Trump Delivers Address to Congress

by Sharon Rondeau

(Mar. 4, 2025) — At 9:20 p.m. EST Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump opened his address to Congress in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives after taking office for his second term 43 days before.

Upon entering the chamber he was greeted by applause and whistling as well as the traditional entrance flanked by members of Congress, preceded by some members of the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We are just getting started,” he began his speech, after stating his administration has “accomplished more” during that time than others have in four or eight years.

After he said his campaign won the November 5 election overwhelmingly, it appeared a negative response emanated from some in attendance, but seconds later chants of “USA, USA” overcame it.

At 9:24, it became evident catcalls and objections were emanating from the chamber.

“Mr. Green, take your seat, sir,” Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said to Rep. Al Green of Texas, who stood up and waved a cane amid the chaos.

When Green refused to sit down, Johnson called for the sergeant-at-arms to remove him from the chamber, after which Green and several others departed.

“Our presidency is the most successful in the history of our nation,” Trump resumed speaking. Democrats objected by holding black signs with white lettering bearing the word “False.”

Trump said the “lowest ever recorded” crossings of illegal aliens was recently accomplished as a result of his enforcement of the northern and southern borders.

“There is nothing I can say to make them happy,” Trump said of “Democrats.” “These people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements…it shouldn’t be that way.”

He called upon Democrats to “celebrate,” work together,” and “make America great again.”

A camera momentarily turning to former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who tore up Trump’s 2020 State of the Union speech as she sat behind him in what is now Speaker Johnson’s seat, showed she, too, held a cane in her hands.

Pelosi, 84, underwent hip surgery in December, it was reported.

Trump touted his relaxing of “restrictions,” “rules and regulations” as well as mandating federal workers to return to their physical offices vacated after the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He went on to list other actions he has taken such as renaming the “Gulf of Mexico” the “Gulf of America.”

“DEI” has been purged from government agencies, he said, “and we will be ‘woke’ no longer.”

“Merit” will determine employment and promotions, he said.

The “official policy” of the U.S. government is “that there are only two genders,” Trump said.

He introduced Peyton McNabb, seated next to Vice President Vance’s wife Uma. At age 17 McNabb was severely injured by a ball pitched toward her by a biological male playing on her volleyball team.

At 9:39, Trump focused on “inflation” and his efforts to “make America affordable again.”

“Egg prices,” he said, are “out of control,” stating USDA Commissioner Brooke Rollins “inherited a mess” in that regard.

Efforts to harness America’s energy sources, he said, will be expanded significantly.

He decried the “waste” identified by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the millions and billions, much of it in foreign countries.

Calling the expenditures “scams,” Trump said, “this is just the beginning.”

“Annual fraud,” he said, is estimated at “$500 billion” by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

“The days of unelected bureaucrats are over,” he said at 9:54.

He urged Congress to extend the tax cuts from his first term which will soon expire and reiterated his desire not to tax Social Security benefits or tips earned by hourly workers.

At 9:58, he expounded on the tariffs he placed on Mexico, China and Canada effective at midnight Tuesday and enumerated tariffs currently imposed on the U.S. by countries around the world.

“On April second,” he said, “reciprocal tariffs kick in, and whatever they tariff us (other countries), we tariff them.”

He criticized Mexico and Canada for “allowing fentanyl” to cross the borders and kill Americans. “We pay subsidies” to those countries, he said, but “we’re not going to do it any longer.”

“It may be a little of an adjustment period” after the additional tariffs take effect on April 2, he said, indicating he “loves our farmers.”

At 10:05, he introduced Jeff Denard, a steelworker from Alabama who Trump said has “provided a loving home for over 40 foster children.”

“Stories like Jeff’s,” he said, indicate tariffs will improve Americans’ economic success.

He moved on to the topic of illegal aliens, 21 million of whom he said entered the country during the Biden years. At 10:10 p.m., he introduced the mother and sister of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student brutally killed by an illegal as she was on a morning jog at the campus of the University of Georgia.

The first bill he signed, Trump said, was the “Laken Riley Act” on January 29.

“We are achieving the ‘Great Liberation of America,’” Trump said, following the overtaking of such cities as Aurora, CO and Springfield, OH by illegals.

After introducing Alexis Nungaray, the mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, he recounted Jocelyn’s torture and death last year in Texas by two illegal aliens and announced he had renamed a wildlife refuge for her due to her love for animals.

He went on to introduce Border Patrol agent Roberto Ortiz, whose gallantry after coming under attack from cartel members saved the life of his coworker.

At 10:20, he declared Mexico to have “handed over” 29 drug-cartel leaders in an unprecedented move he attributed to “the tariffs.”

He indicated his support for law enforcers and firefighters.

He recounted the on-duty killing of Officer Jonathan Diller, introducing his widow, Stephanie.

He promised her he would “get these cold-blooded killers” off the streets and had signed an executive order calling for an automatic death penalty for anyone convicted of murdering a police officer.

Additional topics raised were rising childhood cancer and autism rates and “transgender” ideology and “mutilation.”

“Woke” practices are now banished from the U.S. military, he said, recognizing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the improved recruiting in January 2025.

The Panama Canal, he said, will be “reclaimed” by the U.S. “The Panama Canal was built for Americans by Americans…38,000 Americans died building the Panama Canal…,” he said. “It was given away by the Carter administration for $1.00. We gave it to Panama; we’re taking it back…and we have Marco Rubio in charge.”

As for Greenland, he said, “if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America.” The country is important for “national security,” he said.

At 10:45, he turned to the Russia-Ukraine war which he seeks to halt. He decried that Europe has given Ukraine roughly one-third that of the U.S. and continues to buy “Russian oil and gas.”

Both Ukraine and Russia say they are “ready for peace,” Trump announced, referencing a letter he said he received from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On Friday, Zelenskyy met with Trump, Vance and members of the cabinet in the Oval Office purportedly to sign a minerals agreement between the two nations but devolving into Trump’s expulsion of Zelenskyy from the premises.