Donald Trump Congress Speech Highlights: In first address to Congress, Trump expresses desire about Greenland, announces reciprocal tariffs, appreciates Zelenskyy’s letter

Donald Trump during his address talked about bringing back the hostages from Gaza being held by Hamas militant group and added that his administration is now going to build upon the Abraham Accords which were signed during his first tenure.

Trump added that people aren't talking much about the Middle East and it's been overshadowed by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Countering US President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech, Democratic party leader Slotkin said "As a Cold War kid, I’m thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in the 1980s. Trump would have lost us the Cold War," the BBC reported.

In a post on X, President Donald Trump said "My fellow Americans, get ready for an incredible future-because the Golden Age of America has only just begun."

President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress in a televised speech on Tuesday, six weeks into a tumultuous term during which he has upended decades of U.S. foreign and domestic policy and stretched the limits of the presidency.

Here are some takeaways from Trump's speech:

PROTEST...IN PINK

Before Trump's speech on Tuesday, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi advised her fellow Democrats not to become part of the story. That didn't work out so much. Shortly after Trump began his remarks, Democratic Representative Al Green from Texas stood up and shouted that the president did not have a mandate.

"Sit your ass down!" Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican, yelled back at Green, who remained standing.

The ruckus did not end, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson directed the sergeant at arms, in charge of maintaining order in the chamber, to escort Green out.

Some other Democratic lawmakers found an unobtrusive way to show protest with a collective fashion choice: pink clothing. Scores of female lawmakers, including Pelosi, donned outfits in that hue for the Republican president's speech, creating a show of unity and solidarity in a room otherwise dominated by blue and gray suits.

The color choice was different but the aim was similar to Trump's 2019 State of the Union address, when Democratic women wore white to celebrate 100 years of women having the right to vote, projecting a picture of calm displeasure during the president's remarks.

EGGING THEM ON

The No. 1 issue that helped get Trump elected was inflation and the cost of basic goods like groceries. On Tuesday, it was a subject the president was not eager to discuss. When he did, he kept the blame on former President Joe Biden's administration while providing little detail on how he would bring down, for example, the cost of eggs.

“Joe Biden, especially, let the price of eggs get out of control," Trump said.

Egg prices are indeed at an all-time high, but largely because bird flu outbreaks have led to shortages by wiping out millions of hens. “Secretary, do a good job on that,” Trump said, presumably to Brooke Rollins, the new secretary of agriculture. Beyond that, Trump didn't have much to propose in terms of bringing down costs other than what he said during the election campaign: increased energy production and cutting what he calls fraud and waste in the federal government, both of which may impact inflation indirectly over time.

Trump introduced Elon Musk as the spearhead of that effort to cheers in the room. Trump credited Musk with identifying "hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud," an assertion that far exceeds even what the administration has claimed so far.

Trump spent more time discussing his actions on hot-button social issues, each of which earned him rousing applause from the Republicans in the chamber.

They included renaming the Gulf of Mexico and a mountain in Alaska, making English the official language of the country, ending government diversity programs and preventing transgender girls and women from playing in female sports teams.

All of those were a result of Trump's executive orders and came at a stroke of his sharpie. The price of eggs, that's harder.

STILL OFF TRACK

Trump began his address in an expansive and celebratory mode, suggesting that he has turned voter attitudes around since taking office on January 20. But he still may have real work to do to win over skeptical viewers at home. “For the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction — an astonishing record 27-point swing, the most ever,” Trump said.

Trump may have his own polls he can point to, but Reuters/Ipsos polling does not support the president's boast. In fact, the most recent poll, taken over the two days ahead of the speech, had 49% of Americans saying the country was on the wrong track compared to just 34% of those who said it was on the right one.

With Trump levying steep tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and inflation still not tamed, the president is getting low marks on economic concerns, with only 1 in 3 Americans approving of his handling of cost of living issues, the poll found. Only 36% approved of his handling of international trade.

Overall, Trump's approval rating is holding steady at 44%. That's only slightly higher than Biden's peak during the second half of his term in office. That didn't stop Trump from calling Biden the "worst president in American history." If Trump believes that, then, according to polls, he isn't faring all that much better.

- Reuters

Donald Trump concluded his speech at the Capitol Hill by praising the American ancestors and hailing their achievements in the past.

Trump said the US will become the "most dominant civilization" with the "highest quality of life" adding that in the next four years, "we're going to lead this nation even higher".

"We strongly support your right to determine your own future and if you choose, we welcome you to the United States of America. We need Greenland for national security and international security and I think we are gonna get it," says Donald Trump during his State of the Union address.

Donald Trump took the credit for a plunge in crossing over by migrants at the border. "Since taking office, my administration has launched the most sweeping border and immigration crackdown in American history—and we quickly achieved the lowest numbers of illegal border crossers ever recorded," Trump said, BBC reported.

While delivering his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump claimed that "the days of unelected bureaucrats are over" but faced opposition from the Democrats who pointed out the presence of billionaire Elon Musk in the gallery who is leading the Department of Government Efficiency.

Donald Trump mentioned about the newly announced Gold Card visa which will be up for sale very soon and said that it will help in reducing the debt of US in the long run.

"We have developed in great detail what we are calling the gold card - which goes on sale very, very soon - for $5m," Trump said.

"They're going to pay a lot of money and we're going to reduce our debt with that money," Trump added, reported BBC.

Amid the ongoing talks between US and Ukraine over minerals deal, Trump during his address talked about rare earth minerals in the US.

"Later this week, I will also take historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in USA," Trump said.

Donald Trump, during his address of the State of the Union, mentioned about forming a new department, and that is Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and mentioned the presence of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk who is reportedly leading the DOGE.

US President Donald Trump has said that he called it a "national emergency" at the US-Mexico border and added that his threats have led the immigrants not to come to the US.

"I deployed the US military and border patrol to repel the border invasion of country", he says, adding "illegal crossings last month were by far the lowest recorded - ever," Trump said.

US President Donald Trump has started addressing both the Houses of Congress at the Capitol Hill for his State of the Union address.

The US Vice President JD Vance has arrived at the House Chamber where President Donald Trump will address both the Houses of Congress at around 9pm Tuesday (EST).

Ahead of the State of the Union speech by US President Donald Trump, his "border tsar" Tom Homan said that additional funds are required to keep doing what his team has been doing at the borders.

Homan said that “all I know is that we need the money to continue doing what we’re doing. We need money for more beds. We need money for more flights. We need money to keep concentrating on the worst of the worst," reported BBC.

An unspecified number of Democrats are planning to skip the joint address by US President Donald Trump of both the Houses of Congress in protest, BBC reported.

Senator Martin Heinrich said he will "start attending when Trump starts following the law" while Washington state's Senator Patty Murray said that she would rather prefer "speaking with constituents" who have been affected by the Trump administration's firing.

According to reports, others who have confirmed that they will not attend the address are: Representatives Becca Balint, Diana DeGette, Gerry Connolly and Kweisi Mfume.