Important takeaways from Trump’s speech to joint Congress sessions
Donald Trump spoke with record-breaking time and 40 minutes during his speech at a joint Congress meeting Tuesday night. Meanwhile, he declared that “America is back,” and outlined his achievements in the first week of his second term.
Some of the key points from his speech are:
Trump touted his administration’s “quick and relentless actions” and boasted that he has signed nearly 100 enforcement orders and more than 400 enforcement actions since taking office six weeks ago. He boasted that he had withdrawn the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Trump criticized Democrats for not recognizing his predecessor, Joe Biden, the worst US president in history. “There’s absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy,” he said. He denounced Biden for the rising prices of eggs.
Trump praised the work of his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who led the administration’s efforts to dramatically reduce the federal government through his so-called “government efficiency.” He warned that workers who resisted the policies of his administration would be fired.
Trump said the United States will “take historic actions to dramatically expand production of important minerals and rare earths,” and that it is working “uncontinuously” to end the “savage conflict in Ukraine.” He read from a letter from Ukrainian President Voldimi Zelensky that he received earlier in the day, and Kiev said he was “prepared to come to the negotiation table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer.”
Trump vowed to retaliate for Tattart hours after he launched a trade war with three top trading partners, Mexico, Canada and China. “Even if they’re involved with us, we’re involved with them,” he said.
Trump said his administration is in the process of “recovering the Panama Canal” and repeatedly poses his threat to rule Greenland. He promised to place the American flag on Mars on Earth.
House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered Texas representative Al Green, a defender of civil rights and the president’s accountability voice, after lawmakers repeatedly paused Trump’s speech and cried out “He has no obligation.” Other Democrats lifted the signs and left the room to protest Trump’s speech.
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Donald Trump’s Motorcade has left the Capitol and is back in the White House.
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Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin delivered a Democrat rebuttal to Donald Trump’s speech, saying Trump had no credible plans to tackle rising groceries and home prices.
Slotkin said the state of democracy in the country is “worthy to fight.” “It’s easy to get tired, but America needs you more than ever,” she said.
“We have gone through previous periods of political instability,” she said. “In the end, we chose to continue to change this country for the better.”
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“Trump would have lost the Cold War to us”: Slotkin presents Democrats” counterargument
Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin has announced the Democrat’s response to Donald Trump’s speech.
Slotkin said Trump is “trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends.” “He’s hunting and finding trillions of dollars to hand over to America’s wealthiest person,” she said.
Slotkin said Friday’s oval office scene “is not a bad episode of reality television,” referring to the public clash between Ukrainian President Voldymi Zelenkie and Trump.
“It summarises Trump’s approach to the world,” she said. “He feels comfortable with a dictator like Vladimir Putin and believes he will kick our friends like Canadians in his teeth.”
“As a child of the Cold War, I’m grateful that it was Reagan and not Trump in the 1980s. Trump would have lost the Cold War to us,” she said.
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Trump sets record of the longest speech to a joint session of Congress
Tonight’s Donald Trump speech lasted about an hour and 40 minutes, and briefly set a record of the longest address for a congressional joint session.
The previous record was set by Bill Clinton, who spoke for an hour and 28 minutes in a 2000 coalition speech, according to the U.S. Presidential Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
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Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson issued a statement shortly after Donald Trump finished his address.
“Tonight, President Trump has brought his victory return back to Congress to share his bold and optimistic vision of renewing America’s dreams,” Johnson said.
After four years of President Biden’s disastrous policies, President Trump seized the moment and fulfilled his promise to move quickly and restore America’s greatness.
He said Trump’s achievements after returning to the White House “proves that America’s first policy will make America stronger, safer and more prosperous.”
Johnson added that he is “looked forward to” the House Republicans working with Trump to bring “record-time success” to Americans.
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Donald Trump has finished his speech to a joint Congressional session and is shaking hands with his supporters as he slowly leaves the room.
House Speaker Mike Johnson declares that the session has been dissolved.
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Fact check: Trump’s claims about US aid to Ukraine
Robert McKee
Fact Check: Trump again falsely states that the US has given Ukraine $350 billion since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, while Europe has given just $100 billion.
In fact, as colleagues Jakub Krupa and Pjotr Sauer reported last month, the Ukrainian Assistance Tracker at the Kiel Institute for The World Economy shows that Europe has allocated nearly $138 billion to Ukraine and the US support of US$120bn. Includes contributions from non-EU countries like the UK, bringing a greater share in Europe.
Last week, three visiting world leaders revised Trump with this false statement while sitting next to an oval office. French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister, Kiel Star and Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky.
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23.34 EST
Trump pledges to “plant the American flag on Mars.”
Trump says it’s time for America to put that fate into his own hands.
He says he will lead the country to fake “the freest, most advanced, most dynamic and most dominant civilization ever to exist on the surface of this earth.”
He says America will “conquer the vast frontiers of science,” “leave humanity into space,” and “plant the American flag on Earth, and far ahead of it.”
“My fellow Americans are just beginning the golden age of America, and there’s nothing I’ve never seen before,” he said, concluded his speech to Congress.
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Florida Democrat Maxwell Frost explained his decision to come out of Donald Trump’s joint speech to Congress.
Frost showed that he took off his suit jacket in the middle of Trump’s speech and wore a T-shirt that read, “There is no king here.” In a statement, Frost said:
Donald Trump is a lot – a liar, a glyfter, a hopeful – but no matter how hard he tries, the number of Republicans in Congress bend their knees and kiss the ring. He will never become king.
Tonight, the Americans saw the desperate liar position in front of the podium and spewed excuses after excuses as to why he couldn’t make your life better. Why can’t he make eggs cheaper, why can’t he lower housing costs, why the stock market is tanking under his watch, why innocent immigrants and trans people are responsible. Everything lies.
People in this country are lying and watching. We will not give up.
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Trump says he was “thank” the letter from Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky.
He says, “At the same time, we discussed it seriously with Russia.”
He says the United States has received a “strong signal” from Moscow that it is “ready for peace.”
“Isn’t that beautiful?” he asks. “It’s time to end a meaningless war.”
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Trump calls the Middle East a “ravaged neighbour” and says he received a letter from Zelensky
Trump says “a lot is going on” in the Middle East, describing it as a “ravaged neighborhood.”
He says he is “tiring” working to end the “savage conflict” in Ukraine.
“Millions of Ukrainians and Russians have been unnecessarily killed or injured in this horrifying, brutal conflict, and there is no end in sight,” he says.
He says he received a “important” letter from Ukrainian President Voldimia Zelensky earlier today.
Zelensky told him his team was ready to work “under President Trump’s strong leadership, to ensure the peace that continues,” Trump says.
Trump says Zelensky’s letter “really cherishes how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence.”
“Ukraine is always ready to sign at a time when it’s convenient for you regarding minerals and security agreements,” says Zelenskyy’s letter, Trump says.
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22.54 EST
Robert McKee
Fact check: Trump falsely claimed that Little John in January, one of his invited guests from Tallahassee, Florida, had discovered that her 13-year-old child’s middle school had secretly shifted from a woman to a non-binary position.
Little John made that claim in the lawsuit, but the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge and an email obtained by a Tallahassee Democrat newspaper showed Little John had been written to the school in 2020 to inform the teacher that the child wanted to change the pronoun.
The email showed Little John worked with the teacher to determine the best way to navigate the situation and thanked the teacher for his help.
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