UPDATED: Donald Trump‘s speech to a joint session of Congress will focus on the theme of the Renewal of The American Dream, a chance for him to assure the American public after a chaotic first six weeks in office.
Per prepared remarks, Trump will tell lawmakers, “Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the Golden Age of America. From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country.”
Trump likely will present his speech as a kind of victory lap, while Democrats are hoping to make a mark in their opposition. He’s gutting the federal government, as Elon Musk’s DOGE takes a chainsaw to the government workforce; he’s launched a trade war against two key allies, Canada and Mexico, shaking financial markets; and he’s aligned with Russian talking points when it comes to the war with Ukraine. Asked earlier to predict what Trump’s speech will be like, one Democratic senator said, “Ugly.”
A number of CEOs, including those in Hollywood, have taken steps to get in the president’s good graces, even as Trump has consistently attacked the news media and threatened companies like Comcast.
In his speech, Trump is expected to address the tariffs, even as his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, suggested that a deal was near with Canada and Mexico.
“Whatever they tariff us, we tariff them,” Trump plans to say. “Whatever they tax us, we tax them. If they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market. We will take in trillions of dollars and create jobs like we have never seen before.”
Trump’s last speech to a joint session of Congress was his State of the Union address in 2020, when he used reality-show techniques to make sure that key moments went viral. That included presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh, among other things.
This time around, one of Trump’s high profile guests was Musk, who was wearing a suit as he took his seat in an area reserved for the first lady’s guests. He took a photo of the chamber with his phone, then stopped and, with his arms folded, watched the scene.
In the chamber, many of the Democratic women lawmakers wore pink, while others, like Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, decided not to attend. The House Freedom Caucus warned Democrats that a “heckler’s veto will not be tolerated,” and they would seek to censure members who seek to disrupt the proceedings. During Joe Biden’s presidency, a number of Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), heckled him.
Earlier, Democratic senators, led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), held a press conference in which the speakers were federal workers and other constituents who have been impacted by the DOGE cuts.
The speech is not an official State of the Union address, as it occurs at the start of a president’s term. But it has become a tradition.
