Johnson Invites Trump to Address Joint Session of Congress

House Speaker-elect Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks after winning the House Speaker election during the first sitting of the 119th Congress in Washington on Jan. 3, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has extended an invitation to President Donald Trump to deliver a customary post-inauguration speech to lawmakers on Capitol Hill during a joint session of Congress that, while not officially a State of the Union address, is expected to have similar pomp and significance.

Johnson’s invitation was issued in the form of a letter to the White House dated Jan. 25, asking Trump to share his “America First vision for our legislative future” at a Joint Session of Congress on March 4.

“America’s Golden Age has begun,” Johnson wrote. “Thanks to your strong leadership and bold action in the first days of your presidency, the United States is already experiencing a resurgence of patriotism, unity, and hope for the future.”

Trump is expected to accept the invitation, although there was no immediate response from the White House.

The event, though not classified as a State of the Union, follows a tradition since President Ronald Reagan where newly inaugurated presidents deliver speeches that are marked by comparable formality and ceremony. Such speeches are an opportunity for presidents to outline their vision for the nation at the start of their term, and to rally bipartisan support for their agenda.

Reagan’s 1981 address set the tone for this modern custom, focusing on economic recovery and national renewal during a time of economic stagnation and inflation. The priorities Reagan outlined in his speech included the promise of tax cuts, deregulation, as well as measures to curb inflation while encouraging job growth.

“All of us are aware of the punishing inflation which has, for the first time in 60 years, held to double-digit figures for 2 years in a row,” Reagan said at the time. “Unless we act forcefully—and now—the economy will get worse.”

In 2009, President Barack Obama used his address to rally lawmakers and the nation in the wake of the Great Recession.

“The state of our economy is a concern that rises above all others,” Obama said at the time. “And rightly so. If you haven’t been personally affected by this recession, you probably know someone who has,” he continued, while calling the moment a time to “jumpstart job creation, re-start lending, and invest in areas like energy, health care, and education that will grow our economy.”

In 2017, Trump’s post-inaugural address focused on the theme of national revival and the promise of a new chapter of “American greatness,” with a promise to roll back government regulation, reshore manufacturing jobs, make communities safer, and tighten border security.

“I will not allow the mistakes of recent decades past to define the course of our future,” Trump said at the time. “Dying industries will come roaring back to life. Heroic veterans will get the care they so desperately need. Our military will be given the resources its brave warriors so richly deserve.”