President Donald Trump had two goals for his first address to a joint session of Congress in 2017: reintroduce himself to America as the commander in chief and push a defiant Congress to stop fighting and work together on his big new agenda.
“The time for small thinking is over, the time for trivial fights is behind us,” he said at the time. “From now on, America will be empowered by our aspirations, not burdened by our fears.”
But Trump’s tone Tuesday — for his fifth address before the same body — is expected to be much different, according to people familiar with the president and his speech preparation.
He’s already one of America’s most famous presidents — there’s no need for a reintroduction. And one source told NOTUS that Trump plans to sidestep a speech filled with “flowery” language and instead deliver an “impassioned” address reflecting the intensity of his second administration that has razed his critics, overwhelmed journalists and even taken his own party by surprise.
“I WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS!” Trump posted Monday morning on Truth Social, previewing what he and his aides are calling a big speech.
Since taking back the White House, Trump and his team have shown little patience for their critics and have instead deployed a “steamroll” — completely disregarding aghast Democrats, pushing aside world leaders who don’t acquiesce to his America First agenda and forcing dissenting Republicans to get on board or get left behind.
“He learned that he just needs to steamroll … a lot of these people, the people who want to be obstructionists,” said one adviser close to the president, talking about Trump’s four years out of D.C.
The speech itself was still being adjusted as of Monday afternoon, with one source telling NOTUS that it would be tinkered with until delivery. Trump often takes a major interest in speeches like this, two sources told NOTUS, and a large role in their framing — dedicating hours to speech prep.
The president entered his second term with the advantage of experience, understanding how Washington works and, in turn, how to work it. And that advantage extends to his speech writing team, including senior aide Ross Worthington, who has written for Trump since the president’s first term. Other key aides are also heavily involved, like Vince Haley, a former speechwriter who is now the director of the Domestic Policy Council, and Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff for policy and main architect of Trump’s immigration policy. Miller was one of the main writers of Trump’s 2017 address as well.
Trump’s speech will take place on the heels of major early inflection points for his administration. Possibly the most profound of these happened just days ago: the explosion of a highly personal feud with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who left the White House last week after a yelling match with the president. The dramatic meeting led Trump on Monday night to at least temporarily pause military aid to Ukraine, as his administration tiptoes closer to calling for a regime change in the country — and notably, not one in Russia, which invaded Ukraine.
When asked by reporters Monday about the rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine that was not signed last week, despite it being the reason for Zelenskyy’s visit, Trump just said, “I’ll let you know.”
And the speech comes as Trump plans to enact 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports, troubling some lawmakers and economists who believe American consumers will ultimately bear the brunt of the costs
But in recent days, the speech has only been punched up, the source familiar with prep told NOTUS — reflecting someone who isn’t willing to cede an inch.
“He doesn’t have to worry about reelection,” said one Republican strategist close to the White House.
A White House official told NOTUS that the speech will focus on four things: a review of Trump’s early accomplishments, what Trump has done on the economy, a push for more funding for border security from Congress and a road map of how Trump plans to achieve peace across the globe.
To date, Trump has signed 76 executive orders, according to the Federal Register, touching everything from border security and culture war issues to federal staffing and funding. And Republicans in Congress are somewhat on track to take up his request to pass “one big, beautiful bill” through reconciliation, which would extend $4 trillion in tax cuts and expand border security, among many other provisions.
Those close to Trump or familiar with how he prepares for moments like this believe he will talk in depth about the two issues that brought him back to the White House: immigration and inflation.
“He was elected principally to fix the border and fix inflation,” said Marc Short, a former senior Trump administration official. “That’s what voters will want to hear.”
Others want Trump to double down on DOGE, the controversial cost-saving effort by the South African billionaire that’s meeting fierce opposition in Washington.
“I want President Trump to say, ‘I campaigned on the fact that I’m going to hire Elon Musk, set up DOGE [to find] government waste, fraud and abuse and secure our border. And I’m doing the unthinkable in Washington: I’m actually doing what I promised American voters I’d do,’” said one Republican ally on the outside.
Others just want Trump to talk about what is popular and avoid what may land him in hot water.
“Whatever polls well is what he should say,” said another Republican outside the White House.
“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,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “President Trump’s Joint Address will be MUST-SEE TV.”
In 2017, Trump spent hours practicing his first joint address, a former senior White House official told NOTUS, with the White House viewing it as an important early marker to tell the American people what type of president they could now expect.
“At that point in February of 2017, [America] did not really know Donald Trump the president. They knew Donald Trump, “The Apprentice.” They knew Donald Trump, the real estate developer. They didn’t know Donald Trump, the president,” they said. “He really put a lot of effort into it to make sure he was ready for that speech. And I think it really came across in the delivery.”
Trump, back then, practiced sans tie in a lower-level room in the White House, they said. And Trump’s lighter-than-normal schedule on Monday indicated that he was possibly doing something similar ahead of this speech.
Democrats have been at odds on how to respond to the speech — or how to respond to Trump in general. In a “Dear Colleague” letter on Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies told lawmakers that he plans to attend the session, “to make clear to the nation that there is a strong opposition party ready, willing and able to serve as a check and balance on the excesses of the administration,” after some Democrats openly decided to boycott.
Lateefah Simon, a first-year congresswoman who was tapped to deliver the rebuttal for the progressive Working Families Party, said she is clear-eyed on what Trump is going to say and how she plans to combat him.
“I anticipate [Trump] to continue to play the role that he has gotten really good at playing: to be a bully and to punch down at regular, everyday folks,” she said. A once-teenage mother who used the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and WIC, she plans to highlight how this administration, in her eyes, has made it harder for women to receive the same help as she had.
“Trump says every single day that he’s going to ‘Make America Great Again.’ I’m going to tell the story: That we are actually, because it is a collective ‘we’ as a government, we are making America sicker and poorer.”
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Jasmine Wright is a reporter at NOTUS. Daniella Diaz contributed reporting.