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Donald Trump will deliver his first address to Congress since returning to the White House, where he is expected to lay out his second-term vision after a radical start that has dramatically reshaped both domestic and foreign policy.
Trump’s address, which will begin at 9pm ET from the chamber of the House of Representatives, marks his first major speech six weeks into a presidency that has seen the president empowering Elon Musk to dramatically downsize the federal workforce, threatening American’s allies with tariffs and coddling longtime American foes.
His administration has initiated sweeping mass layoffs of federal employees, mobilized officers from nearly every federal law enforcement agency and the US military to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations, and rattled Europe with his pursuit of a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine on terms preferential to Moscow.
Trump is also preparing to announce a minerals deal with Ukraine in his address this evening, according to a report, despite his advisers cautioning that a deal has yet to be signed and that the situation could be changed.
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Veterans affairs secretary Doug Collins has been selected to be the designated survivor for Donald Trump’s speech.
Collins will stay away from the US Capitol and remain in an undisclosed location under heavy protection for the duration of the speech.
The role of designated survivor is given to an individual selected by the president to lead the country in the unlikely event that several people in the line of succession are killed or otherwise unable to fulfill the duties of the presidency.
In excerpts released by the White House, Donald Trump is expected to tout his tariffs, saying that the US will “take in trillions of dollars”.
“Whatever they tariff us, we tariff them. Whatever they tax us, we tax them,” Trump is expected to say.
“If they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market,” he will say.
First lady Melania Trump is greeted with applause as she enters the chamber.
First Lady Melania Trump arrives for US President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Here are some more images sent from the newswires from the House chamber ahead of Donald Trump’s speech.
US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, US Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan, US Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, US Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett and former Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) attends President Donald Trump’s addresses a joint session of Congress. Photograph: Win McNamee/Reuters
Vice President JD Vance greets members of Congress as he arrives for President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images
(L-R) Republican Congresswoman Victoria Spartz of Indiana, House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain of Michigan and Republican Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis of New York Photograph: Win Mcnamee/EPA
In excerpts released by the White House, Donald Trump is expected to blame the previous Biden administration on having inherited an “economic catastrophe” and an “inflation nightmare”.
Trump is expected to claim that Biden’s policies “drove up energy prices, pushed up the cost of groceries, and drove the necessities of life out of reach for millions of Americans.”
He is expected to point the blame at Joe Biden for having “let the price of eggs get out of control”.
Elon Musk has been pictured entering the House chamber ahead of Donald Trump’s address to Congress.
Musk, wearing a suit with a dark blue tie, was seen grabbing a seat in the House chamber’s gallery.
He is seated alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, as well as members of Trump’s family.
Elon Musk arrives before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Elon Musk arrives for US President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Donald Trump, in remarks released by the White House, will pledge to take “historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths” in the US.
The president is expected to say that he is working “tirelessly” to end the “savage conflict in Ukraine”.
Vice-president JD Vance has entered the House chamber ahead of Donald Trump’s address to Congress.
Vance was seen shaking hands with Republican colleagues, including House speaker Mike Johnson.
Vice President JD Vance arrives before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol. Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP
Vice President JD Vance (L) shakes hands with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Photograph: Win Mcnamee/AFP/Getty Images
The White House has released excerpts from Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress tonight.
In the remarks, Trump is expected to boast that his administration has “accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplish in 4 years or 8 years”.
“American’s momentum is back. Our spirit is back. Our pride is back. Our confidence is back,” he is expected to say.
The American Dream is unstoppable, and our country is on the verge of a comeback the likes of which the world has never witnessed, and perhaps will never witness again.
The hard-right House Freedom Caucus has warned it will attempt to censure any Democrat who tries to disrupt Donald Trump’s address to Congress.
A statement posted to X reads:
The President’s address to tonight’s joint session of Congress is a constitutional obligation — not a sideshow for Democrats to use noisemakers, make threats, throw things or otherwise disrupt.
Our colleagues are on notice that the heckler’s veto will not be tolerated. You will be censured.
We expect the Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police to take appropriate action against any Members of Congress or other persons violating House rules.
Donald Trump has left the White House and is on his way to the Capitol for his address to a joint session of Congress.
His speech is scheduled to begin at 9pm ET.
President Donald Trump departs the White House to address a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol. Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
House speaker Mike Johnson, defense secretary Pete Hegseth and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick are among those who have been pictured arriving at the Capitol.
