet members to Brussels, Bonn and Munich, Germany, aimed at calming European worries.

The Europeans heard from Defense Secretary James Mattis that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization military alliance was not “obsolete” after all, despite Trump’s suggestions to the contrary.

Vice President Mike Pence told them that Russia would be “held accountable” for its actions in Ukraine.

Mattis made his first foreign trip to South Korea and Japan, where he sought to ease concerns about what Trump’s self-styled “America First” strategy means for U.S. foreign policy in Asia.

While seeming to tackle some of the doubts of U.S. allies, Trump still made clear that he wanted them to do more.

“We expect our partners, whether in NATO, in the Middle East, or the Pacific, to take a direct and meaningful role in both strategic and military operations, and pay their fair share of the cost,” he said.

(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Russia looks for positive signals in Trump’s speech to Congress

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov sits near the Syrian national flag as he addresses a news conference in Damascus in this file photo dated June 28, 2014. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s deputy foreign minister said on Tuesdays that relations with the United States were at their lowest ebb since the Cold War, but hoped they could improve under U.S. President Donald Trump.

Russia will analyze Trump’s debut address to Congress later on Tuesday for signs of any change in the U.S. stance, Sergei Ryabkov told parliament in Moscow.

“It will be important to analyze those signals and approaches which will be a part of Trump’s first appearance as the head of a superpower,” the RIA news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying.

“It would be desirable to believe that changes in Washington will create a window of opportunity for an improvement of a dialogue between our countries.”

In Washington, Trump’s opponents accuse him of already getting too close to Moscow. A U.S. congressional committee is investigating contacts between Trump’s election campaign and Russia to see if there were any inappropriate communications.

Relations between the two nuclear powers are strained over a number of issues, including Ukraine, the war in Syria, and relations with Iran.

Ryabkov said Russia had not discussed with Washington the sanctions imposed over the annexation of Crimea, but said it would be easier for to work with the United States on the Syria crisis if they were lifted.

“We did not discuss and we do not discuss criteria for the lifting of sanctions. Restrictions in a number of areas are of course affecting us, but no more than the damage they cause to American exports,” the Itar TASS agency quoted Ryabkov as saying.

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Polina Devitt and Robin Pomeroy)

Trump to lay out plans for America in upcoming speech to Congress

White House aide Omarosa Manigault (center R) directs traffic as U.S. President Donald Trump (center L) welcomes the leaders of dozens of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. February 27, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump gets a chance to put the rocky start to his presidency behind him on Tuesday night with a speech to the U.S. Congress where he will lay out his plans for the year including a healthcare overhaul and military buildup.

The speech at 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday) in the chamber of the House of Representatives will be Trump’s biggest chance yet as president to command a large prime-time audience and describe his agenda after a first month in office characterized by missteps, internal dramas and acrimonious disputes with the news media.

The address, which Trump has been writing with aide Stephen Miller and others, will include some gestures toward unifying a country polarized by a bitterly fought election and divided in the early days of his presidency.

An average of recent polls by Real Clear Politics put his approval rating at about 44 percent, low for a new president.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the theme of the speech to Congress, which is controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans, would be “the renewal of the American spirit” and that it would be grounded in how to solve the problems of everyday Americans.

“He will invite Americans of all backgrounds to come together in the service of a stronger and brighter future for our nation,” Spicer told reporters on Monday.

Trump, whose inauguration speech on Jan. 20 painted a dark picture of the United States and referred to “American carnage,” told Reuters last week in an interview that his address would be a speech of optimism.

The president faces a host of questions going into his first speech before a joint session of Congress.

Specifics of his plan to overhaul former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law have not been released. He has yet to describe how to pay for a sharp increase in planned spending on rebuilding U.S. roads and bridges.

His proposals to cut taxes for millions of people and corporations have not been sketched out. His strategy for renegotiating international trade deals remains unclear. He took delivery on Monday of a Pentagon proposal for fighting Islamic State militants and must decide on it in the days ahead.

He seeks a big increase in defense spending but that plan includes a demand that non-defense federal agencies cut funds to offset the cost, painful reductions likely to face opposition in Congress. Some Republicans have said the proposed 10 percent defense spending increase is not enough to meet the military’s needs.

Asked in a Fox News interview broadcast on Tuesday how he would pay for the increased spending, Trump said, “I think the money is going to come from a revved up economy.”

His executive order temporarily banning people from seven Muslim-majority nations on national security grounds stirred protests and was put on hold by federal courts. He was expected to sign a replacement order on Wednesday.

DEMOCRATIC DISPLEASURE

Tim Albrecht, a Republican strategist in Iowa, said the speech was Trump’s best opportunity to date to explain where he wants to take the country. Albrecht doubted there would be much in the way of conciliatory language.

“Despite those at home or in the audience, he’s going to put forward what he believes needs to be done just as he did in the two years he ran for president,” he said. “As with everything in Trump land, conventional wisdom is thrown out the window.”

Democratic lawmakers plan to attend the speech and give their reactions to reporters afterward, as is the custom during similar events, according to congressional aides.

But at least one Democrat – Representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, has said he will protest Trump’s speech by refusing to applaud or give him a standing ovation, as also is a custom at presidential speeches.

Democrats aim to show their displeasure with Trump policies by inviting an array of guests to the House visitors’ galleries to highlight their opposition to his agenda.

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois has invited Aaima Sayed, a medical student who participates in an Obama administration program that defers deportation for youths brought to the United States illegally. Trump has not given a definitive answer on whether he will leave the program in place.

Other Democratic guests include Muslim immigrants, an advocate of programs for people with disabilities and people who want new gun control measures.

Trump’s guest list illustrates some of his favorite themes: the widows of two California police officers killed by an illegal immigrant, a young woman who benefited from a Florida school choice program and the daughter of a pharmaceutical entrepreneur who founded his company to look for a cure for her illness.

Another guest will be Maureen Scalia, wife of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a hero to conservatives whom Trump hopes to replace on the court with Neil Gorsuch.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Monday that if Trump’s address was anything like his inaugural speech, “it will be a very sad evening for our country.”

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Ayesha Rascoe, Jeff Mason, Emily Stephenson, Doina Chiacu; Editing by Peter Cooney and Frances Kerry)

President Obama Addresses Anti-Semitism At Synagogue Speech

President Obama addressed anti-Semitism during an address at the Adas Israel Congregation in Washington.

“Anti-Semitism is, and always will be, a threat to broader human values to which we all must aspire,” Obama said.  “And when we allow anti-Semitism to take root, then our souls are destroyed, and it will spread.”

The President reasserted America’s support for Israel.

“It would be a moral failing on the part of the US government and the American people, it would be a moral failing on my part if we did not stand up firmly, steadfastly not just on behalf of Israel’s right to exist, but its right to thrive and prosper,” Obama asserted.

The President added that it’s because of his belief in Israel’s right to exist that he has to be critical of some of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians.

“I must object,” he said to applause in the Conservative synagogue. “Papering over hard questions,” he said, is “not a measure of true friendship.”

Although the President admitted “The Palestinians are not the easiest of partners.”

The President gave a glancing mention to his Iran nuclear negotiations which he called “necessary”.

“The deal that we already reached with Iran has already halted or rolled back parts of Iran’s nuclear program. Now we’re seeking a comprehensive solution,” he said, adding that “I will not accept a bad deal.  As I pointed out in my most recent article with Jeff Goldberg, this deal will have my name on it, so nobody has a bigger personal stake in making sure that it delivers on its promise.”