Jan 30, 2018

Trump wants to "unite the country" and "govern with heart"

Erica Pandey

Trump on Inauguration Day 2017. Photo: Noam Galai / WireImage via Getty Images

President Trump said today that he wants to "bring our country back from a tremendous divisiveness" that began in the Clinton era. Here's what he said during a White House lunch with TV anchors before tonight's State of the Union address:

I would consider it a great achievement if we could make our country united, if I could unite the country.  That's not an easy thing to do because the views are so divergent.

More from Trump...

  • "I actually asked a longtime senator — happened to be a Democrat — 'Is this the worst [most divided] you've ever seen it?' He said, 'Absolutely not.  During the impeachment of Bill Clinton was much worse than this.'"
  • "[H]aving a business background and a successful business background is great, but oftentimes you do things that you would never do in business because you have to also govern with heart."
  • "[I]mmigration is so easy to solve if it was purely a business matter, but it's not.  And I think that's something that I've learned maybe more than anything else.

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 665,164 — Total deaths: 30,852 — Total recoveries: 140,225.
  2. U.S.: Leads the world in cases. Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 124,665 — Total deaths: 2,191 — Total recoveries: 1,095.
  3. Federal government latest: President Trump announces new travel advisories for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, but rules out quarantine enforcement. Per the CDC, residents of those states must now "refrain from non-essential domestic travel for 14 days," with the exception of critical infrastructure industry workers.
  4. State updates: Alaska is latest state to issue a stay-at-home order — New York is trying to nearly triple its hospital capacity in less than a month and has moved its presidential primary to June 23. Some Midwestern swing voters who backed Trump's handling of the virus less than two weeks ago are balking at his call for the U.S. to be "opened up" by Easter.
  5. World updates: In Spain, over 1,400 people were confirmed dead between Thursday to Saturday.
  6. 🚀 Space updates: OneWeb filed for bankruptcy amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
  7. Hollywood: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have returned to U.S. after being treated for coronavirus.
  8. What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk
  9. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

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