Trump to take his attacks on rivals to prime time – with plans to highlight victims of violent criminal immigrants, crow about pulling out of Obama trade deal, and run through litany of ‘promises kept'

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President Donald Trump plans will use the opportunity of a prime time address and a captive audience of Republicans and Democrats at a joint session of Congress to tout his accomplishments, while brandishing a staple from his campaign speeches by showcasing victims of illegal immigrants.

But unlike during his campaign events, which were packed with Trump hat-wearing enthusiasts, a substantial portion of the attendees will disagree with him.

Several Democrats are bringing as guests children brought to the country illegally as children.  

In a sign of the tough reception Trump could get, Democratic New York Representative Eliot Engel said he is abandoning his decades-long tradition of staking out a seat on the aisle to give a televised handshake to the president.

OPTIMISTIC: President Trump plans to deliver an 'optimistic' speech to a joint session of Congress – but will he settle a few scores?

'Unfortunately, since January 20th, the new administration has shown no interest in working with the Congress on both sides to tackle problems, including Russia’s unlawful interference in last year’s election,' Engel said. 

“That’s why I’ve decided not to stand on the aisle of the House chamber to shake the president’s hand during this joint session of Congress, as I have done in the past through Democratic and Republican administrations alike,' he sad, The Hill reported.

Democrats are also bringing Muslim community leaders, and a physician from Flint, Michigan and the mother of a victim of at the Pulse nightclub shooting, Politico reported. 

Just as President Obama used his 2009 address to call for major changes in health law, Trump plans to demand a repeal of Obamacare – notwithstanding deep divisions among Republicans in Congress over how to replace it.

One theme of Trump's speech – that 'help is on the way' – is a line that President Obama used in 2008

'We have to understand, Obamacare has been a disaster. It's way out of control, it doesn't work,' Trump told Fox News Tuesday morning.

'We're coming out with a health care plan that I think will be terrific. It will be very inclusive and I think it's going to do, really, what people are wanting it to do,' he said, offering no specifics.

'But I'll be talking about that. I'll be talking about the military. I'll be talking about the border.'

Trump forecast his focus on crimes carried out by illegal immigrants – rather than the thornier issue of how to handle people who were brought here illegally by their parents as children, or how to remove the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants who live in the country.

'And remember this, on the border and throughout our country, we're getting the bad ones out, the bad people – gang members, drug lords, in some cases, murderers,' Trump said.

The widow of conservative judge Antonin Scalia and the wives of two police officers killed by an illegal immigrant will be among the guests as Donald Trump makes his first address in Congress today.  

Jessica Davis and Susan Oliver, whose husbands, California police officers Michael Davis Jr and Danny Oliver, were killed in the line of duty in 2014 by a man living in the country illegally, will be seated in the president's box along with first lady Melania Trump.

Trump has also invited Jamiel Shaw, Sr, whose son was shot and killed by gang member Pedro Espinoza, who was in the country illegally in 2008.

Shaw spoke at many of Trump's campaign rallies and delivered a searing speech about his son at the Republican convention.

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The men are the namesakes of a bill aimed at stricter immigration law enforcement.

Trump's first address to a Joint Session of Congress is shaping up like a Tuesday night campaign rally – without the Rolling Stones music, broadsides about 'crooked Hillary' or chants of 'Build that wall.'

The president plans to crow about his 'promises kept' as well as remind Americans of his 'promises made' in the State of the Union-style speech.

What isn't yet clear is whether the president plans to bash his political opponents during a televised prime-time address – or whether he will find a common foe by railing against the media, whom he has termed an 'enemy of the American people.'

'I think it's fair to say that this is a look forward,' said an administration official previewing the speech, asked whether Trump would make partisan attacks on his 'enemies.' 

Although they don't control any branches of government, many of Trump's Democratic rivals will be in the House chamber, as will Republicans like Arizona Republican Senator John McCain who he has tangled with during the contentious start to his presidency.  

An administration official previewing the event wouldn't say whether there will be specific language reaching out to Democrats or former opponents, only that it would be an 'optimistic speech.'

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One theme shared by the administration sounds remarkably like what President Obama said in November of 2008 during the financial crisis. 

'Americans have been waiting for help from their leaders for too long. During his speech the president will let them know that help is finally on the way,' said an administration official.

As he does in his frequent appearances with corporate CEOs, Trump plans to tout commitments by corporations to hire American workers.

He is expected to reference companies like Ford, Boeing, and General Motors who have announced hiring commitments.  

The White House says a trip to promote the speech this week is likely – though it isn't publicly revealing the plan yet.

'For the most part this is going to be a speech about economic opportunity and also protecting the American people,' an administration official told reporters at a White House preview of the speech, notwithstanding Trump's  recent complaints about anonymous sources.

'We spend billions in the Middle East, but we have potholes all over the country,' Trump said Monday, previewing one area of focus. 'We're going to start spending on infrastructure big.'

Senator John McCain of Arizona arrives for U.S. President Barack Obama's speech about health care reform during a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009

White House press secretary Sean Spicer indicated that Trump doesn't believe the session is the forum to address his controversial immigration order, which remains held up in the courts.

Trump's latest budget proposals – which include a $54 billion boost to the Pentagon and slashing cuts to domestic agencies – is certain to antagonize Democrats. 

