Since taking office just six weeks ago, President Trump has blitzed Washington by issuing a flurry of executive actions and leading a dramatic overhaul of the federal bureaucracy.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump is expected to promote those actions while laying out his priorities when he delivers an address to a joint session of Congress. Mr. Trump’s speech is not an official State of the Union address because he was just sworn in as president, but the event will look very similar to one with all three branches of government converging inside the House chamber.
As is common with these types of speeches, Mr. Trump will most likely tick through a laundry list of accomplishments — think immigration, tariffs and cuts to government spending — and outline his plans for the months ahead.
Mr. Trump says he wants to be remembered as a “peacemaker,” and so he is expected to discuss his plans to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. The president will also have to address the funding battle unfolding on Capitol Hill. If Congress does not pass a new spending bill by March 14, the government will shut down.
Here are four questions to consider before Mr. Trump takes the rostrum at 9 p.m.
What will Trump say about Putin and Zelensky?
Mr. Trump on Monday temporarily suspended the delivery of all U.S. military aid to Ukraine, days after an explosive Oval Office meeting with the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump will have the opportunity to explain the decision and address what the United States’ support for the war-torn country will look in the future.
The president is no fan of Mr. Zelensky and has made clear he wants a drastically different approach from the Biden administration, which sent billions of dollars in aid and weapons to counter Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago.
Mr. Trump has been pressing Ukraine to agree to a cease-fire with Russia on terms the United States negotiates. Mr. Zelensky has balked because those discussions have not included the Ukrainians or American security guarantees to prevent future Russian incursions. The outburst in the Oval Office started in part because Mr. Zelensky reminded Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance that Russia has broken cease-fires with Ukraine before.
“I just think he should be more appreciative,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Zelensky on Monday.
Mr. Trump has said he wants to position himself as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine, and in doing so he has softened the United States’ posture toward Russia and its president, Vladimir V. Putin. But after Mr. Zelensky left Washington without signing a deal for the United States to have access to Ukraine’s revenue for rare earth minerals, the next steps to ending the war remained unclear.
What does Trump say about Elon Musk and his team?
Mr. Musk, who is expected to be in attendance on Tuesday, has had a singular influence in the Trump administration. He has overseen the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to reduce government spending, a process that has sown confusion as it cuts jobs and funding across the federal bureaucracy and that has led to a number of lawsuits.
Thus far, Mr. Trump has praised Mr. Musk’s work and asked him to “get more aggressive.” But some Republicans are starting to feel the backlash from constituents over Mr. Musk’s actions, and some allies of Mr. Trump have privately questioned how long the president will be willing to share the spotlight with the world’s richest man.
How will the divisions among Republicans play out?
Mr. Trump has faced almost no opposition in the first few weeks of his second term. Other than Matt Gaetz, who withdrew his bid to be attorney general, Mr. Trump is on track to have all of his administration nominees confirmed by the Senate. Republicans have also fallen in line behind Mr. Trump’s more conciliatory approach toward Russia, including some who had been the biggest supporters of Ukraine and Mr. Zelensky.
But even as Republicans control the House and the Senate, there are still disagreements over the legislative strategy. That will come to a head in the coming days as lawmakers are forced to extend funding or allow the government to shut down next week. And as for funding his legislative agenda, Mr. Trump wants Congress to spend more money on immigration enforcement and defense while cutting taxes and federal programs. Exactly how lawmakers achieve those goals, however, is an open question.
How will Democrats react?
Democrats have had a rough few months. Their party is out of power. They are largely leaderless. And they have struggled mightily to respond to the frenzy of activity from the Trump administration. Even some party leaders have conceded they have stumbled in their attempts to settle on a message to counter the president.
On Tuesday night, congressional Democrats will have their first high-profile encounter with Mr. Trump and in front of what is expected to be a large national audience. They will have to decide when to stand and clap and how to voice their disapproval. Some Democrats have announced that they are bringing former federal employees as their guests, as part of a protest of the Trump administration’s mass firings.
