Trump 2nd term live updates: Trump defends tariffs, declines to comment on Ukraine aid

President Donald Trump has been blocking off an hour or so of time most days this past week to prepare for his joint address to Congress, which will take place Tuesday evening in Washington, D.C.

A room was set up in the East Wing of the White House on Monday, consisting of a podium with teleprompters on each side for him to rehearse, sources told ABC News.

Trump was joined by senior White House staff during these rehearsals — specifically White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and his top speechwriter, Ross Worthington, according to sources. Vince Haley, the head of Trump's Domestic Policy Council, is also deeply involved in speech prep, they said.

The speech is not done; it continues to undergo revisions, sources said.

Trump is not expected to be seen publicly on Tuesday until he leaves the White House for his speech. He will continue to prepare for it from mid-afternoon onward, ahead of the planned address at 9 p.m. ET.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Rachel Scott

In a video posted to X on Monday night, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell outlined the Department of Government Efficiency's initial findings of "wasteful spending" at the Department of Defense.

He detailed findings of some $80 million in so-called waste, attributed primarily to diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as well as initiatives related to climate change.

Among them were a $6 million University of Montana program to strengthen democracy, $1.6 million to the University of Florida to study climate on the African Sahel and a $1.9 million Air Force program on DEI transformation and training.

Calling such programs a "distraction" from the DOD's mission, Parnell said that the process of finding and trimming such programs "will make us more lethal and that means that our war fighters on the battlefield will be more successful."

The video was shared on the same day that DOGE updated the "Savings" page of its website for the third time, showing a pattern of changing and deleting contracts that it had previously listed as having saved hundreds of thousands of dollars to billions of dollars in federal money, after media outlets and others publicly questioned details of the contracts.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez and Soo Rin Kim

The theme of President Donald Trump's address to the joint session of Congress will be "Renewal of the American Dream," a White House official told ABC News.

The White House official said the president will focus on four parts: the president's record thus far, the economy, border security and the president's plans for "peace around the globe."

The president will push Congress to pass more border security funding for deportations and the border wall, the official said.

On foreign policy, the president is expected to touch on his efforts to help broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. He is also expected to focus on his administration's efforts to bring home hostages amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

A statement from the White House said, “President Trump has accomplished more in one month than any president in four years – and the renewal of the American Dream is well underway. In his Joint Address to Congress, President Trump will celebrate his extraordinarily successful first month in office while outlining his bold, ambitious, and common sense vision for the future. President Trump’s Joint Address will be MUST-SEE TV.”

-ABC News' Rachel Scott

Trump directed his administration to "pause" military aid to Ukraine after the contentious meeting in the Oval Office on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, two White House officials told ABC News.

A White House official told ABC News that Trump has been clear that he is focused on peace, adding, "We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution."

-ABC News' Rachel Scott and Michelle Stoddart