The stage is set for President Trump to make his State of the Union address in Washington tonight.
The President is expected to call for political unity….but at the same time, he's also expected to insist once again on the need to build a border wall separating the US from Mexico.
Foreign policy may also feature in the speech, with growing speculation that the President will hold another summit soon with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
From Washington, here's Simon Marks.
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It will be a major moment when President Trump steps up to the podium to deliver his State of the Union speech in a few hours time.
Partly because this speech should have been made last month but wasn't….because of the government shutdown initiated by the President over his failed bid to secure $5 billion dollars in funding to wall America off from Mexico.
But also partly because of the woman who will be sitting behind him: the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
The most powerful elected Democrat in the country will be casting more than a figurative shadow behind the President's back.
The President's backers insist the man who has been more divisive in office than any of his modern predecessors will use the speech to plea for unity.
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That's Kellyanne Conway, one of the speechwriters…spelling out the word comity there, lest the American audience thought the speech might have some unexpected comedic value.
But other writers are more hardline, and the address is expected to see the President press yet again for money to build that wall.
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That's the President's son Eric Trump, with the "'Honey-can-you-spare-5-billion" prediction about the speech.
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But given the Democrats remain implacably opposed to the President's wall…he may go even further and avoid another government shutdown later this month by declaring the State of Emergency he's been threatening.
The White House says that would permit him to build the wall without Congressional approval by diverting money from other projects to border security.
Any such decision though would face lengthy legal challenges.
In areas of foreign policy the President is less constrained.
He may use the speech to announce the date and location of his next summit meeting with Kim Jong Un of North Korea….it could take place as early as this month….even though the UN is now accusing the North of trying to protect its nuclear capability, challenging the President's claims that negotiations have made "tremendous progress".
Lost on no one watching - in the hall or at home - the President's sinking approval numbers with fully 56% of the American electorate saying they will DEFINITELY not vote for him next year.
Keneshia Grant, professor of political science at Washington's Howard University, says the President may not care.
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As usual, there will be interest in the theatrics…how often will Republicans cheer him to the rafters….how often will Democrats sit on their hands…and will there be thunderous applause at the end or will those Republicans troubled by the President's antics give him not much more than an approving nod.
He'll hope to be back again with another speech next year….unless between now and then he's fully undone by the investigations into his campaign and his administration that are now piling up.
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