Here's What to Look for in Trump's Congressional Speech

Presidents typically use these speeches to promote their accomplishments and outline their plans. President Trump is expected to touch on Ukraine and budget cuts.

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Since President Trump has just been sworn in, the speech is not a formal State of the Union address. But it will feel very much like one, with all three branches of government convening on the House floor.

Since taking office just six weeks ago, President Trump has made a splash in Washington, enacting a series of executive actions and spearheading a sweeping overhaul of the federal bureaucracy.

Mr. Trump is expected to advance those actions on Tuesday, laying out his priorities when he delivers his address to a joint session of Congress. Mr. Trump’s speech is not a formal State of the Union address because he has just been sworn in as president, but the event will be much like one where all three branches of government converge on the House floor.

As is often the case in such speeches, Mr. Trump is likely to rattle off a laundry list of accomplishments — think immigration, tariffs and spending cuts — and outline his plans for the coming months.

Mr Trump says he wants to be remembered as a “peacemaker” and is expected to discuss plans to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. The president will also have to weigh in on the funding battle unfolding on Capitol Hill. If Congress fails to pass a new spending bill by March 14, the government will shut down.

Here are four questions to consider before Mr. Trump takes the podium at 9 p.m.

What will Trump say about Putin and Zelensky?

Mr. Trump temporarily suspended all U.S. military aid to Ukraine on Monday, days after a fiery Oval Office meeting with the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr. Trump will have a chance Tuesday to explain the decision and discuss what future U.S. support for the war-torn country will look like.

The president is no fan of Mr. Zelensky and has made clear he wants a radically different approach from the Biden administration, which poured billions of dollars in aid and weapons into countering a full-scale Russian invasion three years ago.

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