Donald Trump is addressing a joint session of Congress for the first time as president Tuesday evening in a speech where he’s expected to propose up to $54 billion in cuts to programs such as the Environmental Protection Agency and foreign aid to offset a similar boost in military spending.
All four of the major networks — ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox — will air the 6 p.m. speech live, as will 24-hour news networks like CNN and MSNBC.
The White House provided an outline of the speech to conservative outlets, which have since revealed a few of the president’s talking points. Trump will reportedly list campaign promises he’s kept in the first month since his inauguration.
Expect the proposed travel ban from seven Muslim-majority countries to come up.
The president will also touch on healthcare — Democrats and Republicans alike are waiting to see if the president will offer details beyond the superlatives he’s peppered interviews and speeches with on the topic since last year.
“I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject,” Trump told a group of conservative governors Monday. “Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.”
We’ll be following the speech live with fact-checks, quotes and reactions. This post will be updated with the latest developments.
Here are a few previews and news items that have popped up in the hours leading up to Trump’s speech:
Spicer meeting w/ about 200 Hill GOP comms staffers. One of them emails to say Trump’s speech “not exactly larded with specifics.”
— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) February 28, 2017
Sr admin official: President Trump is eager for a compromise immigration bill, is thinking about adding a call for one in tonight’s speech.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 28, 2017
Trump looks for reset with speech to Congress: https://t.co/0hjtICGrvw via @ReutersTV pic.twitter.com/tK3XT9SgkO
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) February 28, 2017
McMaster urged Trump to stop saying “radical Islamic terrorism.” It’s in Trump’s speech tonight. https://t.co/NyH9UqYzZE pic.twitter.com/F1k8WjhHQa
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) February 28, 2017
–Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344
@edercampuzano
ecampuzano@oregonian.com
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