Melania Trump’s congressional address guests include Comperatore family, Marc Fogel, mother and sister of Laken Riley
A teenage girl bullied with AI-generated deepfakes, the family of the firefighter killed during the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the mother and sister of slain student Laken Riley are among those headed to the US Capitol Tuesday evening where President Donald Trump is set to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress.
Trump’s remarks will both touch on his accomplishments of the first six weeks of his presidency and offer a preview of upcoming priorities as he has reimagined the use of executive authority, shifted the role of the US in the world and transformed the size and scope of the federal government. The theme of Tuesday’s address, according to the White House, is “the renewal of the American dream.”
And the guest list for first lady Melania Trump’s box could offer a blueprint for what to expect from the speech. Each guest has a connection to a Trump administration policy.
The first lady’s 15 guests represent key administration accomplishments – from an executive order banning transgender women from women’s sports to its efforts to bring home Marc Fogel, an American who was wrongfully imprisoned by Russia. They also represent issues the administration has vowed to tackle, including a push by the first lady to pass a bill to protect Americans from AI-generated deepfake and revenge pornography to the economy and border security.
“These men, women, and families come from all different walks of life with incredible stories about the disaster wrought by the previous administration, and the historic achievements President Trump has already enacted,” the White House said in a statement.
Here’s who to watch for during Tuesday’s speech:
Helen, Allyson, and Kaylee Comperatore, the widow and daughters of Corey Comperatore, a firefighter shot and killed during the attempted assassination of Trump, will be among the first lady’s guests. Corey Comperatore died trying to protect his family, according to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, shielding them from bullets that ultimately took his life.
There will be multiple guests representing Trump’s border security policies, including Alexis Nungaray, the mother of a 12-year-old, Jocelyn, who was murdered when she went on a walk to a Houston convenience store. Two undocumented immigrants from Venezuela have been charged with her murder.
Allyson and Lauren Phillips, the mother and sister of Laken Riley, will also be in attendance. Riley, a 22-year old Georgia student, was killed last year while out for a run. An undocumented migrant from Venezuela was convicted and sentenced to life without parole. Trump’s first major legislative victory, the Laken Riley Act, requires detention of undocumented migrants charged with certain crimes.
And Roberto Ortiz, an agent with Customs and Border Protection, “has been shot at repeatedly by cartel members while performing his duties near the Rio Grande River in Texas,” according to the White House.
The Trumps will welcome Stephanie Diller, the widow of Jonathan Diller, a New York City Police Department officer who was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Queens in March 2024 . During the 2024 campaign, then-candidate Trump attended a memorial service for Diller.
“We have to get back to law and order,” he said after the service.
Trump is likely to highlight his executive action to deliver on a political issue central to his 2024 campaign, banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports, during his remarks Tuesday.
The first lady will host Payton McNabb, “a former high school athlete who had her dreams of competing in college sports crushed in a September 2022 volleyball match when a biological man playing on the opposing women’s team spiked the volleyball at Payton’s face, leaving her with a traumatic brain injury,” according to the White House.
The first lady is also hosting January Littlejohn, “a mother and parents’ rights advocate who sued the School Board of Leon County after school officials at her daughter’s middle school socially transitioned her daughter to a different sexual identity without January and her husband’s knowledge or permission,” per the White House.
Marc Fogel, an American teacher wrongfully detained for more than three years in Russia, returned to the US last month through a deal negotiated by President Trump, Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, “and the President’s advisers,” according to a statement from national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Joined by his 95-year-old mother Malphine, Fogel’s release marked the start of US talks with Russia as the president has sought to position himself as a dealmaker to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine. Trump has subsequently suspended aid to war-torn Ukraine.
The president is likely to highlight kitchen table issues and domestic manufacturing during his address on Tuesday, coinciding with planned tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China.
Jeff Denard will be among the Trumps’ guests. Denard, per the White House, “has spent nearly three decades working at a steel plant owned by Nucor Steel. His good paying, middle class job at the steel plant has allowed Jeff to serve as volunteer firefighter, provide a loving home to dozens of foster children, and organize his fellow steelworkers to respond to natural disasters, including Hurricane Helene.”
In her first public remarks of her husband’s second term, Melania Trump went to Capitol Hill on Monday to push for the passage of the “TAKE IT DOWN” Act, a bill aimed at protecting Americans from AI-generated deepfake and revenge pornography. Elliston Berry, 15, joined Trump to tell her story.
“They superimposed her (Elliston’s) face into pornographic content without her consent, solely to humiliate her. And although Elliston’s family contacted the social media companies for help, their efforts fell upon deaf ears. Ultimately, the fake images circulated worldwide,” the first lady said.
Elliston will be sitting with the first lady.
Trump is also seeking to highlight the foster care community through her “Foster the Future” initiative. Haley Ferguson, a former foster child, is a college student studying elementary education who received a scholarship from that initiative, according to the White House.
CNN’s Zoe Sottile, Clare Foran, and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
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Who is sitting with Melania Trump at President Trump’s address to Congress?
