President Trump and first lady Melania Trump have invited 13 people to attend the State of the Union as their guests, a diverse group described by the White House as representing "the very best of America."
The guests include Debra Bissell, Heather Armstrong, and Madison Armstrong, the daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter of a husband and wife allegedly shot last month in Reno, Nevada, by an undocumented immigrant; former opioid addict Ashley Evans; Roy James, plant manager of Mississippi's Vicksburg Forest Products; Homeland Security investigator Elvin Hernandez; Tom Wibberley, whose son Craig was killed in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole; and young brain cancer survivor Grace Eline.
Two guests were recently released from prison: Alice Johnson, whose sentence was commuted by Trump last year after lobbying by Kim Kardashian West, and Matthew Charles, sentenced in 1996 to 35 years in prison for drug dealing, but released last month as a result of the First Step Act. Two other guests survived last year's mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue: congregation member Judah Samet and Pittsburgh Police Department SWAT officer Timothy Matson. The final guest is 11-year-old Joshua Trump of Delaware, who says he's been bullied because he shares a last name with the president.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Apple bows to Trump administration pressure over ICE tracking appsIn the Spotlight It’s the latest company to capitulate to Trump’s demands
-
Can TrumpRx really lower drug prices?Today’s Big Question Pfizer’s deal with Trump sent drugmaker stocks higher
-
‘Every argument has a rational, emotional, and rhetorical component’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoffSpeed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsionSpeed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
-
Oregon sues to stop Trump military deploymentSpeed Read The president wants to send the National Guard into Portland
