Trump's SOTU address: High on talk; significance remains to be seen

When US President Trump delivered his annual State of the Union address last year, Republican Paul Ryan from Wisconsin, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, was sitting on the stage behind him.

That setting highlighted the the balance of power on Capitol Hill that seemed to favour the Republican president whose political party controlled at that point both the Senate and the House, helping to deliver major legislative victories for President Trump, including an historic overhaul of the tax code, important deregulatory measures, and the expansion of the conservative majority on the US Supreme Court.

But when President Trump addressed the US lawmakers on Tuesday, occupying the seat behind him, alongside Vice-President Mike Pence, was Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi from California, the newly elected Speaker of the House which the Democrats now control and are intent on blocking the White House's agenda.The power shift on Capitol Hill only helps to accentuate the numerous problems facing President Trump at home and abroad and which explains why only 41 per cent of the American people approve of his job performance.