First Congressional Address on the 43rd Day in Office
Will Outline Vision for Governance
Expected to Address Tariffs, Government Spending, and the War in Ukraine
U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver a speech to Congress for the first time since beginning his second term. According to CNN, President Trump is expected to primarily focus on domestic policies such as tariffs and government spending cuts during this speech, which will serve as an opportunity to introduce key policy proposals for the next four years.
According to CNN and the Associated Press, President Trump will deliver his first congressional address of his second term at 9 p.m. local time on the 4th at the U.S. Capitol. Having outlined his "America First" national agenda in his inauguration speech on January 20, he is expected to present the achievements and accomplishments of his first six weeks in office and elaborate on his vision for governance during the joint session of the House and Senate.
Since taking office, President Trump has been implementing sweeping reforms within the federal government. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and head of the U.S. Government Efficiency Department (DOGE), is leading these reforms, and the wave of federal employee layoffs has resulted in the highest number of new unemployment claims this year.
Tariffs are also expected to be a central topic in this speech. On the 3rd, President Trump signed an executive order raising additional tariffs on China to 20% and announced plans to impose tariffs on allies Mexico and Canada as scheduled. Mutual tariffs, considering tariffs and non-tariff barriers on U.S. products, are set to be imposed starting April 2. The Trump administration's indiscriminate tariff onslaught is shaking free trade, and the U.S. is also facing the threat of tariff-driven inflation. While President Trump and his officials dismiss the possibility of tariffs causing inflation, foreign media have warned about the side effects of imposing tariffs.
The British magazine The Economist stated, "President Trump claims that tariffs will encourage automakers to build factories in the U.S., but tariffs will disrupt supply chains and increase consumer costs," adding, "Analysts estimate that the average price of cars in the U.S. will rise by about $2,500."
CNN also reported, "Trump now faces the new reality of having to fulfill his promise of price stability."
The tone of the first congressional speech of the second term is likely to differ from that of the first term. CNN described the time when President Trump gave a congressional speech five years ago as "He had just been impeached, a new virus was beginning to spread, and the Democrats had just started the process of nominating his challenger." However, now the Republican Party fully controls Congress, and with Republican support, he is signing executive orders almost daily that bring change to America.
One of President Trump's advisors said the goal of the speech is to explain to Americans who have not understood the motivations behind the swift actions he has taken so far. While Trump is likely to address his plans to lower prices, the specific outline of the speech has not yet been finalized.
On the foreign policy front, attention is focused on how President Trump will handle the war between Russia and Ukraine. He is focusing on abandoning decades of U.S. diplomatic orthodoxy and pursuing a new deal with Russia.
There is also interest in how the Democrats will respond at this event. Looking back to 2020, after the speech that year, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was caught on camera tearing up a copy of Trump's speech as he finished.
President Trump is also expected to urge the passage of a continuing resolution (CR). The U.S. government's fiscal year 2025 began last September and lasts one year, but Congress has yet to pass a formal budget. If Congress does not pass a new spending bill by the 14th of next month, the federal government will face a shutdown. On the 27th of last month, President Trump posted on his social media, "We are working with the House and Senate to pass a continuing resolution with no conditions. Let's get it done."
Earlier, House Speaker Mike Johnson (Republican) sent a letter inviting President Trump to deliver a joint address to Congress at the end of January. On the Democratic side, freshman Senator Elissa Slotkin (Michigan) is scheduled to deliver a response speech to President Trump's address.
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