President Donald Trump will defend his use of tariffs, propose a new natural gas pipeline and move to ramp up production of critical minerals and rare earths in the US in his primetime address to Congress, seeking to convince voters to support his push to remake the US economy.

“Whatever they tariff us, we tariff them,” Trump will say in the speech, according to excerpts shared by the White House. “Whatever they tax us, we tax them. If they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market.”

The speech comes at a pivotal moment, with data showing new strains on the economy as factory activity stagnates, inflation simmers, consumer confidence ebbs, and stocks lag behind equity markets in other countries. But Trump plans to argue that he’s taking steps to address persistent consumer concerns — from egg prices to energy costs — while expanding critical industries.

The proposals include what Trump is set to describe as “a gigantic natural gas pipeline in Alaska” that will be a joint project with Japan, South Korea, and other nations at a price tag of “trillions of dollars.”

The president is speaking just hours after hitting top trading partners Canada and Mexico with 25% tariffs, and doubling levies on the world’s second largest economy China to 20% — moves which risk exacerbating those pressures.

Stocks swung wildly, with the S&P 500 Index closing at its lowest level since before Trump’s election last year. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hinted the administration might announce a pathway for tariff relief for Mexican and Canadian goods covered by a free trade agreement as soon as tomorrow.

In his second term, Trump has moved rapidly to implement his policies with a slew of executive actions that are reshaping the US government and its economic and security ties with the world.

The president is poised to lay out plans to end the war in Ukraine days after a public bust-up with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy that stunned allies. Trump is pressuring the war-ravaged country to agree to a peace deal with Russia.

Zelenskiy was in Washington last week to sign a deal allowing the US to benefit from developing Ukraine’s natural resources, which Trump has cast as necessary to repay US taxpayers for their support and to lay the groundwork for ending the conflict. US officials were rushing to revive the deal, with the goal of Trump announcing an agreement as soon Tuesday’s speech, people familiar with the matter said.

MUSK’S DOGE CUTS

Billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk, who is overseeing an effort to slash the federal government’s workforce and spending through the Department of Government Efficiency, was in the chamber Tuesday.

Those moves have sparked consternation throughout Washington and concerns even from some Republicans over its scope. Democrats will also highlight the effort, with some lawmakers inviting former government workers who lost their jobs.

Trump’s appearance before both chambers of Congress also presents a crucial opportunity to press Republicans on legislative action. Republicans are grappling with how to extend expiring tax cuts from Trump’s first term, approve additional benefits he promised during the campaign, and his calls to balance the budget. Trump will say that he’s transmitting a “detailed funding request” seeking additional resources to carry out his ramped up deportations of undocumented migrants and to complete his signature border wall that he wants lawmakers to immediately approve.

Trump is also expected to discuss the Israel-Hamas War after a six-week truce ended with both sides still divided over how to move toward an open-ended halt to the fighting. Trump’s role as a broker, though, has been hampered by his proposal for the US to redevelop Gaza into a Middle Eastern “Riviera.”

CULTURAL ISSUES

The address is also likely to veer into controversial subjects Trump seized upon in last year’s campaign, including rolling back LGBTQ rights, in particular the participation of transgender women in sports, and crime.

First lady Melania Trump’s guests include a former high school volleyball player injured in a game with a transgender athlete, and family of Laken Riley, a student killed by an undocumented migrant.

The state of the economy and the tariff fallout, though, provide the backdrop for Tuesday’s remarks, with polls showing voters want Trump to do more to tamp down inflation. Trump aides brushed off the market selloff as growing pains to address what they cast as imbalanced trade flows and bring manufacturing jobs back to the US, but the escalating trade war’s damage threatens to spread.

Michigan Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin is delivering the party’s response following Trump’s speech.