On this date 160 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln was sworn in to his second term in office and delivered a brief but historic inaugural address to a nation still fighting the Civil War. He concluded with these famous words: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the fight as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
On this date in 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated for his first term and told the country that “the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself.”
Tonight, President Donald Trump looks to write, or rewrite, some history of his own as he addresses a joint session of Congress — and a nation divided over his whirlwind first weeks back in office, including efforts to slash the size of government along with economic and foreign policy moves that have quickly turned allies into adversaries, upsetting the world order he inherited. The latest such move — Trump’s new tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as well as China – drew immediate retaliatory responses, amplifying fears about the economic pain that a trade war may bring.
In a speech under the theme “The Renewal of the American Dream,” Trump will reportedly tout the accomplishments of his second term so far, call for more funding for his immigration crackdown and press his culture war priorities. “I WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS!” Trump wrote on social media Monday night. CNN reports that “to deflect from the furious critiques over tariffs, Trump plans to shine a light in his speech on a series of executive orders he has signed on cultural issues that are widely popular with the Trump base.”
The president will reportedly also celebrate Elon Musk and the DOGE effort he has driven, even as Democrats fill the room with fired federal workers and others affected by the administration’s swift changes. And while his speech will focus mainly on his domestic agenda, Trump will reportedly still address his vision for bringing peace to Ukraine and the Middle East. The president on Monday paused U.S. aid to Ukraine after his extraordinary Oval Office showdown with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the speech would be “must-see TV.”