Donald Trump has declared “America is back” in his first address to Congress since returning to power.
The 78-year-old US President delivered a 100-minute speech on Tuesday evening, the longest congressional address by any US president in history.
“America’s momentum, spirit, pride, and confidence are back,” Trump told lawmakers.
He wasted no time highlighting what he described as his administration’s achievements, claiming they had accomplished more in just 43 days than most past administrations managed in four or eight years.
Trump told Congress ‘America is back’
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Donald Trump holds a copy of an executive order honoring Jocelyn Nungaray
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“The American dream is surging bigger and better than ever before. It is unstoppable, and our country is on the verge of a comeback the likes of which the world has never witnessed,” Trump declared.
Trump’s entrance to the chamber was met with loud chants of “USA” from his supporters.
But protests began within minutes of his speech starting.
Democratic Representative Al Green was ordered to be ejected after refusing to stop heckling and shaking his walking stick at the President.
“You have no mandate,” Green shouted at Trump before being removed from the chamber.
Green told NBC following the event that when Trump spoke it “triggered something” in him.
He said: “When he said he had a mandate, it triggered something. It really did. Because he doesn’t have a mandate, and he doesn’t have a mandate to cut health care from poor people.”
Other Democrats silently held up placards with messages including “False”, “Musk steals”, “Protect Veterans” and “That’s a lie!”
At one point, numerous Democrats yelled “January 6!” at Trump, in reference to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol in 2021.
Some Democrats walked out well before Trump had finished speaking.
Democrats holiding placards damning the President and his policies
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Democrats held sings reading ‘FALSE’ and ‘SAVE MEDICAID’
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Trump defended his disruptive economic policies, including the recent imposition of significant tariffs on Mexico and Canada that have sparked concerns of a potential trade war.
“Whatever they tax us, we will tax them,” he explained, outlining how the new “reciprocal tariffs” would take effect on April 2.
The President criticised the European Union, India, Mexico, and Brazil for imposing trade policies he deemed unfair to Americans.
“We’ve been ripped off for decades by every country on Earth, and we will not let that happen any longer,” he said, acknowledging that although the tariffs would create some “disturbance”, the country would be “OK with that”.
He claimed his administration would “take in trillions and trillions of dollars and create jobs like we have never seen before”.
Trump defended his economic policies, including the recent imposition of significant tariffs on Mexico and Canada
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Donald Trump shook hands with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and JD Vance following his address
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Trump then said his administration has rushed to ban diversity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government.
“Our country will be ‘woke’ no longer,” he stated to loud applause before then turning his attention to his ‘Law and Order’ message from his campaign trail.
“As we reclaim our sovereignty, we must also bring back law and order to our cities and towns,” he said.
“In recent years, our justice system has been turned upside down by Radical Left lunatics.”
Trump framed Democratic-led cities as overwhelmed by violence, despite statistics showing a decline in violent crime following a spike during the Covid pandemic.
Elon Musk was among those attending the primetime televised address with Trump singling out the world’s richest man on two occasions during his speech, prompting the tech billionaire to stand up and salute Congress.
The Tesla and SpaceX founder has been serving as a key adviser to Trump since his return to power and has aided Trump’s crackdown on federal bureaucracy, which has included firing thousands of workers and shuttering entire agencies.
Congress was packed with politicians from across the spectrum
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Elon Musk salutes as he’s hailed by Trump during the speech
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“It’s time to stop this madness. It’s time to halt the killing. It’s time to end this senseless war. If you want to end wars, you have to talk to both sides.”
Trump was expected to further outline his plans for Ukraine and Russia in the speech to Congress, but did not reveal any further details on how he plans to end Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two.
The President added that Ukraine was ready to sign a minerals deal with the US, which Washington says is crucial to secure continued US backing for Ukraine’s defence.
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