Local lawmakers reactions to President Trump’s Speech

Lawmakers and officials from around the region are reacting President Trump’s first address to congress of his second term.

Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN 8th District)

“After President Trump’s powerful speech tonight, one thing is clear: the renewal of the American Dream is underway. President Trump has accomplished more in one month in office than most Presidents accomplish in four years, and there were plenty of achievements to celebrate tonight. Whether it’s securing the border, stopping the flow of fentanyl into our country, saving women’s sports, cutting government waste, and restoring peace around the globe – I am grateful for all that the President has done so far to get this country back on track.

“As the President continues to steer this nation forward, I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle can set partisan politics aside and join us in enacting the President’s agenda over the next four years. The American people delivered the President a mandate and we have a historic opportunity ahead of us to make tax cuts permanent and unlock other policies that will make our country stronger than ever before. I am confident that we can get the job done and continue to deliver for the American people.”

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

“Tonight, we heard more of the same from the President: pointing fingers and playing politics, not outlining real solutions that help Wisconsin families and businesses. My phones have been ringing off the hook with Wisconsinites who want answers from President Trump – and tonight he did nothing to ease their very real fears about children and seniors having their Medicaid ripped away, veterans losing their jobs, and costs skyrocketing from a trade war. I have always said that I will work with anyone if it means doing right by Wisconsin, but instead of providing real solutions to grow our Made in Wisconsin economy and lower costs, President Trump laid out his plan to sell out working families, veterans, and seniors to pad the pockets of people like Elon Musk.” 

Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming

“President Trump has embodied ‘promises made, promises kept.’ In just over a month since taking office, President Trump has secured the southern border, slashed millions of wasteful spending, and stood up to Hamas. Americans are grateful for President Trump delivering his America First agenda and renewing the American Dream.”

Minnesota DFL Executive Director Heidi Kraus Kaplan

“By doubling down on an agenda that Minnesotans are already fed up with, Donald Trump is reminding Minnesotans why they rejected him in November. As he pushes forward with a budget plan that would rip health insurance away from thousands of Minnesotans who rely on Medicaid and a trade war that will raise the cost of everything from food to electricity, Donald Trump is showing Minnesota his true colors. Minnesota Republicans will be held accountable for rubberstamping Donald Trump’s plans to cut taxes for the ultra-rich while shredding programs that support working-class Minnesotans.”

WDIO also spoke with a handful of federal lawmakers in the hours before the speech to learn what they expected.

Sen. Tina Smith (DFL-MN)

“One of the things I’m going to be very interested in is how President Trump talks about tariffs.(…) We are all reeling under the news of these across-the-board tariffs against Canada and Mexico and additional tariffs on China and the impact. This is basically like a tax increase on Minnesotans and it has a huge impact on us and it’s going to raise costs for folks in my state. So, I’m very interested to see how he can possibly justify this action, which is creating so much chaos. You can see it in the stock market today. But I also really am going to be looking for him to give us some explanation for these random and chaotic firings across the federal government.”

Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN 8th District)

“I expect the president to really be optimistic about our country and where he wants to lead our nation. Within the first hundred days, he’s made good on his promises that he made on the campaign trail. And the very first thing he did was secure a border literally on day one, hour one. There’s ninety seven percent less illegals coming across the border than there were the first day he took office. And and this president recognizes not only the southwest border that we have to secure, but the northern border as well. I mean, the terrorists that’s coming over the northern border, terrorism is ten times more likely to come over the northern border. And he recognizes that. And and I truly believe that he’s going to he’s going to secure the border permanently, not just for a few months, or it’s going to be a permanent secure border, which makes it a secure nation and will make our communities much, much safer.”

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

“I want to hear something that remotely resembles accountability. Because look what we’ve seen in the first few weeks of this presidential administration. We’ve seen a president who has flouted Congress. I think about the checks and balances. It’s Congress that passes budgets, passes appropriation bills, passes laws, and it’s to be the president who implements them and administers them. And that’s not happening right now. And there are unelected and unaccountable and there are unelected and unaccountable figures like Elon Musk, who are taking a sledgehammer approach to cutting and firing employees and cutting and eliminating contracts.”

Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI 7th District)

“President Trump is following through on the commitments he made to the American people during the campaign and why they voted for him on November 5th. Secure borders, a safer America, respect on a world stage, getting back to energy independence, having a strong economy. I hope those are the things that the American people say: ‘You know what? There’s real hope there. We may not be there yet. He’s only been in office for a month. He’s inherited some things that he’s going to have to fix.’ But I’m hopeful that people will be talking about: ‘You know what? I think we’re going to get to a better place as a country’, and he lays out that vision.”