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson arrives for President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol. Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his wife Jennifer Rauchet at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images
(from left to right) Representatives Scott Perry (R-PA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Trent Kelly (R-MS), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Brad Knott (R-NC) ahead of Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick arrives before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress. Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP
The Trump administration is preparing an executive order aimed at reviving US shipbuilding and cutting China’s dominance of the global maritime industry, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The order includes 18 measures ranging from raising revenue from fees on Chinese-built ships and cranes entering the US, to establishing a new office at the National Security Council to strengthen the domestic maritime sector, the outlet reports.
The measures also include raising wages for nuclear-shipyard workers and instructions to Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” to review government procurement processes, it says.
As you can see from the images in the previous post, dozens of Democratic members of Congress will be wearing pink to Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress tonight.
Teresa Leger Fernández, who chairs the Democratic Women’s Caucus, said wearing pink is meant to call attention to Trump’s administration “negatively impacting women and families.”
“Women are claiming pink as a color of protest, as a color of power, and we are protesting what is happening right now,” Leger Fernández said earlier on Tuesday.
Members of Congress and their guests have begun arriving at the Capitol ahead of Donald Trump’s address, which is scheduled to begin at 9pm ET.
Trump Speech
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress. Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Photograph: Allison Robbert/AFP/Getty Images
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., arrives before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., speaks with reporters before President Donald Trump arrives to address a joint session of Congress. Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP
US Representative Maxine Dexter (D-OR) and Representative Sarah McBride (D-DE) at the US Capitol. Photograph: Win Mcnamee/AFP/Getty Images
Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) at the US Capitol. Photograph: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
Jason Miller, a top adviser to Donald Trump, said the president will defend his trade war to Americans when he speaks to a joint session of Congress tonight.
Miller told CNN in an interview earlier today:
I would say that he’s going to lean into it and he’s going to talk about how increasing tariffs can actually go and close the trade deficits … [in] January we saw a record trade deficit, particularly when it comes to countries such as Canada, Mexico, China. And how, if we don’t go and do this now, we’re going to be completely wiped out by certain industries here in the United States.
“Ultimately the costs on this are going to be carried by the producers and the foreign countries as opposed to Americans,” he added, repeating a common argument of the administration that economists are skeptical of.
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said a rare earths minerals deal with Ukraine was not on the table, despite reports that Donald Trump is preparing to announce the signing of the deal tonight.
Asked if the deal was still on the table, Bessent told CBS “not at present”.
Meanwhile, the UK’s ministry of defense said defense minister John Healey will meet his US counterpart, defense secretary Pete Hegseth, in Washington on Thursday to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine.
In an extraordinary turnaround, Ukraine and the US reportedly appear to be close to signing a critical minerals deal that the White House has indicated is a precursor to peace talks.
At a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening, Donald Trump is expected to propose plans to “restore peace around the world”. A White House official told Fox News he would “lay out his plans to end the war in Ukraine”, as well as plans to negotiate the release of hostages held in Gaza, the outlet reported.
Ukraine and the US were supposed to sign a minerals deal that would have resulted in the US investing in Ukraine’s underdeveloped minerals and mining sector, a deal that fell through after a disastrous meeting between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump has said the presence of US workers in Ukraine would be enough to deter Russian president Vladimir Putin from future acts of aggression, with no further security promises needed.
Kyiv was ready to sign the deal “in any time and in any convenient format”, Zelenskyy said on Tuesday. “We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively,” he wrote.
Donald Trump hopes to announce a minerals deal with Ukraine in his address to Congress tonight, according to Reuters.
Sources told the news agency that Trump has told his advisers he wants to announce the agreement in tonight’s address. They cautioned that the deal had yet to be signed and the situation could change.
The signing of the deal fell through after a disastrous meeting between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the Oval Office on Friday.
During the meeting, Trump warned Zelenskyy was “gambling with world war three” and told the Ukrainian president to come back “when he is ready for peace”. Trump’s vice-president, JD Vance, accused Zelenskyy of being not “acting at all thankful” for American assistance.
‘Make a deal or we are out’: the worst of Trump and Zelenskyy’s clash – video
On Monday, the Trump administration suspended delivery of all US military aid to Ukraine, blocking billions in crucial shipments. The decision affects deliveries of ammunition, vehicles and other equipment, including shipments agreed to when Joe Biden was president.
Zelenskyy, in an attempt to mend fences with Washington, said earlier on Tuesday that he was “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible”.
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