Key takeaways from Trump's address to joint session of Congress
Donald Trump spoke for a record-breaking hour and 40 minutes during his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, during which he declared that “America is back” and outlined his accomplishment in the first weeks of his second term.
Here are some of the key takeaways from his speech:
Trump touted his administration’s “swift and unrelenting action” and boasted that he had signed nearly 100 executive orders and more than 400 executive actions since taking office six weeks ago. He boasted that he withdrew the US out of the Paris Climate Accord, the World Health Organization and the UN human rights council.
Trump called his predecessor, Joe Biden, the worst US president in history and criticized Democrats for failing to recognize his accomplishments. “There is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy,” he said. He blamed Biden for the soaring price of eggs.
Trump praised the work of his billionaire adviser, Elon Musk, who has led his administration’s efforts to dramatically downsize the federal government through his so-called “department of government efficiency”. He warned that workers who resisted his administration’s policies would be fired.
Trump said the US would take “historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths” and said he was working “tirelessly” to end the “savage conflict in Ukraine”. He read from a letter from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy he received earlier in the day, which said Kyiv is “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer”.
Trump vowed a tit-for-tat retaliation hours after he launched a trade war against three of the US’s top trading partners: Mexico, Canada and China. “Whatever they tariff us, we tariff them,” he said, adding a caveat that “there’ll be a little disturbance … it won’t be much”.
Trump said his administration was in the process of “reclaiming the Panama Canal” and repeated his threat to take control of Greenland: “One way or the other, we’re going to get it.” He pledged to put an American flag on the planet Mars.
House speaker Mike Johnson ordered Texas representative Al Green, a vocal advocate for civil rights and presidential accountability, removed from the House chamber after the congressman repeatedly interrupted Trump’s address, shouting: “He has no mandate.” Other Democrats protested Trump’s speech by holding up signs or walking out of the chamber.
Donald Trump’s motorcade has left the Capitol and is headed back to the White House.