'This is a really bad path that we have seen so far and I don't even know if the president really understands the ramifications of the cuts that have been proposed,' House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said at the National Press Club Monday. 

The theme is undoubtedly inclusive: 'Renewal of the American spirit' and 'an optimistic vision for all Americans.'

Trump drew on some of his ideas from the speech from his flurry of meetings with CEOs and other groups in the first weeks of his administration.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a press conference with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (L) at the National Press Club on February 27. They will be on hand for Trump's address

President Trump is planning to tout his 'promises kept'

An official mentioned meetings with health care CEOs, law enforcement, coal miners, union representatives, and 'other front line workers.'

'Those conversations have influenced this speech,' said an administration official.

'For the most part this is going to be a speech about economic opportunity and also protecting American citizens.'

With no significant legislative accomplishments under his belt, Trump plans to highlight his flurry of executive orders and executive actions.

Trump plans to 'go through a list of those items.'

One that he will tout is his withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership – a multi-nation trade deal negotiated by President Obama that didn't get through Congress, but nevertheless had significant Republican support. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, speaking beside Pelosi at the National Press Club Monday, noted that the TPP had been a dead deal, long before anything Trump had done.  

The White House said a portion of the speech would deal with foreign policy, but the only part they previewed were cuts in foreign aid meant to help fund the defense buildup.

Aides who told a packed White House briefing room about the speech provided almost no substantive details, but said it would be 'grounded firmly in solving real problems for real people.'

Trump plans to carry on the tradition of inviting guests to sit in the presidential box, but the White House didn't make the names available early Monday evening. 

The president is planning to bring a checklist of election-year promises with him, according to a White House aide, hoping Congress will grant him a long enough leash to fulfill them.

The menu includes a massive Pentagon buildup that would put U.S. military spending at a level higher than the next seven countries combined.

Trump is expected to renew his pledge to destroy the ISIS terror army, a line written to generate standing ovations from Democrats and Republicans, and then tie it to a defense of his controversial travel ban – one of several moments when television viewers will see the Democrats sit on their hands.

The energy and controversy of the president's campaign will both come with him, as he renews his pledges to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and dramatically scale back the pace of illegal immigration.

Trump also plans to highlight his tax and regulatory cuts, according to a White House official, arguing that more free-flowing capital and less uncertainty for small businesses will help the economy grow.

And he will also ask lawmakers to green-light the first tranche of funds for a $1 trillion infrastructure rebuilding plan – including money for bridges, tunnels, airports, public utilities, railroads and highways.

President Donald Trump delivers his first speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, when he will lay out his big defense boost and agency spending cuts

With no major legislative record to tout weeks into his administration, Trump will run through executive actions he has taken

Wags on Capitol Hill have fretted about what may amount to a repeat of the Obama-era economic stimulus plan, with tax credits handed out to private developers and hard dollars going to finance public works projects.

Trump is sure to press Congress for a repeal of the flagging Obamacare medical insurance overhaul experiment, along with a quick replacement.

And he will outline the logic behind cuts – not the customary reductions in the rate of growth – of domestic agencies where be believes the nation should economize or excise counterproductive programs.

The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to be particularly hard-hit.

The top Democrats in Congress, Schumer and Pelosi, previewed part of the Democratic rebuttal on Monday.

They debuted a two-part argument: Trump hasn't accomplished much – and the things he has accomplished haven't helped his voters.

'Tomorrow, 40 days after his inauguration, President Trump and the Republican Congress will have not lifted a finger to create jobs or raise wages for hard working American families,' Pelosi argued.   

Instead, she said, he's 'put Wall Street first,' by putting an assortment of ex-bankers in his cabinet and 'tried to make America sick again,' she pointed out, referring to the Republicans' plan to dismantle Obamacare.

Referring to the announced EPA cuts, Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, said Americans, with certainty, would 'breath dirtier air and drink dirtier water.' 

'But in any event, we look forward to seeing what the president will say tomorrow night,' Pelosi said. 'If it's anything like his inaugural address I think it will be a sad evening for our country.'

Tuesday's speech follows the format of 'State of the Union' addresses, but the late-winter event only takes that name when a president has been in office for a year or more.

Still, the event will have all the trappings of the annual progress report from the White House. 

Former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear will give the Democrats' response after Trump delivers his address.

The ex-red state executive was tapped because the Affordable Care Act worked very well in his state. 

'You've got 500,00 Kentuckians who have health care because of the Affordable Care Act and Steve Beshear's effort,' said his former chief of staff Jim Cauly to McClatchy. 'He can speak to that in a way that's authentic.'  

Members of Congress often bring guests who are symbolic of their pet projects or political beefs with the president, hoping to use them to illustrate their agreement or disagreement – usually the latter – with a sitting president.

Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate, plans to bring an illegal-immigrant medical student.

Rep. Keith Ellison is taking Tom Perez, the former Labor secretary who defeated him on Saturday to win the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.

Far-left Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren is bringing an Iraqi refugee who recently became a U.S. citizen.

Far-right Republican congressman Louie Gohmert of Texas will give conservative Fox news Channel host Sean Hannity his extra ticket.

Other GOPers will bring widows of murdered police officers and uniformed members of the U.S. military.

Democrats' ranks will be swelled by Muslim community leaders, abortion clinic advocates and parents of gun crime victims.