Summary

  • President Donald Trump was in bullish mood for his State of the Union address to Congress

  • In his primetime speech, he said the US has 'made incredible progress and achieved extraordinary success'

  • 'There has never been a better time to start living the American dream,' he said

  • He also vowed to keep open the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba

  • In the Democrats' rebuttal, Joe Kennedy III said: 'Build a wall and my generation will tear it down'

Live Reporting

Max Matza and Marianna Brady

  1. Democratic lawmakers' boycott

    A group of at least eight House Democrats are planning to boycott tonight's speech.

    "Why would I take my time to go sit and listen to a liar?" said representative Maxine Waters.

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    A former top adviser to Obama criticises their choice, recalling an episode from one of President Obama's first speeches in which a Republican lawmaker shouted: "You lie!"

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  2. Trump touts his 'compassion' and 'heart'

    At a lunch with US news anchors before tonight's speech, President Trump was asked what he has learned after his first year in office.

    The real estate mogul told them that as a businessman, he only had to do what was best for himself "almost purely for monetary reasons".

    But now as a politician, "doing what I'm doing now, a lot of it is heart, a lot of it is compassion", he said.

    "Oftentimes you do things that you would never do in business because you have to also govern with heart."

    He also said he wanted "to bring our country back from a tremendous divisiveness".

    "Without a major event where people pull together, that's hard to do," he continued. "But I'd like to do it without that major event, because usually that major event is not a good thing. I would love to do it."

  3. Watching from Miami

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    The BBC’s Paul Blake is watching the State of the Union - "SOTU" as it's known to Washington insiders - from Miami, Florida with a group of Dreamers.

    Send him your questions on Twitter to @PaulNBlake.

  4. Awaiting the president

    The US CapitolGetty Images

    We're now standing by for US President Donald Trump, who is due to speak at 21:00EST/ 02:00GMT.

    He'll be addressing Democrats and Republicans in both houses of Congress in his State of the Union speech, which the president is required to deliver "from time to time", according to the US Constitution.

    Here are the six things to watch for tonight

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