March 6, 2025 - President Donald Trump’s address Tuesday night before a joint session of the United States Congress, capped off what Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) called “a big day on Capitol Hill.” 

“I’m looking forward to hearing from the president as he outlines his vision to make America strong, secure, and prosperous,” Capito said, in a video message released on social media prior to the president’s address. “From restoring law and order at our southern border, to unleashing American energy – to bolstering our military, and delivering tax relief to hard working families.”

“President Trump’s agenda consists of priorities that matter deeply to West Virginians, and will deliver real results for the American people,” Capito added.

Capito doubled-down on her support of the president, referring to his first seven weeks in office as “the good work of his administration in action.” 

Echoing Capito’s excitement was Senate counterpart Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), who, through a Tuesday afternoon post on X, “Looking forward to hearing POTUS (President of the United States) address Congress in a few hours.” 

“He (Trump) has a bright vision for the next four years and the renewal of the American dream,” Justice added. 

Unsurprisingly, representatives from West Virginia’s State Democratic Party had different feelings leading into Tuesday’s address, with an afternoon press release “calling out his (Trump’s) failed leadership and broken promises to West Virginians.”

In that same press release, State Democratic Party Vice Chair Teresa Toriseva brought up Trump’s previous trips to West Virginia, saying, “When Trump campaigned here during his first campaign, he brought a prop shovel to illustrate how he ‘digs’ coal. Little did we know he would return in 2025 and use that shovel to dig the grave for West Virginia’s energy economy.”

House Minority Whip Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, also added comments to the release, picking up where Toriseva left off, by referencing the recent layoffs at the Leer South Mine in Barbour County.

“The 165 coal mining jobs lost are a result of the Trump tariffs which are a direct attack on metallurgical coal,” Fluharty said. “China has now chosen to purchase their coal from Australia, not West Virginia. As a result, the metallurgical coal market is now in jeopardy and so are the jobs of our hardworking coal miners.”

At the conclusion of Trump’s address, Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) also took to social media to express her approval of the president’s very young second term, saying, “The Golden Age is here!”

“President Trump’s address to the nation showed exactly what Americans voted for,” Miller continued. “A strong border, American energy dominance, and lower taxes for every American.”

West Virginia’s freshman representative, Republican Riley Moore, while maintaining the “Golden Era” theme, was perhaps the most outspoken on social media regarding his reaction to the Trump address. 

“It’s clear that the ‘commonsense revolution’ has already begun, and it’s producing major wins for the American people,” Moore said. “Under President Trump’s leadership, America’s interests reign supreme. We’ve secured the border and are unleashing America’s energy like never before. We’ve slashed regulations and are rooting out waste,fraud, and abuse. We’re eliminating DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), protecting women’s sports, and ensuring radical transgender ideology is rooted out of our education system. We’re making America healthy again.”

“The future is indeed bright, but so much still has yet to be done,” Moore continued. “Under President Trump, we are unleashing a new golden era for America, and I’m proud to be fighting for it in Congress.”

Unsurprisingly once again, West Virginia’s Democratic Party Chair – and Kanawha County delegate – Mike Pushkin disagreed with the state’s Republican representatives, tweeting out, “I remember [Donald Trump] promising to bring down the price of eggs…but so far he’s only brought down the price of stocks.”