Trump speech to Congress: Trump airs familiar grievances in address before Congress

Each year, the opposing party has a televised response to the president's message. This year, Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin will deliver the Democratic response following Trump's address to Congress.

"The public expects leaders to level with them on what's actually happening in our country. From our economic security to our national security, we've got to chart a way forward that actually improves people's lives in the country we all love, and I'm looking forward to laying that out," Slotkin, a freshman senator, said in a statement.

Slotkin is a political survivor who won her Senate seat in November by less than 20,000 votes, even though Trump carried the state on the presidential level.

The former CIA analyst and Pentagon official also served two terms in the House, after flipping a suburban Detroit seat in 2018. Trump won her district by 4 points in 2016 and lost it by .5 points in 2020.

Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, will deliver the Spanish language response to Trump. He's the first Dominican American -- and formerly undocumented immigrant -- to serve in Congress.

Trump's speech will bring all branches of government together as he is joined by members of Congress and Supreme Court justices.

The speaker of the House and the vice president sit behind the president while he speaks. This speech will mark the first time Vice President JD Vance will be seated behind Trump for the address. During his previous administration, former Vice President Mike Pence was seated behind him.

During his last State of the Union address in 2020, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi memorably ripped up a copy of Trump's speech just as he finished.

Invited guests also attend the event. The White House and members of Congress typically invite guests with specific backgrounds and stories that are important to them both personally and politically -- people they want to thank, to honor or even to highlight a particular issue.

The White House has not yet released its list of invited guests.

Trump, like other presidents, will take the opportunity to discuss his agenda.

Since taking office, Trump has been aggressive in pushing his priorities, which include curbing what he sees as wasteful government spending through federal job cuts.

He will likely discuss those efforts as well as his goals with immigration, foreign policy and the economy.

On Monday morning, Trump posted on his social media network that the speech will be "big" and he will "tell it like it is."

Since this speech will be Trump's first during his second term, it's not referred to as a "State of the Union" -- although both the address to the joint session and State of the Union are effectively the same.

The address is called the State of the Union for the years that don't include the president's inauguration.

The speech is a presidential duty mandated in the Constitution, which calls for the president "from time to time to give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union."