5 things for Arizonans to watch for in Trump's Tuesday address

In just six weeks, President Donald Trump has wiped out diversity initiatives, cut foreign aid, chopped the federal workforce, declared that America has only two genders and one official language, renamed the Gulf of Mexico, sided with Russia over the democracy it invaded and unleashed trade wars with Canada, Mexico, China and the European Union.

Tariffs on North American imports took effect on Tuesday. Arizonans could see higher prices on beer, fresh produce, timber and other goods.

Arizona Republicans are unsure what to expect out of Trump’s prime time State of the Union-style address.

“It’s Trump,” said Rep. David Schweikert, R-Fountain Hills. “I have no idea. … Even sometimes his speechwriters probably don’t know what he’s going to say.”

Sen. Mark Kelly said Democrats want Trump to explain the “havoc” he has caused in the short time he’s been back in power.

“What he should be addressing is … the horrible job he’s done this first month,” Kelly said in a brief interview at the Senate. “He’s firing all of these government employees without any plans, without any analysis.”

Kelly and Sen. Ruben Gallego opposed nearly all of Trump’s picks for the Cabinet. Having lost those fights, the Arizonans and other Democrats will look on as Trump’s defense secretary, attorney general and other department heads they tried to block sit in the front rows of the House chamber to hear the president.

“I want him to say that ‘I am going to be clearly focused on bringing down the cost of living for all Americans. I am going to do this in a bipartisan manner. I am going to work to bring down the cost of housing and increase the wages of Americans,’” Gallego told Cronkite News at the Senate. “And doing it without the chaos that he has caused so far.”

Both senators plan to attend the speech, as do two of the three Arizona Democrats in the House.

First-term Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Phoenix, said in an interview that she hopes “he will address what he’s doing to improve the cost of living.”

That echoes a Democratic talking point heading into the speech – that Trump promised to bring down the price of eggs and fight inflation but instead has launched trade wars with friends and adversaries alike. The 25% tariffs he’s threatened on imports from Mexico and Canada, the largest U.S. trading partners, are set to take effect on Tuesday.

Lawmakers typically bring a guest to the speech – someone chosen to make a political point.

Rep. Eli Crane, R-Oro Valley, said he is bringing a sheriff from his sprawling district, which covers the northeast quadrant of the state.

Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Phoenix, is bringing Walter Murillo, CEO of Native Health, as a guest. His goal, Stanton said in an interview off the House floor, is to highlight “the proposed Medicaid cuts on the population that he serves, the Native American population in my district.”

Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Tucson, has not voted since the first day of the new Congress on Jan. 3, House records show, and isn’t expected to attend.

He has been battling lung cancer and has said he won’t seek another term. On Tuesday, he was the only House member absent for the nailbiter vote on the president’s budget plan, which passed 217 to 215.

Some things to watch for:

Reality TV-worthy drama

Trump was on trial during his 2020 State of the Union address, though the Senate would acquit him the next day. That was his first impeachment, on charges involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump’s efforts to pressure him into announcing a corruption probe that would tarnish Democrat Joe Biden ahead of the election.

More on Zelenskyy later.

Trump, the former reality TV star, pulled out all the stops to keep Congress and the home audience attentive.

Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, suffering advanced lung cancer, was seated with first lady Melania Trump. His jaw dropped when Trump announced a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, which the first lady then placed around his neck.

Also in the first lady’s box: Army spouse Amy Williams and her children. Her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Townsend Williams, had been away for months on his fourth tour in Afghanistan. Trump thanked her for her sacrifice – then announced a reunion on live television.

“I am thrilled to inform you that your husband is back from deployment. He is here with us tonight,” Trump said.

The couple hugged as most of the House chamber gave a standing ovation.

The night ended with Speaker Nancy Pelosi tearing Trump’s speech into pieces. The president had snubbed her offer of a handshake at the start of the evening. She said later that she’d been making a small tear in each page that contained a falsehood. Once she realized that every page was torn, she decided to shred it.

That won’t happen Tuesday night. Two Republicans will be seated behind Trump this time: Vice President JD Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson.

Democratic pushback

During the 2020 address, Democratic congresswomen wore white to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

The show of solidarity made it even more obvious than usual when opposition lawmakers remained seated as Trump allies stood and cheered. Even without matching outfits, the contrast will be stark again on Tuesday night.

Lawmakers usually use their guest tickets to make a political point.

Many Democrats are bringing constituents who lost their jobs under billionaire Elon Musk’s effort to cut the workforce.

