U.S. President Donald Trump began his first speech to Congress of his second term by proclaiming that “America is back,” triggering chants of “USA” from Republican lawmakers.
“Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the Golden Age of America. 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,” Trump said.
Trump said his administration has “accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years, and we are just getting started.”
To date, he has signed 76 executive orders — several of which are being challenged in court.
Just a few minutes into Trump’s address, the president was interrupted by jeering from the floor of the House, prompting Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson to direct the sergeant at arms to remove Democratic Representative Al Green, who is from Texas.
Trump continued his address after Green was removed from the chamber.
Trump listed several of his executive orders, including that he declared a national emergency on the southern border and deployed U.S. military and border patrol to "repel the invasion of our country."
He also said he imposed 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 Accord, the “corrupt” World Health Organization and the “anti-American” U.N. human rights council.
Usually known as the State of the Union in non-inauguration years, the address provides Trump with 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 cut the federal workforce and confront Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The most pressing challenge for Trump will be to unite Republican majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives to pass a budget funding the government past a March 14 deadline. Republicans differ on whether to cut popular social safety net programs such Medicaid, which provides health insurance to those with low incomes, 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 are going to deliver the America First agenda,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters last week. “We’re going to deliver all of it, not just parts of it.”
Congressional Democrats have criticized the budget for benefiting the wealthy.
"Make no mistake, it will rob seniors, kids and the disabled to pay for the rich to get richer,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said last week.
Trump also addressed the establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk.
Senator and former CIA analyst Elissa Slotkin delivered the Democratic response to Trump’s address. Slotkin won the swing state of Michigan by focusing on the economy in her outreach to voters.
VOA's Katherine Gypson and Kim Lewis contributed to this story.
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