Op-Ed: Tiffany Smiley: President Trump has a lot to brag about in his address tonight

Over the first month of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, Americans have witnessed substantial policy wins and clear directives aimed at helping Make America Great Again. Tonight, we will hear the president address a joint session of Congress for the first time in his second term, and he has a lot to discuss.

While Democrats scream and cry about a “constitutional crisis,” the fact is that President Trump’s administration has had one of the most impactful and successful starts in U.S. history.

The Trump administration has spent the first five weeks correcting the actions of the Biden administration over the last four years, and expanding on the successes of his first term as president. From arresting criminal illegal immigrants and securing our southern border, to signing the monumental Keeping Men Out Of Women’s Sports Executive Order, President Trump is enacting necessary measures and putting America back on top, brick by brick.

President Trump’s joint address will be an important opportunity for him to speak directly to the American people about the successes over his first few weeks in office. One early highlight of the second Trump administration is the effort to maximize efficiency and productivity through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Led by Elon Musk, DOGE is cleaning up government waste and bureaucracy that has wasted billions of dollars and thousands of hours of manpower. Take the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), for example. Instead of fulfilling its mission to help the most vulnerable, our taxpayer dollars were used to promote DEI in Serbia and promote transgender operas in Columbia.

Additionally, President Trump issued an order dismantling the Federal Executive Institute, which was designed to train bureaucrats in leadership. As a way to ensure that these massive cuts stay in place, DOGE ensures that agencies hire just one new employee for every four departing employees. As part of the administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce, around 75,000 federal employees have taken a buyout offer and will be cut off from all federal control access, in addition to the over 12,000 federal employees who have been fired.

In all, DOGE has saved Americans a reported $48.3 billion. Remember, it’s not just about saving the American taxpayer money — the American people are thrilled that we are no longer funding radical pet projects. As a mom of three boys, I know that parents want nothing more than to give our children a better life than we had ourselves.

However, the debt racked up by years of irresponsible spending is now being put on the shoulders of our children. As Musk explained from the Oval Office just weeks ago, the two ingredients that are necessary in order to cut the budget deficit in half are “competence and caring.” He is right; and, for the first time in four years, I believe that we have an administration that genuinely cares about the future generations of America. Under responsible spending and necessary budget cuts, I am confident that my children are set up for success.

Americans are sick of government inefficiency — that’s why we elected Donald Trump on November 5th. In October 2024, the economy ranked as the number one issue among voters, including concerns about government spending and the national debt. Simultaneously, 95 percent of undecided voters argued that having a plan for the national debt was important, most of whom ended up voting Republican in November 2024.

On the campaign trail in 2016, President Trump said “we’re gonna win so much, you may even get tired of winning.” Well, after this month, America has been winning, but we are not yet tired of it. Tonight, President Trump will discuss his achievements to Congress, providing a unique opportunity to showcase how his administration is cutting out inefficiencies and blatant waste within the federal government, one day at a time.

Democrats have been backed into a corner: they can either defend $48.3 billion in wasteful spending to the American people or agree that President Trump’s DOGE efforts have been beneficial.

Tiffany Smiley, former Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Washington, is a long-time veterans advocate and founder of Endeavor PAC, an organization that supports and elevates political outsiders who are tired of the status quo in Washington. She resides in Pasco, WA, with her husband and three sons.