Trump Set To Deliver Address To Congress With Ukraine Dispute Looming Large

WASHINGTON, D.C. –- US President Donald Trump will address a joint session of Congress for the first time since taking office less than 50 days ago to press the case for continuing his domestic and foreign policy agenda, including the suspension of aid to Ukraine.

Trump has pursued a “shock and awe” strategy over the first six weeks of his second term, announcing drastic changes to domestic and foreign policy, often using executive orders to bypass Congress, as he seeks to fulfill his campaign promises.

The Republican president has fired thousands of federal employees; imposed tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada; deported hundreds of illegal immigrants; created a U.S. cryptocurrency reserve, and restarted diplomatic relations with Russia with a goal to end the war in Ukraine.

What Is Expected In Trump's Speech?

In a March 3 post on Truth Social, Trump claimed his address “will be big." He didn't give any details, but the speech comes hours after he announced a pause on all US military support for Ukraine in its battle to repel invading Russian forces and days after his public spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office that rattled European allies.

The policy orders streaming from the White House on a nearly daily basis have jolted some parts of the electorate, especially those with jobs tied either to government or international trade.

“The guiding theme of the address will be how Trump is delivering on his campaign pledges, from imposing tariffs to downsizing the federal workforce,” Charles Kupchan, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, told RFE/RL.

“But I think Trump has his work cut out for him. His popularity is starting to slip, the stock market is starting to weaken. So, I think he has to make the case that what he is doing is working.”

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The market euphoria following Trump’s election has given way to concern that tariffs will reignite inflation, an issue that played an outsized roll in the November presidential election.

Trump said 25 percent tariffs against Canada and Mexico, two of the United States’ largest trading partners, would go into effect on March 4, triggering the sharpest decline in U.S. stocks in more than two months.

Oval Office Fallout For Ukraine?

Kupchan said he expected Trump to touch on the now infamous dispute with Zelenskyy during his address but will try to spin it to his advantage as “tough love” that is needed at this moment to end the war, now in its fourth year.

As the cameras rolled during their White House meeting on February 28, Trump berated Zelenskyy -– who insisted that a U.S. security backstop be part of any peace deal -– as ungrateful, adding he had “no cards” in negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy had traveled to Washington on February 28 to sign a deal to jointly develop Ukraine’s critical minerals and other natural resources with the United States and urge Trump to backstop a European peacekeeping force should a truce be reached.

Trump has made ending the war a priority and flipped three years of U.S. policy on its head by reaching out directly to Putin, whom his predecessor had isolated politically since the start of the war in February 2022.

Kyiv and European allies fear that Trump is willing to impose a bad peace on Ukraine to achieve his goal of ending the war quickly, and European leaders have rushed to put forward their own peace plan.

Zelenskyy left the White House following the dispute and the two did not sign the critical minerals agreement. During a press conference on March 3, Trump said he did not think the deal was dead and might have something to say about it during his address to Congress. U.S. officials have said Zelenskyy must apologize for the Oval Office confrontation.

Trump had promoted the deal as a way to recoup the billions of dollars in U.S. support since the war began and justify continuing the aid.

U.S. agencies reported on March 3 that the Trump administration is pausing aid to Ukraine “to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”

What Time Is Trump's Speech?

Trump will deliver his speech at 9 p.m. local time inside the Capitol building. Trump’s first joint address to Congress in 2017 during his first term in office lasted about one hour.

It focused on many of the same issues he has been highlighting since returning to power: stopping illegal immigration, increasing tariffs to protect domestic industries, and pushing NATO members to spend more on defense.