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego is bringing a disabled Army veteran from north Phoenix, Kyle Rahn, who was fired two weeks ago – via email – from a cybersecurity job at the Department of Homeland Security.

Rahn served three tours in Iraq before going to work as a civilian for the Defense Department. In all, he spent 16 years in public service before being pushed out by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, the White House office led by Musk.

“This isn’t just about me, it’s about every government worker who dedicated their lives to strengthening this nation,” Rahn said in a statement released by Gallego’s office.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Phoenix, will bring a high school math teacher and DACA recipient as her plus one to dramatize criticism of Trump’s immigration crackdown.

DACA – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – is a program begun by President Barack Obama that lets immigrants brought into the country illegally as children work and study without fear of deportation.

Arizona was home to an estimated 250,000 of the 11 million people living in the country illegally as of 2022, according to a report last June from the Pew Research Center. That’s about 3.5% of the state’s population – slightly above the national average.

Russia-Ukraine

Trump’s Oval Office shouting match with Zelenskyy on Friday threw European allies into a panic, cementing the belief that the United States has abandoned an 80-year policy of standing with democracies against aggression.

Trump insisted during that meeting that he’s not choosing Russia over Ukraine, though that was the perception he left by berating the Ukrainian leader for not being grateful enough for American military support.

“I’m not aligned with Putin, I’m not aligned with anybody,” Trump told reporters. “I’m aligned with the United States of America.”

Trump had already ruled out Ukraine’s demand for a ceasefire to hinge on Russia giving back land it has seized. Monday night, he froze military aid to Ukraine.

Even some of Trump’s closest Republican allies have expressed discomfort with his stance. Such internal dissent has been rare, and foreign officials will be looking for signs of that tension Tuesday night.

“I have repeatedly urged President Trump that it is crucial for this war to end with a decisive and unmistakable defeat for Putin and Russia,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posted on X on Saturday, the day after the Oval Office confrontation.

On Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television that Putin’s government was pleased at the Oval Office meeting, because it shows that Washington “largely aligns with our vision.”

Inflation

During his campaign, Trump promised to lower inflation and cut the cost of living.

So far in his second term, Trump has focused on other priorities. Republicans have downplayed those pledges and stopped complaining about high prices at the fuel pump and supermarket.

Democrats are working overtime to remind voters that eggs remain expensive and that inflation hasn’t gone away as Trump promised.

Arizona’s Democratic senators, Gallego and Mark Kelly, have criticized Trump’s response to the bird flu outbreak, which has affected 12.7 million chickens in the last 30 days alone and led to an egg shortage that has kept prices high.

“In your campaign, you often mentioned plans to bring down prices on staple items such as food, and eggs must be a central part of those actions moving forward,” Gallego wrote Trump shortly after he took office.

The USDA recently pledged to spend $1 billion to fight bird flu and its impact on consumers. The plan includes stepped-up inspections of farms and work with the FDA to increase the egg supply.

Immigration and deportations

Immigration enforcement was another major campaign pledge, and critics and allies alike will be listening for details on how Trump plans to proceed.

On Saturday, Trump boasted that the Border Patrol caught just 8,326 people crossing the southern border illegally in February – the lowest monthly tally “in History – BY FAR!” (Comparable federal data only goes back to 2000 and this is the lowest since then, though at least one expert said it may be the lowest since the 1960s.)

Based on that, he declared on his Truth Social Trump platform, “The Invasion of our Country is OVER.”

Republicans have been arguing for years that illegal border crossings amounted to an invasion, using that to justify a variety of policies – including Trump’s central promise of the 2024 campaign, a mass deportation effort to eject millions of people.

Earlier in this term, Trump tried to end automatic birthright citizenship. A federal judge blocked that move as a violation of the 14th Amendment, which confers U.S. citizenship on anyone born on U.S. soil.

Last week, Trump announced a plan to let wealthy foreigners purchase permanent residency for $5 million. He called it a “gold card.” Officials said that would replace the EB-5 program that allows foreigners to obtain U.S. residency by investing at least $800,000.

“He deployed the military … (and) new law enforcement strategies, new prosecution strategies and significant counter-cartel and counter-smuggling strategies that have resulted in a 95% drop in illegal crossings,” Stephen Miller, a top Trump adviser, told reporters Monday at the White House. “You will never find an example of any law enforcement threat or national security threat where you’ve achieved such a rapid 180.”

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