What to Know
- President Donald Trump will deliver his second State of the Union address Tuesday night at 8 p.m.
- The White House says Trump will call for unity and cross-party cooperation in the speech.
- Trump was not expected to declare a state of emergency during his address.
President Donald Trump will deliver the annual State of the Union address Tuesday night.
NBC 5's Julie Fine traveled to Washington D.C., to talk with Texas lawmakers about their expectations for the president's speech.
"I hope he will speak forcefully but carefully and take his case to the American people about the issues that our country is facing right now as he talks about the state of the, and you know I think many of us believe the state of the union is good," said U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Heath, Dist. 4).
Ratcliffe pointed to the economy as an example.
The president's speech comes after a five-week government shutdown, the longest in the nation's history. Border and immigration are expected to be included in the speech.
"I am expecting the president to lay out his vision for the next year of continuing economic growth, of border security. And I am looking forward to hearing what the plan is going forward. My constituents are excited to finally see some progress for this border security measure and the wall that he is talking about," said U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Terrell, Dist. 5)
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U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas, Dist. 32) said he's hopeful the president will try to unite the country and that he's looking for signals from the president that he wants to invest in infrastructure and lower the cost of health care.
"This is a chance for us to get back to work and a chance I think for the president to show that he's willing to work with us on that," Allred said. "I'm hopeful that that's the message he sends tonight certainly one that I would be receptive to."
Allred added that he wouldn't support the president using a national emergency to fund his border wall.
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Fort Worth, Dist. 33), said he hoped the president would promise to keep the government open and working, that he addresses infrastructure needs, protects health care and secures the border without "wasting money on a disastrous wall."
U.S. Rep. Roger Williams (R-Austin, Dist. 25) said the speech is important for the president and that he was looking forward to what he had to say.
"I hope he talks about unifying, bringing our country together. There's a lot of things we don't agree on, but there's a lot of things we do agree on. Let's talk about that first," Williams said.
Williams said we have to address border security and that people cannot be allowed to cross the border illegally.
President Trump's State of the Union address can be seen on NBC 5 at 8 p.m. The address will be streamed online as well.
