(WASHINGTON) — Donald Trump, six weeks into a historic comeback to the White House, on Tuesday heads to Capitol Hill to address Congress and the nation as a reinvented president relentlessly testing the limits of executive power.
Trump will step up to the dais at 9 p.m. ET to lay out his goals for the next four years and tout the actions he’s taken so far, many of them challenging constitutional restraints on his authority versus Congress and the courts.
The president teased on Monday it would be a “big night” and House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News over the weekend to expect “fireworks.”
The theme of his address will be the “Renewal of the American Dream,” a White House official told ABC News.
Trump will focus, the official said, on his record thus far, the economy, border security, and what the official called the president’s plans for “peace around the globe.”
He will push Congress to pass more border security funding for deportations and the border wall, the official said, and on foreign policy, he’s expected to touch on his efforts to help broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
“President Trump has accomplished more in one month than any president in four years – and the renewal of the American Dream is well underway,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “In his Joint Address to Congress, President Trump will celebrate his extraordinarily successful first month in office while outlining his bold, ambitious, and common sense vision for the future. President Trump’s Joint Address will be MUST-SEE TV.”
The speech comes as Trump moves with lightning speed to enact his agenda, including an immigration crackdown and radical overhaul of the federal government — the latter with the help of his unelected enforcer Elon Musk, who will be in the House chamber looking on.
As some of the dust settles from that blitz, a 538 analysis of public opinion polls found Trump himself to be more popular than many of his administration’s policies. And his approval rating, while higher than at this same point in his first term, is still underwater at 45%, according to Gallup.
Promises kept?
Trump has signed 76 executive orders since his inauguration, according to the Federal Register.
Barbara Perry, co-chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, said she expects Trump’s speech to start off on the theme of “promises made, promises kept.”
“I suspect there will be some chest-pounding and drawing attention to the fact that historically, this is one of the most active and productive first 100 days and we’re not even at the 100-day mark yet,” Perry said. “They’re off the blocks really quickly.”
His executive actions include many of the culture war issues he campaigned on — such as ending federal DEI programs, making English the country’s official language, declaring the government will only recognize a person’s sex assigned at birth and banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.
On immigration, Trump could promote border crossings dropping significantly in January and the Department of Homeland Security arresting thousands of migrants illegally in the country. But his “border czar,” Tom Homan, has expressed frustration with the pace of deportations so far, and the administration abruptly cleared migrants from Guantanamo Bay after pledging to use the military base to house the “worst of the worst.” Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship, another signature 2024 pledge, has been temporarily blocked by the courts.
On foreign policy, in addition to his efforts to start peace talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war, the White House official said he can be expected to talk about the Middle East, although his brazen Gaza takeover plan has little public buy-in from regional power players and the administration’s reversal of American policy toward Russia and away from Ukraine has prompted concern among European allies.
On the economy, Trump can be expected to highlight tariffs he’simposed against Canada and Mexico that went into place on Tuesday, as well as additional taxes against China. But inflation continues to be a persistent problem, with some economists predicting tariffs could raise prices more, and the cost of eggs have skyrocketed amid the prevalence of avian flu.
But the Trump initiative that’s been the most controversial is the slashing of the federal bureaucracy, which is being largely overseen by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. The dismantling of agencies like USAID, wholesale firings of federal workers and cutting of funds already appropriated by Congress is prompting widespread confusion and several legal challenges. Trump has defended Musk so far, including in his first Cabinet meeting last week where Musk spoke despite not being a Cabinet member.
His message to Congress?
Trump will address Congress as Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate. Despite the trifecta, Trump is pushing an expansive view of executive power that questions the role of Congress and the courts to serve as a check over federal agencies.
How aggressively he articulates that stance in front of the lawmakers and Supreme Court justices in attendance will be something to watch, said Philip Wallach, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
“I think the big question is, what does he feel like he needs from Congress? The general sense of the second Trump administration has been to come out of the gates guns blaring, wanting to accomplish everything themselves,” Wallach said. “In some ways, it seems like they mostly want Congress to stay out of their way and to cheer them on in their effort to transform the government.”
“But it’s not clear just how far they can go without new laws from Congress, including some that go ahead and dismantle previous programs,” Wallach noted.
The first big legislative test will be the budget reconciliation bill that will fund much of Trump’s agenda, though more pressing will be averting a government shutdown next week.
Back in 2017, during his first-ever joint address to Congress, Trump made a pitch for unity. It was generally regarded as one of his best political speeches, said University of Michigan speech and debate expert Aaron Kall.
Kall doesn’t expect the same tone for Tuesday night’s address, contending Trump views himself as having a “mandate” from voters after winning both the electoral college and popular vote (though data shows the victory isn’t the total landslide Trump has often portrayed it as).
“I think it will be very totalizing, very self-assured and very partisan in tone,” Kall said of Trump’s upcoming address. “This will be more in the ilk of a campaign speech.”
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