Trump: Peace talks on Afghanistan, confrontation with Iran

The US President Donald Trump’s second State of the Union speech on Tuesday was dominated by an appeal for bipartisan cooperation and rejection of the “politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution.” He outlined America’s “unprecedented economic boom” since he took office, before turning to the Middle East: “Our approach [to the Israeli-Palestinian issue] is based on “principled realism.” On Iran, Trump said: “My administration has acted decisively to confront the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, the radical regime in Iran,” adding. “We will not avert our eyes from a regime that chants death to America and threatens genocide against the Jewish people. We must never ignore the vile poison of anti-Semitism, or those who spread its venomous creed… wherever it occurs.”  He welcomed one of his invited guests, Juda Samet, who survived the Pittsburg Synagogue massacre.

“Now, as we work with our allies to destroy the remnants of ISIS, it is time to give our brave warriors in Syria a warm welcome home,” Trump said. “I have also accelerated our negotiations to reach a political settlement in Afghanistan with a number of Afghan groups, including the Taliban.  He confirmed that he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on February 27 and 28 in Vietnam. The only moment that Democrats – and even Majority Speaker Nancy Pelosi – rose to applaud President Trump was when he praised the increasing role of women in the workforce and Congress,