Read the full text of Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s prepared remarks for her 2025 Democratic response to Trump’s speech to Congress, as released.
Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin in her brief Democratic response to President Trump’s joint address to Congress warned that Mr. Trump, in the his first few weeks of his second presidential term, has taken «reckless» approaches to managing the U.S. economy and foreign affairs.
Here’s the full text of her remarks, which ran just 10 minutes, compared to Mr. Trump’s speech, which was an hour and 40 minutes long:
Hi everyone. I’m Elissa Slotkin. I’m honored to have the opportunity to speak tonight. It’s late — so I promise to be a lot shorter than what you just watched.
I won’t take it personally if you’ve never heard of me. I’m the new senator from the great state of Michigan, where I grew up. I’ve been in public service my entire life, because I happened to be in New York City on 9/11 when the twin towers came down. Before the smoke cleared, I knew I wanted a life in national security.
I was recruited by the CIA and did three tours in Iraq, alongside the military. In between, I worked at the White House under President Bush and President Obama, two very different leaders who both believed that America is exceptional.
You can find that same sense of patriotism here in Wyandotte, Michigan, where I am tonight. It’s a working-class town just south of Detroit. President Trump and I both won here in November. It might not seem like it, but plenty of places like this still exist all across the United States – places where people believe that if you work hard, and play by the rules, you should do well and your kids do better.
It reminds me of how I grew up. My dad was a lifelong Republican, my mom a lifelong Democrat. But it was never a big deal. Because we had shared values that were bigger than any one party.
We just went through another fraught election season. Americans made it clear that prices are too high and that government needs to be more responsive to their needs. America wants change. But there is a responsible way to make change, and a reckless way. And, we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country, and as a democracy.
So that’s what I’m going to lay out tonight.
Because whether you’re in Wyandotte or Wichita, most Americans share three core beliefs: That the Middle Class is the engine of our country. That strong national security protects us from harm. And that our democracy, no matter how messy, is unparalleled and worth fighting for.
Let’s start with the economy.
Michigan literally invented the Middle Class: the revolutionary idea that you could work at an auto plant and afford the car you were building. That’s the American Dream. And in order to expand and protect the Middle Class, we have to do a few, basic things:
We need to bring down the price of things we spend the most money on: Groceries. Housing. Healthcare. Your car.
We need to make more things in America with good-paying, union jobs — and bring our supply chains back home from places like China.
We need to give American businesses the certainty they need to invest and create the jobs of the future.
And we need a tax system that’s fair for people who don’t happen to make a billion dollars.
Look, President Trump talked a big game on the economy, but it’s always important to read the fine print. So: do his plans actually help Americans get ahead?
Not even close.
President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends.
