Who are the guests at Trump's speech to Congress?

President Donald Trump’s joint address is tonight and many public and political figures are expected to attend.

It’s not officially called the State of the Union, a title reserved for a president’s annual address to Congress after at least a full year in the administration. But it is an opportunity for Trump to lay out his priorities for the year.

Who will attend the address? 

Big picture view:

Members of the U.S. Supreme Court and Trump’s Cabinet will attend. Elon Musk, the billionaire businessman who Trump has tapped as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will also be there. 

Other invited guests

The White House said Tuesday that First Lady Melania has extended the invitation to several "everyday Americans" with "incredible stories." 

Some of her guests include:

• The Comperatore Family from Sarver, Penn.: Helen, Allyson, and Kaylee are the widow and daughters of Corey Comperatore, a firefighter who was killed by the gunman who also shot President Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July 2024.
• Allyson and Lauren Phillips from Woodstock, Ga.: Allyson and Lauren are the mother and sister of Laken Riley, a young female nursing student who was murdered by an immigrant who was in the country without legal authority during a morning jog in February 2024. 
• Marc and Malphine Fogel from Butler, Penn.: Marc is an American history teacher who came home last month after years of detention in Russia. His mother, Malphine, is 95 years old. 
• Elliston Berry from Aledo, Texas: Elliston is a 15-year-old who was the victim of computer-generated deepfakes created by a student at her school.

Others include a steel plant worker, a U.S. Border Patrol agent and several other family members who have been the victims of crime. 

Trump will also call out to some "special guests" during the address, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday.

Other invited guests include: 

• Elon Musk
• Ben Shapiro: Political commentator and media personality
• Matt Walsh: Political commentator and podcast host
• Noa Argamani: A woman who was taken hostage by Hamas after the terror group’s attack on Israel in October 2023. 
• Olivia Hayes: Young widow whose husband was killed by an undocumented immigrant in a drunken driving incident. 
• Tom Homan: Former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director
• Ben Dell: Commonwealth LNG chair
• Frank Lima: A Los Angeles City fire captain
• Andy Howe: Sheriff of Meade County in South Dakota

The other side:

Several Democratic members attending the speech are planning to bring federal workers who have been laid off in recent weeks to protest the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) recent efforts to downsize federal agencies.

They also invited guests who would be harmed by steep federal budget cuts to Medicaid and other programs.

Why isn’t this called the State of the Union?

FILE - President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on February 5, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Dig deeper:

By tradition, a State of the Union address is intended as a look back on the prior year. Trump just took office — albeit for a second time — on Jan. 20, so he’s only been in office this go-round for just over a month.

Instead, newly inaugurated presidents typically use their first joint congressional addresses to look forward, setting a tone for their legislative agenda. 

Origin of the joint address

The backstory:

President Ronald Reagan gave the very first joint address shortly after he was sworn in for his first term in 1981.

Each president who has come after him has done the same.