In Donald Trump’s first address to Congress since returning to the White House – and his first major speech in a chilling six weeks in office – the president claimed a mandate justifying his sweeping executive orders, despite having won the popular vote by 1.5 points – the smallest margin for any successful presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1968.
Trump’s second term has already seen him initiate sweeping mass layoffs of federal employees, and mobilize officers from nearly every federal law enforcement agency and the US military to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations. He has rattled Europe and other American allies with his pursuit of a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine on terms preferential to Moscow.
