The president of the United States, Donald Trump, will give a speech on Tuesday night, the 24th, during a joint session of Congress, in Washington. Shaken by the major defeat suffered in the Supreme Court, which overturned the package of tariffs applied against several nations, and with approval ratings falling, the Republican is expected to try to highlight his government’s achievements at a crucial moment in his presidency.
“It will be a long speech,” Trump said, “because we have a lot to talk about.” The event, which is scheduled to start at 9pm local time (11pm Brasília time), also takes place before the mid-term elections, scheduled for November.
In recent decades, the State of the Union address has become one of the main media events on the American political calendar. It is followed by a retort from the opposition party. This year, that replica will be made by Virginia’s Democratic governor, Abigail Spanberger.
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The president spent part of the weekend preparing for Tuesday’s speech, reviewing the text with a small group of advisers, officials familiar with the plans said.
Before tonight’s event, Trump is expected to host a traditional lunch with anchors from the five major US television networks: NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox e CNN. Sources reported that the president also invited representatives from new broadcasters. They declined to specify which anchors will attend the lunch.
What to expect from Trump’s speech?
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The event comes at a critical moment in the Republican’s presidency: polls show his approval rating falling, the Republican Party fears losing control of at least one house of Congress, the Supreme Court has just ruled against the president’s main tariff policy and he is considering military action against Iran.
The U.S. Constitution requires the president to “report periodically to Congress on the State of the Union and recommend for its consideration such measures as he may deem necessary and expedient.” The expectation then is that Trump will highlight what he considers his main achievements in his first year in office and define his political agenda for the future.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump will argue that Republicans are best suited to continue addressing public concerns about the cost of living.
“The president will argue that with three more years of him in the White House and with Republicans on Capitol Hill, we can finally once again achieve the American dream that we had in his first term but that was lost because of Joe Biden and the Democrats over the last four years,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House.
The speech will also be a “celebration” of 250 years of US independence, she added.
Trump is expected to criticize the Supreme Court ruling against his key tariff policies and talk about attempts to circumvent that ruling without relying on Congress or spooking financial markets.
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He is also likely to pressure lawmakers to increase military funding and tighten voter identification requirements. The Republican must still defend immigration operations that have drawn bipartisan criticism following the deaths of two U.S. citizens.
The issue represents a potential political risk on the eve of the November elections, which could guarantee victories in Congress for Democrats.
The opposition plans to boycott Trump’s speech in protest, instead attending a rally known as the “People’s State of the Union Address” on the National Mall in Washington.
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Foreign policy in focus
Trump’s speech comes at a time when two American aircraft carriers have been sent to the Middle East amid tensions with Iran.
The president is expected to address in Tuesday’s speech last year’s US airstrikes that hit Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and praise the operation that deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. The Republican will also likely mention his government’s role in negotiating a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
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It is unclear how Trump will mention tensions in US military alliances with NATO as a result of pressure to seize Greenland from Denmark, or his failure to fulfill an election promise to end the Ukraine war in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This Tuesday marked four years of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Jennifer Anju Grossman, former speechwriter for Republican President George HW Bush and current CEO of the Atlas Society, said Trump can make clear that Maduro’s policies have destroyed Venezuela’s economy to such an extent that one of the world’s most oil-rich countries has struggled to meet its own energy needs.
He will likely argue that Venezuelan oil will help lower U.S. gasoline prices. Still, when it comes to developments abroad, she said, “I think it will be a challenge to clarify why this is relevant to the domestic situation in the United States.” (WITH INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES)
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