Donald Trump’s speech to Congress: A viewer’s guide

Here are five things to watch and listen for when President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress.

President Donald Trump will address a joint session of Congress in a US prime-time speech that will allow him to reset the debate over top issues facing his administration and Congress, or offer a freewheeling airing of old campaign themes and grievances. Which one will it be?

The speech airs at 1pm AEDT. A live video feed will be available as part of our live coverage of the event here.

Here are five things to watch and listen for.

IMMIGRATION

Mr Trump was expected to focus his speech on issues such as public safety, including increased border security and improving care for military veterans, his spokesman Sean Spicer said. The defence of a legally challenged travel restriction on visitors from seven countries and new immigration enforcement guidance was not on the schedule; nor are specific legislative proposals on immigration the president would like to see.

“I would not anticipate the speech being a defence of legislation and executive orders,” Mr Spicer said. “You will hear about his commitment to immigration and his desire for border security and what it means not just about keeping the nation safe, but what impact it’s having on the economy.”

The White House said Mr Trump is “open to having conversations” about a bipartisan immigration overhaul but will focus the immigration portion of his congressional speech on border security. “Those priorities have not changed,” Ms Sanders told reporters. The comments came minutes after television news reports that Mr Trump was mulling including a call for a sweeping compromise immigration overhaul.

HEALTH CARE, THE TAX CODE, INFRASTRUCTURE, THE ECONOMY

The president might weigh in on issues such as changing the tax code, his party’s bid to overturn the 2010 Affordable Care Act, and his desire to boost infrastructure spending. Health care is a particular issue where the opportunity to take the microphone is tempting, because Republicans in the House, Senate and governorships are fractured over how to proceed and all factions have looked to Mr Trump to try to settle the dispute in their favour.

But aides have said Mr Trump is likely to stick to more general points about his vision for health policy. Tax plans rest on healthcare being completed, a result of the budget manoeuvre Republicans have opted to use to allow them to pass changes with a simple majority in the Senate rather than 60 votes, so there’s little reason for the president to get into specifics there. Infrastructure spending plans, meanwhile, are more likely to be fleshed out in the budget and in Congress, but you might hear some general commitments, along with a broad assessment of economic success to come, and the rolling back of regulations to facilitate it.

TONE

The speech “will lay out an optimistic vision for the country, crossing traditional lines of party, race, socio-economic status” under the theme of “the renewal of the American spirit,” Mr Spicer said, adding the president “will invite Americans of all backgrounds to come together in the service of a stronger and brighter future for our nation.” Then again, Mr Trump is also set to talk about controversial issues, including his call to overturn the 2010 health law, and his plan to tackle failing schools and drug violence. All of those raise the prospect for a pessimistic assessment of the state of the union more akin to his ominous inauguration speech. Late last night the White House announced the guests who will sit with first lady Melania Trump, a list that includes the widow of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and the relatives of people killed by illegal immigrants.

DISCIPLINE

The president has made several pugnacious political speeches recently, including at the Conservative Political Action Conference, and scattered similar political statements throughout a 77-minute press conference earlier this month. He could stick to a carefully crafted set of policy pronouncements and lofty pledges of unity, or he could return to more political themes that he continues to dwell on, such as Democratic obstruction of his agenda, and a re-litigation of the 2016 campaign or even older scores. The script — and whether he sticks to it — will be key here.

DEMOCRATS

Democrats are bringing a strong messaging game to Congress, with a particular focus on health care and immigration that runs through the themes of their guests and their rebuttal speaker. Former Kentucky Gov. Steve Besmear, a Democrat who prided himself on selling the health law in a red-leaning state, will give his party’s televised response in English. Astrid Silva, an immigrant activist brought to the country illegally as a child, will give a response in Spanish. Several House Democrats have said they are bringing as guests people who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act; another is attending with the sister of an Iraqi interpreter for US troops who was denied entry into the United States after the travel executive order.