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The White House has unveiled the guest list for Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress this evening.
The administration said the guests were “everyday Americans” and that Trump would tell their stories during his remarks in the House.
“You will see exceptional Americans with great stories,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Tuesday.
The invitees highlight key areas for the Trump administration including immigration, manufacturing, and culture war issues.
They include Allyson and Lauren Phillips of Woodstock, Georgia, the mother and sister of Laken Riley, a nursing student whose killing by an unauthorized immigrant.
Her death prompted conservatives to pass the Laken Riley Act in January, a stepped-up immigration enforcement bill targeting migrants with lower-level arrests for detention.
Alexis Nungaray of Houston, the mother of a 12-year-old killed by an illegal immigrant, and Border Patrol agent Robert Ortiz, also from Texas, round out the list.
Keeping with the safety focus, Stephanie Diller of Long Island, New York, will also be in the audience. Her husband, NYPD officer Jonathan Diller, was killed during a 2024 traffic stop by an individual with a past criminal record.
The family of Corey Comperatore, a firefighter who was killed during the 2024 assassination attempt against Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, will watch the speech, too.
The guest list also reflects the Trump administration’s focus on LGBTQ+ issues, which has involved denying government recognition to trans people and cutting off federal spending on gender-affirming care.
The administration has invited January Littlejohn of Tallahassee, a parent who sued a Florida school district for allegedly withholding information about her child’s gender identity transition, and a woman named Payton McNabb of Murphy, North Carolina, who the White House says suffered a brain injury while competing with a transgender woman in a high school volleyball game.
Other guests reflect some of First Lady Melania Trump’s policy initiatives around stopping bullying and supporting children, including Haley Ferguson, a former foster child and Tennessee university student on a scholarship from Trump’s Be Best organization, and 15-year-old Elliston Berry of Alredo, Texas, a victim of deepfake cyberbullying.
The White House has also invited Jeff Denard, an Alabama steel worker, and Marc Fogel, an American teacher who was freed from Russia last month, to attend.
DOGE mastermind Elon Musk is expected to take in Trump’s speech live as well.
During the remarks, Trump is expected to hit on hot button world issues in addition to his domestic priorities, including the recent pause of military aid to Ukraine and the 25 percent tariffs against Mexico and Canada that took effect today.
