Trump, first lady, member of Congress invite guests to speech

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President Donald Trump will deliver his primetime address, similar to a State of the Union, Tuesday evening, to a room packed with lawmakers, family members and a variety of special guests.

Around 200 to 300 guests are expected to file into the House chamber for the speech. Of those, about two dozen received an invitation from the president or First Lady Melania Trump, while several others are there at the request of members of Congress.

Here are some of the names and faces expected in the crowd Tuesday evening.

President, first lady invite fallen Americans’ family

The president and first lady extended invitations to Tuesday’s address to a variety of “everyday Americans.” Included on this list are the family members of Corey Comperatore and Laken Riley.

Comperatore was a 50-year-old firefighter shot and killed in July during an attempted assassination on Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. His widow, Helen, and daughters, Allyson and Kaylee, will be in the audience for Trump’s address.

Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia, killed last February while out for a run. Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally in 2022, was found guilty in November for her murder. Riley’s mother, Allyson, and sister, Lauren, were invited by Trump to hear his speech in person.

Who else is on the first family’s guest list?

Other guests invited by the president include:

  • Jeff Denard: A steel plant worker, volunteer firefighter and foster parent from Decatur, Alabama.
  • Stephanie Diller: The widow of Jonathan Diller, a New York City police officer killed during a traffic stop last March. The suspect in her husband’s case had prior arrests.
  • Marc and Malphine Fogel: An American school teacher, Marc, who was recently released after more than three years in Russian custody, and his mother, Malphine.
  • January Littlejohn: A Tallahassee mother who sued the local school board for allegedly allowing her 13-year-old daughter to transition without her consent.
  • Payton McNabb: A former high school athlete from Murphy, N.C., who suffered a brain injury after a transgender female athlete spiked a ball at her in a volleyball match in 2022.
  • Alexis Nungaray: The Houston mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was killed last summer. Two undocumented men from Venezuela have been charged with her murder.
  • Roberto Ortiz: a border patrol agent from Weslaco, Texas.

The first lady also extended invitations to a former foster child and recipient of a scholarship by Melania Trump’s foundation, as well as a 15-year-old “deepfake” pornography victim from Texas.

Democrats use their invitations to protest Trump

Several members of the minority party say they plan to bring guests directly impacted by Trump’s second term policies, including federal workers recently fired as a result of his and Elon Musk’s government downsize efforts.

Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., will bring 20-year-old army veteran Luke Graziani who was employed at a veterans hospital in New York and was “suddenly laid off” two weeks ago, according to a press release.  And Sen. Tina Smith has invited a Minnesota park ranger recently and “unjustly fired.”

Rep. Sara Jacobs of California announced her guest, Kianna Shlemon, a small business owner who Jacobs said will be hurt by Trump’s recently implemented tariffs against Canada and Mexico.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., extended an invite to a woman whose child relies on Medicaid, amid questions of cuts to the federal health program.

Pelosi’s guest, Elena Hung, is the founder and executive director of Little Lobbyists, a group promoting Medicaid’s assistance to children with complex medical needs and disabilities. Her daughter, Xiomara, was born with multiple serious medical conditions and relies on Medicaid, Pelosi said in a statement.

“At a time when Medicaid is under assault by those who seek to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations, I am honored that Xiomara’s story will be told through Elena’s attendance as my guest to this year’s address to a joint session of Congress,” Pelosi said.

Contributing: Bart Jansen and Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY

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