(TNND) — President Donald Trump will take on the role of “explainer-in-chief” Tuesday night when he gives a speech in a joint session of Congress.
Trump will be talking to a chamber full of lawmakers, “really the chance for the president to give Congress his marching orders,” said Todd Belt, the Political Management program director at George Washington University.
But the most important audience will be sitting at home.
“It’s really to the people explaining to them why the president’s ideas are good and why they should put pressure on their members of Congress to support the president’s agenda,” Belt said.
The speech is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern.
The Democratic response will follow, delivered by Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin.
Incoming presidents have a tradition of delivering a speech to Congress.
Belt said that Trump will use this opportunity to explain the “whirlwind of activity” since he took office six weeks ago.
“It’s going to be fascinating television,” said Oklahoma State University politics professor Seth McKee.
Inflation and immigration were the top issues for voters last fall.
Expect to hear something on both, though McKee said immigration is the stronger issue for Trump at the moment.
“He should hit immigration pretty hard, because that’s one of the reasons he won,” McKee said. “He’s going to have to be pretty damn evasive on the economy, because it’s not showing any improvement.”
A new CBS News poll showed about 80% of Americans want Trump to treat the economy and inflation as high priorities, but the survey showed only 36% think Trump is prioritizing the economy and just 29% think he’s prioritizing inflation.
Other surveys have shown Americans are worried the tariffs championed by Trump could bring inflation roaring back.
Progress on inflation has not only stalled, but it ticked up in the latest consumer price index.
Trump might have a better case to make for his progress on securing the border and cracking down on illegal immigration.
Arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement jumped 627% from last year in Trump’s first month in office, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said last week.
And officials said border encounters have plunged 93% since Trump took office.
Belt said presidents generally promote their domestic policy during the prime-time, joint-session speeches. But he said Trump is likely to talk about foreign affairs, too.
“There’s a lot of people who are concerned about what happened on Friday in the Oval Office,” Belt said of the combative meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “And so, this is an opportunity for the president to make clear what his plans are regarding Ukraine, what his plans are regarding Israel.”
Belt said the president is likely to bring up China.
And he’s likely to link border security to national security.
Tabitha Bonilla, a political scientist at Northwestern University, said Trump should talk about the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk’s cost-cutting task force.
“He’ll frame it as the important work that they are doing,” Bonilla said. “My guess is he’ll gloss over some of the missteps.”
Belt said Trump might mention DOGE refund checks for Americans.
McKee said Trump’s efforts to prune the bureaucracy have stolen much of the spotlight in the early days of his presidency.
But McKee said Trump might be making a political mistake by giving Musk such a prominent role. McKee said Musk is not a popular figure in American politics.
And McKee said everyday Americans might not care about cutting the bureaucracy if they don’t see economic improvements or if government services worsen.
Belt said Trump might go light on the details for some parts of his speech.
“Trump doesn’t like to get too much into the details,” Belt said. “He usually leaves that to others. He really likes to paint with a broad brush and use the hyperbole, and the ‘greatest’ and ‘worst ever’ and everything like that.”
Bonilla said Trump doesn’t like to acknowledge failures or struggles with his policies.
“At best he’ll gloss over it or ignore it,” she said. “At worst, he might give misinformation about what’s happening.”
Pay attention to media reports to help decide if Trump is giving an accurate portrayal of his administration’s efforts, she said.
“There’s nothing like Trump political theater,” McKee said.
But that won’t win over swing voters or more casual voters if their household finances aren’t looking better, McKee said.
The sitting president’s party has lost House seats in each midterm going back to 2006. Republicans lost 40 House seats during the 2018 midterm, during Trump’s first stint in the White House.
There’s still a long time until the 2026 midterms, but McKee said it could be members of Congress that pay the political price if voters don’t think Trump did enough to get consumer prices under control.
“It doesn’t really matter for Trump at the end of the day, because he’s a lame duck,” McKee said. “He can do whatever the hell he wants. But what is he leaving for his Republican Party?”