US President Donald Trump: 'America is back'
US President Donald Trump began his first address to Congress in his second term by declaring that "America is back," prompting chants of "USA" from Republican lawmakers.
"Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and declared the beginning of America's Golden Age. Since then, it has been nothing but swift and relentless action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country," Trump said.
Trump said his administration had "accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplish in four years or eight years, and we're just getting started."
To date, he has signed 76 executive orders — some of which are being challenged in court.
Minutes into Trump's speech, the president was interrupted by boos from the House floor, prompting House Speaker Mike Johnson to order the sergeant-at-arms to remove Democratic Representative Al Green, a Texas native.
Trump continued his speech after Green was removed from the chamber.
Trump listed several of his executive orders, including that he was declaring a national emergency at the southern border and deploying the U.S. military and Border Patrol to “repel the invasion of our country.”
He also said he was imposing an immediate freeze on all federal hiring since returning to the White House, plus a freeze on foreign aid.
Trump also withdrew the United States from what he called the “unfair” Paris Climate Agreement, the “corrupt” World Health Organization and the “anti-American” U.N. human rights council.
Typically known as the State of the Union Address in non-inauguration years, the speech gives Trump a public stage to lay out his vision for the U.S. economy and immigration policy, and allows him to defend recent controversial decisions to slash federal jobs and confront Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump’s most pressing challenge will be to unite the Republican majorities in the Senate and House to pass a budget that funds the government past a March 14 deadline. Republicans are divided over whether to cut popular social safety net programs like Medicaid, which provides health insurance for low-income earners, to pay down the U.S. debt and pay for an extension of the 2017 tax cuts passed during Trump's first term.
Trump has called for "one big, beautiful bill" to fund his domestic policy agenda.
"We have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we're going to do the America First agenda," House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters last week. "We're going to do the whole thing, not just some of it."
Democrats in Congress have criticized the bill for favoring the wealthy.
"Make no mistake, seniors, children and people with disabilities are going to be hurt by having to pay the rich to get richer," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said last week.
Trump has also discussed creating the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, headed by billionaire Elon Musk.
Senator and former CIA analyst Elissa Slotkin will deliver the Democratic response to Trump's speech. Slotkin won the state of Michigan by focusing on the economy in her outreach to voters.
Source: VOA
