President Donald Trump used the State of the Union address Tuesday night to make a final push for a wall along the southern U.S. border, just days ahead of what he has warned could be another government shutdown.

"I will get it built," vowed Trump, promising a "smart, strategic, see-through steel barrier." But he stopped short of declaring a national emergency to obtain funds to build the wall.

Trump, who made a border wall one of his signature campaign promises, spent much of his speech on dangers at the border with Mexico.

"As we speak, large, organized caravans are on the march to the United States," Trump said, referring to the group of migrant men, women and children as a "tremendous onslaught."

Trump made his second State of the Union address with a new backdrop: for the first time a Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi of California, looked over Trump's shoulder as he spoke in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol.

Democrats took control of the House of Representatives during November midterm elections, creating a divided government between the Democratic controlled House and the Republican Senate and White House that makes it much harder for Trump to implement his policy proposals.

In an apparent acknowledgement of that new political reality, Trump focused much of his speech on calls for unity and bipartisanship. At one point, Trump insisted that lawmakers must "rekindle the bond of love" in Washington.

"I ask the men and women of this Congress: Look at the opportunities before us! Our most thrilling achievements are still ahead. Our most exciting journeys still await."

But it's unclear how receptive Democrats will be to such messages from a president who regularly hurls insults and denigrating nicknames at his political opponents on Twitter and who has often seemed more concerned about pleasing his own political base than reaching across the aisle.

Democrats' reaction to the speech appeared mixed. Pelosi, along with other Democrats, sat with a polite smile, clapping only during selective portions of the speech.

However, when Trump acknowledged that more women are serving in the current Congress than ever before, the entire chamber erupted in chants of "USA." (VOA)

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