Trump Outlines Seven Legislative Priorities in State of the Union Address

President Trump Presents Ambitious Congressional Agenda in State of the Union Address

President Donald Trump laid out a comprehensive legislative agenda during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, challenging Congress to act on seven key priorities ranging from prescription drug pricing to immigration reform and criminal justice.

In his address to lawmakers, Trump emphasized his “Trump Rx” initiative, urging Congress to codify his “Most-Favored-Nation” drug pricing policy. The plan, which aims to tie U.S. prescription drug prices to the lowest rates paid in other developed nations, has been a centerpiece of his healthcare agenda.

The administration recently launched the TrumpRx website, a federal platform where Americans can search for select brand-name medications at negotiated lower prices. The site reflects agreements with nine major pharmaceutical companies, including industry giants Amgen, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi, and Bristol Myers Squibb. The platform offers discounted prices on dozens of high-cost medications treating conditions such as diabetes, asthma, HIV, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, and cardiovascular disease.

“Codify it anyway,” Trump told lawmakers, acknowledging potential political resistance but emphasizing the policy’s importance to American consumers facing high prescription costs.

Housing affordability also featured prominently in the president’s address. Trump called on Congress to make permanent his executive order banning large Wall Street investment firms from purchasing single-family homes in bulk. After sharing the story of a Houston mother outbid on twenty homes by corporate investors, Trump declared, “We want homes for people, not for corporations.”

The housing market has seen unprecedented corporate investment in recent years, with large financial institutions acquiring residential properties at scale, a trend that many economists believe has contributed to rising home prices and decreasing affordability for first-time buyers.

Trump pivoted to government ethics reform by urging immediate passage of the “Stop Insider Trading Act.” The legislation would prohibit members of Congress from purchasing individual stocks and require advance public notice before sales. The bill, introduced by Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), represents a bipartisan concern about conflicts of interest in Congressional trading activities.

“If you want to trade stocks you should go to Wall Street, not to Capitol Hill,” Rep. Steil had previously stated, highlighting the measure as a way to restore public trust in Congress.

Immigration and border security dominated a significant portion of the address. Trump called for passage of the “Dalilah Law,” which would prohibit states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. The proposal stems from the story of five-year-old Dalilah Coleman, who was severely injured when an 18-wheel tractor-trailer operated by an unauthorized immigrant crashed into her family’s stopped vehicle at high speed in June 2024.

Trump described the child’s extensive injuries, including a three-week coma and six months of hospitalization, to underscore his call for stricter immigration enforcement.

The president also demanded “full and immediate restoration” of border and homeland security funding, criticizing Democrats for the Department of Homeland Security’s current partial shutdown resulting from funding disagreements. He framed the issue as essential to national security, arguing that proper funding was necessary to protect Americans from crime and terrorism.

In a pointed message to sanctuary jurisdictions, Trump urged Congress to implement “serious penalties” against public officials who impede the removal of undocumented immigrants with criminal records. The comments drew enthusiastic applause from Republican lawmakers while Democrats remained largely silent.

Criminal justice reform rounded out Trump’s legislative requests with a call for stricter sentencing laws for repeat violent offenders. He cited the case of Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who was fatally stabbed on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina last August. According to Trump, her assailant had been arrested over a dozen times previously but was released through cashless bail policies.

“She had escaped a brutal war, only to be slain by a hardened criminal set free to kill in America,” Trump said, using the tragic story to underscore his argument for keeping violent offenders incarcerated.

The comprehensive legislative agenda presented during the address highlights the administration’s priorities across multiple policy domains, from healthcare affordability to immigration enforcement and public safety. Whether Congress acts on these requests will likely depend on the political dynamics in both chambers in the coming months.