Speaker Mike Johnson invites Trump to deliver address to Congress

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Saturday invited President Donald Trump to deliver an address to Congress in March, a speech that would mark Trump’s first joint address to Congress of his second term.

In the letter, Johnson asked that Trump speak to both chambers of Congress on March 4 “to share your America First vision for our legislative future.”

“I eagerly await your response,” added Johnson, R-La.

Joint sessions or meetings of Congress are often reserved for the president or other heads of state to deliver remarks about their priorities, and they often happen a handful of times each year. Last year, there were three joint sessions, during which then-President Joe Biden, Japan’s former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress.

Presidents typically deliver their State of the Union addresses in February or March, though Johnson’s letter did not refer to a State of the Union address.

“America’s Golden Age has begun,” Johnson said in the letter. “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.”

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The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Trump has addressed joint sessions of Congress four other times, according to Senate records. Three of his previous speeches were for the annual State of the Union address, while his first speech was an address to Congress just over a month after he began his first term.

His most recent address to a joint session was in February 2020, about one month before the Covid-19 pandemic ground much of the country to a halt and the death toll began rapidly rising.

In that speech, Trump laid into his opponents as part of the “radical left” and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, an unorthodox move for the annual address. Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was sitting behind Trump, notably ripped up a copy of his speech moments after the president concluded his remarks.