First lady Melania Trump has invited two young women who exemplify causes she has championed to be her special guests at her husband’s address Tuesday before a joint session of Congress.
Trump will be joined by Elliston Berry of Aledo, Texas, a victim of an AI-generated, sexually explicit “deepfake” image, and Haley Ferguson of Spring Hill, Tennessee, a former foster child who is the recipient of a scholarship instituted during Trump’s first tenure as first lady.
Berry was at Melania Trump’s side on Capitol Hill on Monday as the first lady used her first public comments since her husband’s inauguration to speak out about the publication of non-consensual, sexually explicit images.
Berry shared her story during the event. She was 14 when a classmate used an AI app to attach a nude body to an Instagram photo of her before circulating it on social media.
“Fear, shock and disgust were just some of the many emotions I felt,” Berry said. “I felt responsible and began to blame myself and was ashamed to tell my parents, despite doing nothing wrong.”
When she reported the matter to her school, the authorities said it was out of their control. It was only after the office of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, heard her story and personally reached out to Snapchat that the photo was removed, she said.
Berry and the first lady spoke out in support of the Take it Down Act, which was unanimously passed by the Senate in February.
The bill, introduced in August by Cruz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., criminalizes the publication of “non-consensual, sexually exploitative images, including AI-generated deepfakes.” The legislation requires technology platforms to remove reported content within 48 hours of receiving a valid request.
Trump called Berry “brave.”
“It’s heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content, like deepfakes,” she said. “This toxic environment can be severely damaging. Every young person deserves a safe online space to express themselves freely, without the looming threat of exploitation or harm.”
The other guest, Ferguson, is a former foster child who is now a senior at Middle Tennessee State University majoring in elementary education. She is the recipient of the Fostering the Future scholarship, which was launched by the first lady as part of her “Be Best” campaign to promote youth well-being and combat cyberbullying.
The mission of the scholarship is to prepare recipients “to enter the workforce and ultimately reach financial independence.”
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
See who Melania Trump invited to President Trump’s speech for the 2025 joint address to Congress
By Caroline Linton
Updated on: March 5, 2025 / 12:19 AM EST / CBS News
At President Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, the audience included some special guests invited by first lady Melania Trump. She invited “everyday Americans” to the address, according to the White House, including an American who was recently released from a Russian prison and the family of one of Mr. Trump’s supporters who was killed in an assassination attempt on the president.
Marc Fogel, a schoolteacher from Pennsylvania who was released from a Russian prison in February as part of a prisoner swap negotiated by the Trump administration, was there along with his mother, who met with Mr. Trump about his case last summer.
The family of Corey Comperatore, a volunteer fire chief killed at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally where Mr. Trump was shot in an assassination attempt, were also among the guests.
Stephanie Diller, the widow of slain New York Police Department officer Jonathan Diller, who was killed in 2024 during a routine traffic stop in Queens, was also be in attendance. Mr. Trump attended his wake on Long Island in 2024.
These guests were first reported by the New York Post.
President Trump singled out a number of invited guests during his speech to highlight their stories and his administration’s policy priorities.
The mother and sister of Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student murdered by a man in the country illegally, attended the address and were mentioned by Mr. Trump in his speech. Mr. Trump last month signed the Laken Riley Act, a bipartisan bill that expanded the federal government’s ability to detain people in the country illegally.
Another guest was Alexis Nungaray, a Texas woman whose 12-year-old daughter was murdered in 2024. Charged in her daughter’s death are two Venezuelan nationals who were released by immigration authorities before and since her death, Nungaray has joined Mr. Trump at several campaign events.
Immigration is a cornerstone of Mr. Trump’s agenda as his administration has launched a massive deportation initiative — and it was a key theme in the speech.
A guest seated by the first lady, 15-year-old Elliston Berry, was the victim of computer-generated deepfakes created by a bully at her school. On Monday, Melania Trump joined an event on Capitol Hill to throw her support behind a bill sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz to bolster safety against deepfakes.
Another guest, January Littlejohn, of Tallahassee, Florida, sued her daughter’s middle school over asking her daughter what bathroom she wanted to use, which the White House said was “without January and her husband’s knowledge or permission.” Mr. Trump has already signed an executive order restricting access to gender-affirming care for minors, although transgender youth have sued to block the order.
The White House invited Payton McNabb, a North Carolina teen, who was injured after a collision with a transgender athlete during a volleyball game. Mr. Trump has signed an executive order banning transgender women from women’s sports, and McNabb was recently invited by the White House to attend a briefing on women’s sports.
Other guests included Jeff Denard, a Decatur, Alabama, steelworker; Haley Ferguson, a Tennessee woman who received a Fostering the Future scholarship, which was launched by the first lady’s Be Best initiative; and Roberto Ortiz, a Border Patrol agent in Texas who the White House said has been shot at by cartel members.
Several Democrats announced Monday that they would be bringing fired federal workers to the speech as a statement against the Trump administration’s slashing of the government workforce.
Jennifer Jacobs and Fin Gómez contributed to this report.
Caroline Linton is an associate managing editor on the political team for CBSNews.com. She has previously written for The Daily Beast, Newsweek and amNewYork.
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