Trump makes last-minute demand for State of Union makeover: 'We gotta make changes'

President Donald Trump, who’s expected to make his first official State of the Union address Tuesday night, apparently called House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) with a last-minute demand for changes to the event, the speaker revealed on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference in the Capitol, Johnson told members of the press that he had received a phone call from Trump shortly after the U.S. men’s hockey team defeated Canada at the Olympics on Sunday.

“The president called me Sunday night, and he said: 'Mike, we gotta make some changes, we need some more guests!'” Johnson said.

“Okay, well, you know the State of the Union is a very well-attended event and the gallery is already full, and we have waiting lists of people who want to be there. I said: 'Mr. President, how many people are we talking about?' [He said:] 'I think the whole team.' So we're going to work out logistics and somehow, some way, we'll squeeze in the hockey players tonight.”

Much has been said of Trump’s first State of the Union address since retaking the White House.

Critics have noted that the Supreme Court’s ruling against the president’s tariffs and his administration’s botched handling of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein will weigh heavily on the address. Others have predicted that Trump may lash out at Supreme Court justices during his speech, and others still, that he may further “turn Americans off” by complaining about feeling unappreciated.

For their part, many Democratic lawmakers have decided to skip the address entirely, and instead host their own alternative State of the Union event in an unprecedented “break with tradition.”

“He’s made a mockery of the State of the Union speech and he doesn’t deserve an audience,” said Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-CT) recently, who will be joining Democrats for the alternative event, the “People’s State of the Union,” The New York Times reported.

“He’s going to tell 40 different lies, call Democrats names; he’s going to paper over his corruption, and I don’t feel like what he’s doing dignifies having Democrats there to cloak the speech in a veneer of respectability.”