A bullish US President Donald Trump has proclaimed a "new American moment" as he delivers his maiden State of the Union speech to Congress.
In a primetime address, the Republican leader said he is "extending an open hand" to Democrats to work together.
Mr Trump also said he is ordering Guantanamo Bay to be kept open, reversing an Obama-era directive to close the controversial detention camp.
The American economy is booming but Mr Trump's approval rating languishes.
In an upbeat message a world away from the apocalyptic tone he struck in his "American carnage" inaugural address of just a year ago, Mr Trump said his administration is "building a safe, strong and proud America".
"There has never been a better time to start living the American dream," he told lawmakers.
As many as 40 million television viewers were expected to tune in as he implored the nation to come together as "one team, one people and one American family".
What did he say on foreign policy?
Mr Trump also condemned "depraved" North Korea.
He warned that Pyongyang's "reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland.
"We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from happening."
He also noted that nearly all the territory in Syria and Iraq once controlled by the Islamic State group has been retaken.
"We will continue our fight until ISIS is defeated," Mr Trump vowed.
What about the Democrats' response?
Massachusetts congressman Joseph Kennedy III, a great-nephew of President John K Kennedy, will deliver the Democratic rebuttal to Mr Trump's speech.
He will attempt to seize Mr Trump's political mantle by purporting to speak for "Americans who feel forgotten and forsaken".
Bewailing a "fractured country" and depicting Mr Trump's presidency as "chaos", Mr Kennedy, 37, will say: "Many have spent the past year anxious, angry, afraid."
"Bullies may land a punch," he will say. "They might leave a mark.
"But they have never, not once, in the history of our United States, managed to match the strength and spirit of a people united in defence of their future."
In one telling moment, members of the Democratic Congressional Black Caucus sat in stony-faced silence amid a standing ovation as Mr Trump noted African-American unemployment has hit a record low.
About a dozen Democratic lawmakers were expected to snub Mr Trump's speech in what could be one of the biggest boycotts of a president's State of the Union.
One of them, California congresswoman Maxine Waters, told MSNBC: "Why would I take my time to go and sit and listen to a liar?"
What else did Trump say?
Mr Trump made a plea for the kind of bipartisan co-operation that has been in short supply during a turbulent first year in office.
The president, who has enraged Democrats by withdrawing protections for immigrants who entered the US illegally as children, offered an olive branch.
"Struggling communities, especially immigrant communities, will also be helped by immigration policies that focus on the best interests of American workers and American families," he said.
"So tonight I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties, Democrats and Republicans, to protect our citizens, of every background, colour and creed."
Mr Trump again touted his pet plan to rebuild America's aging roads and other infrastructure, though he is not expected to offer many details.
Since he came to office, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up by around 33% and the unemployment rate is at a 17-year low as the US continues its recovery from the Great Recession of a decade ago.
But the president has often complained that he does not get enough credit for the rosy outlook.
Mr Trump had an average job approval last year of 38%, the lowest first-year rating for any president in the history of Gallup polling.
What about the guests?
Like previous US presidents, Mr Trump invited everyday people handpicked to put a human face on his administration's policies.
The invitees, who sat with First Lady Melania Trump, included an Ohio manufacturing worker said to have benefited from the president's tax plan.
Also invited were the parents of two children from Long Island, New York, who were killed by MS-13, a gang with Central American origins.
In attendance, too, was a corporal who became the first blind, double amputee to re-enlist in the US Marines.
Several Democratic lawmakers invited guests who are personally affected by the immigration debate and the #MeToo movement.
Who's the designated survivor?
In the unlikely event that an attack on a heavily secured Congress takes out the president, vice-president and lawmakers in the line of succession, it is traditional for one US cabinet official to sit out the State of the Union in a secret location.
That designated survivor, as he or she is known, this year was Sonny Perdue, the current secretary of agriculture.
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