President Donald Trump is about to step into the House of Representatives chamber to deliver his first State of the Union address of his second term at a pivotal moment for his administration.
Themed “America at 250: Strong, Prosperous and Respected,” Trump’s address is expected to weave together his vision for the country’s future with its past. Trump spent last weekend and Monday preparing and practicing for the State of the Union with his main speechwriter, Ross Worthington.
“Together, we are building a nation where every child has the chance to reach higher and go farther—where government answers to the people, not the powerful—and where the interests of hardworking American Citizens are always our first and ultimate concern,” the president is expected to say, according to excerpts of the speech obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Coming less than nine months before this November’s midterm elections, Trump will also use the opportunity to underscore to the public — in what sources close to the White House have indicated could be a three-hourlong speech — that he and Republicans are delivering results.
Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previewed earlier Tuesday that the president would use the platform — which, in the past, has helped him reach audiences of almost 37 million people — to emphasize what he has achieved in the past year regarding the economy. On that list is an extension and expansion of his 2017 tax cuts through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as well as new executive orders meant to address the cost of prescription drugs and housing.
Trump is expected to outline what he seeks to achieve before the midterm elections, including a new tax cut legislation through the streamlined parliamentary process of reconciliation. The president told news anchors in the traditional pre-State of the Union press briefing, which, this year, included the likes of Newsmax and Breitbart, that he hopes to target tax relief to individuals and corporations.
“The country will see the best three years on the economy in the nation’s history,” Trump said during the press briefing. “And it’s already started.”
Trump, too, is anticipated to address the ongoing partial federal government shutdown, imploring Democrats to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
“As we speak, Democrats in this chamber have cut off all funding for the Department of Homeland Security. They have closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and murderers,” according to excerpts from Trump’s speech before he gets onstage, obtained by the Washington Examiner. “Tonight, I am demanding the full and immediate restoration of all funding for the Border Security and Homeland Security of the United States.”
Although domestic policy will be prioritized over foreign policy, Trump will deliver his State of the Union hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed the so-called Gang of Eight, a bipartisan group of the top lawmakers in Congress, on his military buildup around Iran as he tries to pressure Ayatollah Ali Khamenei into a new nuclear nonproliferation agreement amid reports Tuesday the United States has deployed fighter jets, including F-22s, to Israel.
“As president, I will make peace wherever I can—but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must,” Trump will say, according to excerpts.
At the same time, Trump’s State of the Union will not be all serious as the U.S. men’s hockey team will be in attendance days after they defeated Canada in the gold-medal match at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on Sunday and spent time at the White House on Tuesday afternoon.
More serious special guests include Erica Kirk, whose husband Charlie was assassinated last September, the parents of Sarah Beckstrom, the 20-year-old National Guard soldier who was killed in Washington, D.C., last November, 7-year-old Dalilah Coleman, who was injured in a car crash allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant, and Sage Blair, who was separated from her parents at age 14 after her school officials attempted to secretly transition her to a male.
Other special guests include those specifically of first lady Melania Trump: Sierra Burns, a participant in the Melania Trump Foster Youth to Independence Program, and Everest Nevraumont, a 10-year-old Alpha School student, artificial intelligence advocate, and TedX speaker.
Additionally, Trump’s family, including Donald Trump Jr. and fiancée Bettina Anderson, Eric and Lara Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, as well as Tiffany and Michael Boulos, will be there.
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Trump will deliver the remarks to a chamber with a disproportionate share of Republicans in comparison to the thin margins the party holds in the House and Senate. That’s because more than 70 Democrats are opting to skip the speech in protest. Many are slated to attend counter-rallies held outside the Capitol around the same time as Trump’s speech.
“Rather than listen to Donald Trump lie to the American people, I will be hearing from the people of my district about their personal experiences with skyrocketing costs, new barriers to health care, dismantled Social Security services, and brutal cuts to medical research,” House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) said.