After turbulent year, Trump makes plea for unity

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged bitterly divided Republicans and Democrats to work toward compromises on immigration and infrastructure after a bruising year of partisan battles that centered on Trump's leadership.

"Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve," Trump said in his first State of the Union address, delivered in the chamber of the House of Representatives.

Trump used the speech to try to overcome doubts about his presidency at a time when he is battling a probe into his campaign's alleged ties with Russia and suffering low job approval ratings.

While Trump called for bipartisanship, evidence of the deep divide between the parties was evident as Trump spoke. Republican lawmakers cheered wildly at the president's applause lines, while Democrats often sat in their seats silently.

Trump took credit for U.S. economic gains including a soaring stock market and a low jobless rate. He boasted about the economic growth he believes will result from tax cuts Republicans pushed through Congress late last year.

"This is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream," he said.

Facing a deadline on an immigration controversy and strong Democratic opposition, Trump was calling for the type of cooperation between Republicans and Democrats that has eluded him during a rocky first year in office.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Susan Cornwell, Amanda Becker and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Peter Cooney)