WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump promised on Tuesday night to maintain his campaign of “swift and relentless action” to realign the economy, immigration, and foreign policy of the United States in a partisan speech before Congress, which led Democratic lawmakers to express their disagreement with serious faces, signs with the word “lies,” and even the unusual expulsion of Representative Al Green from Texas.
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Trump’s prime-time address was the latest milestone in his takeover of the nation’s capital, where the House of Representatives and the Senate—led by Republicans—have done little to restrain the president as he and Elon Musk work to reduce the size of the federal government and redefine the country’s place in the world.
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The intervention, which lasted a record 99 minutes, became a challenging presentation of the policies that Trump promised during his campaign and pushed in his first weeks back in the White House. He committed to continue making radical changes to rescue the nation from what he described as destruction and mistakes left by his predecessor. Rarely did he address directly the American people, who are trying to keep up with the recent turmoil, while repeatedly addressing the Democratic lawmakers sitting before him.
Here are the key points of the speech:
Trump compared himself to George Washington
Trump set a tone of division almost from his first words, describing his predecessor, Joe Biden, as the worst president in history and rebuking the Democrats for skimping on their praise so much that they didn’t even give him a courtesy applause.
He equated himself with the country’s first president, George Washington, when speaking about what he described as an avalanche of initial achievements in his second term.
He was speaking in front of a divided camera. The Republicans stood up and cheered. Among the Democrats, there was silence, with occasional shouts of protest. The only applause came when he announced that Ukraine wanted to restart peace negotiations.
Trump delved into points of cultural conflict, such as his opposition to affirmative action, diversity programs, and the rights of transgender individuals.
He inflated the magnitude of his victory in November, whose margin was actually one of the smallest in American history. The tone was more that of a campaign speech than an appearance before Congress.
Trump described Democrats as a lost cause. "There is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy," he stated.
He softened his tone against Ukraine
Trump has been relentless in his criticism of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.
But towards the end of his speech, Trump read a letter from Zelensky that he had received earlier in the day. “The letter says that Ukraine is ready to sit at the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring about lasting peace,” Trump said. “Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians (...). My team and I are ready to work under the strong leadership of President Trump to achieve a lasting peace.”
It remains to be seen if the letter will mark a thaw in the complicated relationship between Trump and Zelensky, following the embarrassing incident in the Oval Office and after the United States froze military aid to Ukraine in its war to resist the Russian invasion.
He blamed Biden for the egg crisis
The president gave voice to the frustration of many Americans over the rising food prices, especially the soaring cost of eggs, but blamed Biden instead of the avian flu.
“Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control, and we are working hard to reduce it,” said Trump.
Last week, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that egg prices could continue to increase by more than 40% this year.
The main reason why egg prices have risen to a record average of $4.95 per dozen this month is that more than 166 million birds have been sacrificed to limit the spread of avian flu that has affected farms across the country.
The government announced that the Department of Agriculture will invest an additional 1 billion dollars, in addition to the approximately 2 billion dollars that it has already spent in the fight against avian flu since the outbreak began in 2022.
Trump praises Musk as his right-hand man
Trump praised Elon Musk, the billionaire he has appointed to restructure the federal government and has become his right-hand man in the government. Democrats tried to refute the president verbally by shouting “false” at some of his success claims.
Musk, sitting in the box, stood up when the Republicans applauded him. The Democrats were holding signs that said “Musk steals”.
The president said that Musk has found “hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud,” greatly exaggerating the achievements of his team. For example, many canceled contracts were already fully paid, so canceling them did not result in any savings for the government.
The tariff war
The president has long seen the stock market as a guiding star. But he ignored the losses on Wall Street that wiped out the gains since the November elections.
The stock market has been falling as Trump imposes tariffs on Canada and Mexico, critical trading partners who have responded with their own tariffs. The dispute threatens to increase costs for American consumers even as the president promises to lower prices.
Trump showed no interest in backing down, describing tariffs as an integral part of his political program: “Tariffs are making America rich again. And it’s happening and will happen quite quickly. There will be a little disruption, but we’re okay with that.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously described Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports as simply “a very stupid thing.”
Trump is much more divisive and uncompromising
The president has always enjoyed his reputation as a tough speaker. But looking back to 2017, when Trump gave his first speech to Congress in his first term, it shows how he has become even more uncompromising.
Eight years ago, he spoke about working with Trudeau to support women entrepreneurs in both countries. He paid tribute to “our nation’s path towards civil rights”. He said that “real and positive immigration reform is possible”. There was no reference to Barack Obama, whom he replaced in the White House.
Now Trump is facing off with Trudeau over tariffs. He used his speech to criticize diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which he has been quickly eliminating throughout the federal government. His comments on immigration focused on the deportation of criminals. And he repeatedly mocked Biden.