President Donald Trump delivered his first Congressional Address of his second term on Tuesday, March 4. The two-hour speech covered a wide variety of accomplishments and goals of the Trump Administration over the 43 days since his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Trump’s opening remarks to the joint session of Congress thanked his Vice President J.D. Vance, First Lady Melania Trump and the members of Congress before remarking “and to my fellow citizens, America is back.”
The speech received a tumultuous start. After highlighting that he won the electoral vote in all seven swing states, Trump was interrupted by Texas Rep. Alexander N. Green, shouting “You have no right to cut Medicaid,” referencing the nearly $880 billion cuts to Medicaid over the next decade proposed by House Republicans. Trump continued, but was intercepted twice more by Rep. Green, receiving audible opposition from the Republican side of the room.
On the Democratic side, female legislators repped pink suits and many held signs reading phrases such as “MUSK STEALS,” “FALSE” and “SAVE MEDICAID.” After expressing that members were breaching decorum, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson ordered Rep. Green to take his seat, before ordering his removal from the chamber.
The speech proceeded with Trump recognizing the nearly 100 executive orders and 400 executive actions taken over his six weeks in office.
Of these executive orders, Trump highlighted a freeze on all federal hiring, regulations and foreign aid.
Moreover, he welcomed applause as he asserted, “I terminated the ridiculous Green New Scam. I withdrew from the unfair Paris Climate Accord, which was costing us trillions of dollars that other countries were not paying. I withdrew from the corrupt World Health Organization. And I also withdrew from the anti-American U.N. Human Rights Council.”
Other notable moments included his denouncement of nationwide DEI policies, affirming that the country “will be woke no longer,” and that there are only two genders: male and female.
Trump proceeded to introduce a variety of guests, including D.J. Daniel, a 13-year-old boy diagnosed with brain cancer who was given five months to live in 2018.
Following Republican applause, Trump proceeded to prompt Secret Service director Sean Curran to make D.J. an agent of the U.S. Secret Service.
This moment has sparked criticism post-debate, with critics calling out the Democrats’ lack of applause, while others recognize the use of guests as pawns to strengthen the speech, especially in light of the mass firing of National Institutes of Health employees that distribute funds for cancer research.
The night also included praise of Elon Musk, Trump’s new Secretary of Government Efficiency and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, as well as the richest person on Earth, with a net worth of $359.5 billion. Musk oversees the Department of Government Efficiency – or DOGE – receiving praise for locating billions of dollars in wasteful federal spending.
Trump highlighted a few of these areas, including $22 billion from the Department of Health and Human Services to provide “free housing and cars for illegal aliens,” $8 million for “making mice transgender” and millions of dollars in Social Security payments to people well over the age of 100 years old.
These statements have been highly criticized, with Social Security Administration commissioner Lee Dudek clarifying in a press release on Feb. 19 that people listed as over 100 years old in the Social Security system are “not necessarily receiving benefits,” but rather do not have a date of death on record.
The speech also announced reciprocal tariffs that will kick in against countries including China, Mexico and Canada on April 2, as well as recognizing continued deportation efforts against undocumented immigrants.
Trump glazed over ongoing tension with Ukraine, following a tumultuous White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 28, where Zelenskyy was shamed for not wearing a suit and Trump called off the signing of a minerals deal that would have moved the country closer to ending the war with Russia.
While much is still left in the air, what can be taken away from Trump’s unofficial State of the Union address is this: Trump has only just begun carrying out his presidential agenda.
sglisson@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @potus, Instagram
