State of the Union - live: Women wear white in powerful message as Trump vows to ban late-term abortion
Follow the latest updates as Mr Trump prepares to deliver his second State of the Union address to a divided Congress
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump is delivering the second State of the Union address of his presidency, where he has the opportunity to lay out his vision for the last two years of his first term in office and beyond.
With a damaging and politically contentious 35-day government shutdown having just ended in Washington, the president stands before a joint session in the House chamber — where is expected to make sweeping calls for unity in a time of dramatic division and to promote lofty efforts like the eradication of HIV by 2030.
But, Mr Trump’s audience in the House chamber will be noticeably different from his address last year. Flanked behind him and to his left will sit Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who proved to be a formidable political foil to Mr Trump during those shutdown negotiations last month after her party took control of the lower chamber during the 2018 midterm elections.
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The president mentioned the situation, vowing that the US would never become a socialist country.
Mr Trump recently recognised Juan Guaido as the interim president of the country.
"America was founded on liberty and independence — not government coercion, domination and control. We are born free and we will stay free. Tonight we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country," Mr Trump said, referencing Venezuelan politician and president Nicolas Maduro
Mr Trump is now discussing his efforts to pursue a peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan, in one of the latest examples of him attempting to remove the US from wars abroad.
"Our troops have fought with unmatched valor — and thanks to their bravery, we are now able to pursue a political solution to this long and bloody conflict," he said.
Mr Trump recognised that a peace deal may not be possible, but pledged to try anyhow. He received mixed response to his pledge.
"We do not know whether we will achieve an agreement — but we do know that after two decades of war, the hour has come to at least try for peace," he said. "Above all, friend and foe alike must never doubt this nation's power and will to defend our people".
Fresh off his talk of peace with the Taliban, Mr Trump is now attacking Iranian regime, noting that he has withdrawn the US from the nuclear agreement
"We will not avert our eyes from a regime that chants death to America and threatens genocide against the jewish people," Mr Trump said.
Politicians in the US Capitol just sang happy birthday to Judah Samet, a jewish survivor of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh last year.
Mr Trump had noted that Mr Samet had survived that attack, and that he had also survived Nazi concentration camps. He is 81.
In evoking the attack, Mr Trump also thanked Swat officer Timothy Matson for coming to Washington for tonight's speech. Mr Matson was shot seven times responding to the shooting.
"We must never ignore the vile poison of anti-Semitism," Mr Trump said, "or those who spread its venomous creed".
Mr Trump is ending his speech with thanks to American tradition and of American triumphs in war.
"Think of this Capitol — think of this very Chamber, where lawmakers before you voted to end slavery, to build the railroads and the highways, to defeat fascism, to secure Civil Rights, to face down an evil empire," Mr Trump said.
"Here tonight we have legislators from across this magnificent Republic. You have come from the rocky shores of Maine, and the volcanic peaks of Hawaii; from the snowy woods of Wisconsin and the red deserts of Arizona; from the green farms of Kentucky and the golden beaches of California", Mr Trump said.
"Together we represent the most extraordinary nation in all of history. What will we do with this moment? How will we be remembered?" he asked.
He then called upon the Congress to work with him to achieve "greatness".
"I am asking you to choose greatness. No matter the trials we face, no matter the challenges to come, we must go forward together," he said. "We must keep America first in our hearts. We must keep freedom alive in our souls. And, we must always keep faith in America's destiny — that one nation, under God, must be the hope and the promise and the light and the glory among all the nations of the world. Thank you. God bless you, and god bless America, and goodnight".
Mr Trump has concluded his 2019 State of the Union.
There's a lot to unpack from the speech, which proved to be an attempt to be both unifying and combative in the same speech.
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