Seven takeaways from Donald Trump’s speech to US Congress

President Donald Trump claimed in a lengthy speech before the both houses of the US Congress that his reelection was “the most fruitful time in our country’s history.”

Trump stated in a statement to the House of Representatives and Senate on Tuesday that his administration had “accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplish in four or eight years.”

He claimed that “we are just getting started.”

His remarks addressed a number of well-known topics, including calls for a significant crackdown on illegal immigrants and rapists, praise of “beautiful” tariffs that Trump claims will restore balance to US trade relations, and attacks on transgender people and diversity initiatives.

The main points that emerged from Trump’s speech, which attracted enthusiastic cheers from supportive Republicans and protests from some Democrats, are what they outlined as the country’s deep political divisions.

What can we learn most from his speech, please.

Trump launches a military assault on the federal workforce.

Trump rattled off a list of statistics that claimed to show instances of government waste and fraud while praising Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Trump used a number of data points and projects to depict a federal bureaucracy fixated on diversity initiatives and misguided projects in foreign countries, many of his administration’s most ambitious claims about uncovering wasteful projects have been quietly rolled back or debunked later.

Similar scrutiny has largely escaped wasteful spending in organizations that are more in line with Trump’s political priorities, such as US immigration enforcement and the massive US military.

Return to nativist ideas and attacks on immigrants

Trump leaned into rhetoric that portrays immigrants as a source of crime, disease, and disorder as he pushed for a massive spending package to aid his widespread deportation campaign, as he has done frequently in the past.

Although undocumented and undocumented immigrants, who are not native-born in the US, they do so at a lower rate than native-born people in the US, he addressed audience members on several occasions to describe a country under siege by dangerous foreigners.

Just two things are mentioned briefly about Gaza and Ukraine.

Trump’s campaign trail pledged to put an end to a string of wars and conflicts around the world during his campaign trail, and his first few weeks in office have seen him upend long-standing alliances, raising tensions with his European allies, including Canada and Mexico and Ukraine.

He only briefly touched on the Middle East and Ukraine on Tuesday night, though.

Trump claimed in a letter to Zelenskyy that he wanted to see the war end and that he wanted to see the end of it after a tumultuous exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week that shocked European allies.

Trump praised the Abraham Accords, a series of agreements that allowed Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel, frequently in exchange for generous concessions or US aid, and said he hoped to find more agreements.

He claimed to have assisted in obtaining US citizens who had been held captive by Hamas in Gaza, but he did not mention the suffering and prospects of millions of Palestinians who had fled their homes to areas where Israel’s devastating bombing campaign had left them.

Trump, however, reiterated his desire to impose himself as the leader of Greenland and the Panama Canal and said he hoped to construct a missile defense shield akin to that of Israel.

Democrats find it difficult to rally a coalition.

The opposition’s reaction to Trump’s speech was mostly uninteresting, with the opposition’s being largely unreliable in the early stages of the debate mostly idling.

The majority of the Democratic audience sat down for the duration of the speech, refusing to stand up and applaud, and occasionally holding up placards claiming Trump’s statements were false or reading “Musk steals.”

However, there is still a lingering impression that the Democrats are still reeling from the 2024 election and have yet to come together to form a consensus that could affect Trump’s campaign.

Conservative commentator Laura Ingraham remarked on social media that Democrats holding signs while seated appeared to be “bidding at an auction.”

Trump continues to fall in love with “beautiful” tariffs.

Trump has pledged to use tariffs to bring “balance” to international trade and flex countries’ will on a number of other issues, which is one of his most ardent political beliefs. He has also said that the US has been unfairly treated in its economic relations with other nations.

Trump reaffirmed his steadfast belief in the word “tariff,” which he had previously called “the most beautiful word in the English language: tariff,” in his speech on Tuesday. Retaliatory measures were a result of this, which, in addition to the new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China that went into effect on Tuesday, drew US trade wars with both neighbors and rivals.

We pay them whatever they may impose upon us. We pay them whatever they owe us, according to Trump. He expressed his dismay over price increases caused by tariffs, saying, “There will be some disturbance, but we’re okay with that.” There won’t be much here.

Trump said he would use tariffs to bring manufacturing to the US for everything, from cars to ships to semiconductors.

You will be subject to a tariff, some of which will be very high, if you don’t manufacture your goods in America. Trump said that other nations have abused tariffs against us for decades and that it is now our turn to start using them against them.

Trump claims to be reducing inflation.

Trump claimed that helping working families and a recovery economy was one of his top priorities. He blamed former President Joe Biden for the issue and promised to reduce egg and energy costs by restructuring the federal government.

Joe Biden “especially allowed the egg price to spiral out of control.” Trump stated that the egg prices are “out of control,” and that we are working hard to reduce them.

In late February, Trump’s agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, disclosed to The Wall Street Journal that the administration intended to invest $1 billion in attempting to control egg prices by using a combination of increased egg imports, struggling farmers, and lack of scientific research to combat the effects of avian flu.

Egg prices rose as avian flu-related mass culling of chickens began in recent years. Under Trump, that practice has continued, and egg prices have increased in response to the current administration.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that eggs cost $4.95 per dozen on average in late February, which is twice the average price under Biden.

US authorities have located the person responsible for the bombing of the 2021 Kabul airport.

Trump claimed that the US had arrested “the top terrorist responsible” for the suicide bombing that claimed 13 lives during the Afghan army’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Trump stated in his address, “Tonight, I’m pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity.” And he is currently heading for the American justice system’s swift sword.

Source: Aljazeera