Trump to call on Democrats to ‘heal’

Bloomberg

Donald Trump lashed out at US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, calling her “bad for our country,” undercutting the White House’s message that the president plans to make an optimistic plea for bipartisanship in his State of the Union address next week.
“I think she’s very bad for our country,” Trump said in an interview with CBS, referring to the recent standoff over his demand for a border wall that resulted in a 35-day partial government shutdown. “She wanted to win a political point. I happen to think it’s very bad politics because, basically, she wants open borders.”
“She doesn’t mind human trafficking or she wouldn’t do this,” the president told CBS, which released excerpts of the interview late Friday. It is scheduled to be broadcast on Sunday. In response, Drew Hammill, a Pelosi spokesman, said in a statement that “President Trump’s recklessness didn’t make us safer, it undermined our security with 35 days of border patrol agents, DEA agents, FBI agents and Homeland Security personnel missing paychecks.”
Hammill said Trump had mischaracterized Pelosi’s position, since she has proposed ways to secure the border without a wall.
Earlier in the day, a White House official briefed reporters on Trump’s State of the Union speech, which he will deliver Tuesday evening with Pelosi seated behind him on the House chamber’s dais. According to an excerpt of his planned remarks, Trump will implore Congress to compromise on issues including immigration and infrastructure.
“Together we can break decades of political stalemate, we can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions and unlock the extraordinary promise of America’s future,” Trump plans to say, according to the excerpt, which was read to reporters at a briefing.
Trump is expected to urge Democrats to focus on working with him on legislation instead of pursuing investigations of his business and administration, and the theme of his speech will be “choosing greatness,” the White House official told reporters.