US President Donald Trump plans to offer Democrats a choice in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday: Work together to make progress, or fight each other and get nothing done.
He signalled on Friday that the annual address will include extensive remarks about his stand-off with Democrats over building a wall along the US-Mexico border, the subject of an intense partisan battle that prompted a 35-day partial government shutdown until a week ago.
Many Republicans, including some close to the White House, are urging Trump to offer a compromising tone in an effort to temper his rhetoric and move past the shutdown fight.
A senior White House official told Reuters that Trump will outline what he sees as areas where Republicans and Democrats may be able to find agreement. These include a plan to fund infrastructure improvements across the country, lower the cost of prescription drugs and work to resolve long-standing differences over healthcare.
An excerpt of the speech released by the White House on Friday made clear Trump would strike a compromising tone in at least part of his address.
"Together we can break decades of political statement, we can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions and unlock the extraordinary promise of America's future. The decision is ours to make," Trump will say.
Whether the two sides are prepared to work together in any significant way is far from clear, with tensions still high over the shutdown fight and another deadline approaching on February 15.
The speech comes as Trump begins the second two years of his first term facing major challenges: a long-running probe into whether his 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia; investigations by House Democrats of his presidency and his business ventures; and difficult trade negotiations with China, among many others.
Many Republicans are urging him to focus on the US economy in his speech and beyond, to try to broaden his appeal beyond a hard-core conservative base of voters that make up about a third of the electorate.
Nancy Pelosi, who took over as speaker of the House of Representatives after Democrats won big in November elections, has vowed not to support funding for a border wall, and the issue has increased partisan tensions across the board.
Trump's speech was delayed from January after a fight with Pelosi that stemmed from the dispute on border wall funding.
Trump is also expected to cover foreign policy. He said this week he will likely announce the site of his late-February summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the speech, with Hanoi a leading candidate.
He may also cite progress in peace talks between the government in Afghanistan and Taliban rebels, which could allow the US to withdraw troops after 17 years of war triggered by the September 11, 2001, attacks.
