President Donald Trump will on Tuesday deliver an address to Congress as his administration increases support for Israel at a tenuous moment in the Gaza ceasefire, and as Europe rallies around Ukraine after his Oval Office confrontation with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Armed with a loyal cabinet and Republican-led Congress that has largely fallen in line with his agenda and diversion from the party's traditional conservative direction, Mr Trump has taken sweeping executive action in his first month, which could transform the US at home and abroad.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said the address “will be big” and that he will “tell it like it is".
Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said to expect fireworks as Mr Trump makes a "triumphant" return to address Congress.
“In the first month of office he has accomplished so much that he could fill three hours … We can't wait to welcome him back to the chamber,” Mr Johnson told Fox News.
While the address is expected to largely centre on the domestic changes, including the purge of the federal workforce by billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, it also comes as his administration carries out landmark moves in foreign policy.
These include efforts to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel, after the US ally cut off humanitarian aid deliveries into the besieged Palestinian enclave.
And on Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio circumvented the congressional approval process to approve an arms sale to Israel worth about $3 billion.
Mr Trump has signalled a Palestine policy more in line with the Israeli right, including advocating the removal of Palestinians from Gaza, which experts have said amounts to ethnic cleansing, and announcing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington aims to “take over” the strip as it rebuilds from war.
Mr Netanyahu, meanwhile, said in a video address that he has accepted US Middle East Envoy Steve Witikoff's proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire for six weeks during Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday, praising Mr Trump as “the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House".
“And President Trump shows that friendship each and every day. He has shown it through his visionary plan for Gaza, this is a plan which Israel fully supports,” he said.
The address also comes days after an astonishing Oval Office media briefing in which Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Mr Zelenskyy over the war in his country, thwarting a proposed mineral deal and reinforcing the fear that Kyiv cannot count on the Trump White House to continue the support received under former president Joe Biden.
The change in tone puts the Trump administration more in line with Russia and President Vladimir Putin.
“The new US administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations. This largely coincides with our vision,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
European leaders have since rallied in support of Mr Zelenskyy. At a weekend gathering in London, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled a four-step European plan aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine.
Mr Trump will deliver his joint address on Tuesday at 9pm Washington time.
