President Donald J. Trump made the first major speech of his second administration last night at a joint session of Congress, just six weeks after his inauguration.
Here are the highlights from his 100-minute speech, the longest in modern history.
Trump made a surprise announcement that the terrorist responsible for killing 13 U.S. service members during the bombing at Abbey Gate during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 is now in custody.
“Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity, and he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice,” Trump said.
Trump promised across-the-board tax cuts, including personal income, corporate, and industry tax cuts. He repeated his proposal to end taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits, and proposed zero interest on loans for American-made vehicles.
The border is closed and deportations are underway, Trump said, following his declaration of a national emergency and deploying U.S. troops to the southern border.
Illegal border crossings last month were the lowest number ever recorded, Trump said.
A series of tariffs—including 25 percent fees on goods from Canada and Mexico and 20 percent in addition to those already imposed on China—took effect yesterday, and reciprocal tariffs are set to take effect on April 2.
“Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it’s our turn to start using them against those other countries,” Trump said. “There'll be a little disturbance, like we’re okay with that,” Trump said. “It won’t be much.”
Elon Musk was singled out for his work with DOGE. Trump listed a number of multi-million dollar projects related to DEI that had been terminated, and a $22-billion plan to provide housing and automobiles for illegal aliens.
“We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud,” Trump said.
Trump spoke directly to the people of Greenland, asking them to join the United States. “We strongly support your right to determine your own future,” Trump said. “And if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America.”
The president said the island is important to national security. “We’re working with everybody involved to try and get it . . . And I think we’re going to get it one way or the other.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent a letter to Trump yesterday, which he read aloud during his speech.
“Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” according to Trump. The two had a tense meeting last Friday, which stalled talk of an economic deal between both countries.
“I appreciate that he sent this letter,” Trump said.
A new White House Office of Shipbuilding is meant to counter China’s strides in the shipbuilding sector, Trump said. “We used to make so many ships. We don’t make them anymore very much, but we’re going to make them very fast, very soon,” Trump said.
Following Trump’s speech, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) gave a speech criticizing the president’s actions. “President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends,” she said.
—Lawrence Wilson
BOOKMARKS
BlackRock and two other companies have reached a deal to purchase two important Panama Canal ports from Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. The deal comes after Donald Trump expressed concern over Chinese influence in the region, along with a desire to return the canal to U.S. control.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Feb. 15 that the time to create a united European armed forces has come. The proposal was floated before in 1952 but was eventually rejected by the French National Assembly.
The Department of Defense (DOD) says Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have found $80 million in wasteful Pentagon spending. Some of the money had been allocated to DEI programs like $1.6 million for a program at the University of Florida to study “social and institutional detriment of vulnerability in resilience to climate hazards in African Sahel.”
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras has ruled that Trump must reappoint the head of a labor appeals board, and allow her to serve her term. Trump fired Cathy Harris, chairwoman of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), on Feb. 10 though her term runs through 2028.
It appears the U.S. Supreme Court isn’t buying an argument by Mexico’s government that says U.S. gun companies are liable for violence committed by Mexican cartels. A lower court had previously ruled that the gun companies may be liable because they had enabled “the sale of firearms by dealers in knowing violation of relevant state and federal laws.”
—Stacy Robinson
