You need to know what is in the joint session of Congress
Trump’s Tuesday Address to the First Lady Melania: What will Trump Say in his Tuesday Address? We look to the past for some clues
The political dynamics this time are different from the previous one. The speaker will be seated behind Trump.
It wasn’t just the president bringing the made-for-TV moments in 2020. As Trump concluded his address, Pelosi, who had been seated behind him, picked up her printed copy of his remarks, and theatrically ripped them in half.
Trump’s next surprise was one everyone in the chamber would rise to applaud. “Amy Williams of Fort Bragg, N.C., has not seen her father’s face in many months,” Trump said as he introduced her.
Republicans liked it. Democrats were shocked. Guests who are mentioned in the State of the Union tend to have a story that will bring the country together. Limbaugh was a partisan warrior, beloved on the political right and reviled by the left.
Nobody expected what happened next. Trump asked first lady Melania to put the medal around his neck after awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
There was an emotional tribute to the conservative talk radio personality Rush Limbaugh, who was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer.
Source: What will Trump say in his Tuesday address? We look to the past for some clues
The State of the Union: Donald Trump’s 2020 Joint Address in the House of Representatives from the Senate and the House Democrat Causal Committee on Homeland Security
Steven, who was a deputy press secretary in the White House, said President Trump’s State of the Union speech was not able to be divorce from his political realities.
Hoffman said she thinks these speeches should be a little bit boring. She said that Trump’s approach was performative. It is very much like a wild card. It has got the flavor of a State of the Union address but then there is that added extra thing there of really kind of inserting that reality television aspect to it.”
Donna Hoffman is a political scientist at the University of Northern Iowa, who said that compared to past presidents, Trump claims more credit and gets less of lawmakers.
A State of the Union address allows a sitting president to recap their achievements over the last year. A newly elected president has an opportunity to lay out their initial agenda at the joint address.
“It was drama-filled … you never knew what was going to come out of the president’s mouth,” said Cheri Bustos, a former Democratic congresswoman from Illinois, who was in the chamber that night. “I mean, it was a State of the Union like none other.”
Delivered the day before the Senate voted to acquit him in his first impeachment case, and as COVID began to spread in the United States, Trump’s 2020 address was part reality TV, part gameshow and part WWE smackdown.
In 2020, the State of the Union address may contain clues about how Trump might approach this task of the presidency.
President Trump returns to the House chamber on Tuesday for his first address to a joint session of Congress since retaking the White House, a moment where he is expected to revel in his shake-up of Washington and lay out some plans for the year ahead.
The speech comes as the administration is seeking to dramatically reshape the federal government, crack down on illegal immigration and redefine the U.S. role abroad.
He will address Congress at a time when Republicans hold a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Despite those majorities, progress on delivering legislation to fund the president’s key campaign promises has been slow going.
Trump’s speech is set to start at 9 p.m. ET. NPR’s live special coverage and analysis of the president’s joint address and the Democratic response will also begin at 9 p.m. ET.
You can tune in on many public radio stations or in the NPR app, tell your Alexa device to “Ask NPR to play Special Coverage” and also watch our live in-studio video coverage here and on NPR.org
What do you need to know about Trump’s address to joint session of Congress? A survey by NPR/PBS News/Marist
The new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll shows that many viewers could have doubts about Trump’s agenda in the wake of a flurry of actions he’s taken. The survey found that nearly half of all respondents think the union is not strong, and almost half think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
In his address, Trump is likely to double down on his administration’s government restructuring initiative, known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Trump has turned to billionaire Elon Musk to lead.
As part of this effort, the administration has moved to lay off tens of thousands of federal workers and essentially closed multiple agencies — resulting in mass confusion among federal employees and a slew of legal battles.
Trump is also expected to talk about his plans for reducing illegal immigration. Days after taking office, he suspended the asylum process at the southern border as well as refugee resettlement. He moved to end citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents who are not citizens, but two federal judges blocked that effort. The White House wanted to portray the enforcement of illegal immigration as a success, but critics said that the hard-line policies of the administration were making people think of immigrants and crime.
Trump has also signed an executive order expanding steel and aluminum tariffs and another aimed at imposing “reciprocal tariffs” on U.S. trading partners.
The U.S would be taking over ownership of the Gaza Strip in what would be a radical and unprecedented shift in U.S. relations in the region. He only gave a brief description of how the effort would work.
The role of the U.S. in brokering a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is open to question after last week’s heated Oval Office meeting between Trump and the Ukrainian President.
What you need to know about Trump’s address to joint session of Congress: The case for a new president with a ticking clock
An address to a joint session of Congress is similar to a State of the Union address — each happens in the same place and around the same time each year. But they have slightly different purposes.
Trump is in a unique situation. He is offering a far different playbook from his predecessor, but will also stand in front of lawmakers as a second-term president with a ticking clock. He’s the first president to serve two non-consecutive terms in more than 130 years.
After Trump’s address Tuesday, Slotkin will give a speech. In a year that saw Democrats lose their majority in the Senate, Slotkin’s win was a rare bright spot for Democrats — and came in a state that Trump ultimately carried.
The Spanish language response will be delivered by Rep. Adriano Espaillat. Simon will give a response to progressives from the Working Families Party.
Source: What you need to know about Trump’s address to joint session of Congress
Inflationary Rebuttal: Trump and the Musk-Moscata Debate in a Close Relationship to Musk and the Peroti
Economic concerns are expected to be the focus of these rebuttal remarks. The Democrats lost an election on the issue, but have made it a priority to address rising prices. While Trump campaigned heavily on combating inflation, it has thus far not been a main focus of his presidency. Expect Trump’s close relationship with Musk to also face criticism.
