President Donald Trump is going to have everyone in tears during his Tuesday primetime address to a joint session of Congress, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) claimed.
During the speech, Trump is expected to double down on his administration’s nebulous cost-cutting task force DOGE, led by his megadonor and world’s richest man Elon Musk. Musk’s team has spent the past six weeks bypassing Congress by canceling hundreds of billions of dollars in government contracts, shuttering congressionally approved agencies and attempting to purge the civil service.
Mace assured Fox Business Network’s Elizabeth MacDonald that Trump’s speech will “be great for the American people—a pro-America speech.”
“I spent some time with the president—a little bit of time this weekend with the president at Mar-a-Lago. I’ve heard parts of the speech,” she said during an interview Monday. “And I will tell you, I teared up at one point. I think we will all laugh, we will all cry, and we will question what the heck has been going on the last four years.”
According to NPR, Trump will also likely tout his illegal immigration crackdown, even though his promised mass deportations haven’t gone quite according to plan; his sweeping tariffs on products from China, Mexico and Canada, which sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling this week; and his vision for a ceasefire in Ukraine, which sounds a lot like Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan.
The speech isn’t technically a State of the Union address, but Trump is treating it like one.
The goal, according to Politico, will be to create viral moments for his MAGA base. Democrats have vowed not to play into the spectacle, saying their response to the speech will focus less on Trump himself and more on the impact of his policies.
After Trump’s remarks, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) will offer an official rebuttal, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) will deliver the Spanish language response, and Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA) will give a separate progressive response for the Working Families Party.
Some Democrats will also hold town halls in their districts instead of attending, while others plan to show up and demonstrate their opposition by bringing guests who’ve been harmed by Trump’s policies and Republicans’ proposed budget, Politico reported.
