On Tuesday (March 4), President Donald Trump gave his highly anticipated first joint session of his second term. Touting his vision of reshaping the federal government and American society, Trump boasted, with sweeping hyperbole, on his accomplishments since he took office in January. The address is the longest joint session speech in U.S. history from any president. With Trump 2.0, he claimed that we are now in the best time in modern history with him as Commander-In-Chief.
“Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden age of America,” Trump said. “From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years, eight years—and we are just getting started.”
To bring you up to speed, here are seven takeaways from Trump’s Joint Address to Congress:
He Continues to Appease His MAGA Base. Trump wasted no time in giving “red meat” to his MAGA base. He bragged about his November election win, called former President Joe Biden the worst president ever, his attempt to make English the official language of the country and attacked Democrats for opposing him. “As you know, we inherited, from the last administration, an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare,” Trump said.
Democrats Protested, Rep. Al Green Was Removed From Chambers. Some Democrats protested Trump’s speech by yelling out from the crowd their displeasure with Trump’s political agenda. Several Democratic members walked out in protest. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, interrupted Trump’s speech yelling, “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid.” After refusing to be silent, he was escorted out of the chamber.
His Speech Was Full Of Inaccuracies. Since his arrival in politics, Trump and the truth have not been synonymous. During his speech, he made sure to keep that trend going. He said that DOGE discovered billions in fraud and that people who have been dead for 120 years or older are still getting Social Security payments, just to list a few. NPR’s in-depth annotated fact check records more than 20 false statements from Trump.
Attacked “Wokeness.” Trump has led the charge of misappropriating “woke” and “DEI” for his own political benefit. It’s now a “dog whistle” to pushback against Black progress. He wasted no time boasting about their removal: “We’re getting wokeness out of our schools and our military, and it’s already out, and it’s out of our society. We don’t want it,” Trump said. “Wokeness is trouble. Wokeness is bad. It’s gone.”
High Praise for Elon Musk. Elon Musk, Trump’s right-hand man and adviser, attended the speech. Trump began his speech by lauding Musk for his Department of Government Efficiency’s work in slashing government spending and the federal workforce. “The brand-new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. Perhaps. Which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight,” Trump said. “Thank you, Elon. He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need this. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Everybody here, even this side appreciates it, I believe,” Trump said.
The Defense Of Tariffs As Trade War Looms. As expected, Trump defended the 25% tariffs he imposed on products from Canada and Mexico, saying, “Now it’s our turn…It’s very unfair,” Trump said as Republicans gave him a standing ovation, adding we “are about protecting the soul of our country.”
Trump Ends Speech With Foreign Policy, Brief Mentions of Ukraine. When it comes to foreign policy, Trump said he would “reclaim” the Panama Canal and Greenland under the U.S. control for national security purposes. Following an explosive meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine in the Oval Office last week, Trump mentioned that he received a letter from Zelenskyy earlier Tuesday and read part of it aloud. “I appreciate that he sent this letter, just got it a little while ago,” Trump said, apparently trying to signal tensions have minimized since their meeting.
