Trump cheered by Democrat women at State of the Union after recognising record number of congresswomen

He later announced a plan to try to limit access to abortions

Donald Trump received one of his most energetic bursts of applause from an unlikely source – a group of mainly Democratic women who cheered his recognising their record number.

One of the few moments of the State of the Union address when the president secured a genuine bipartisan response, was when he referred to the 117 women members of the new Congress - the most ever.

“No one has benefitted more from our thriving economy than women, who have filled 58 percent of the new jobs created in the last year,” he said.

At that point, a number of women in the House chamber applauded, among them Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.

“You weren’t supposed to do that,” Mr Trump joked, in an unscripted aside.

“Thank you very much. Thank you very much.”

He added: “Don’t sit yet. You’re going to like this. And exactly one century after Congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in congress than at any time.”

He later said: “As part of our commitment to improving opportunity for women everywhere, this Thursday we are launching the first ever government-wide initiative focused on economic empowerment for women in developing countries. To build on our incredible economic success, one priority is paramount — reversing decades of calamitous trade policies.”