President Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress was a highly anticipated and contentious event. He began by saying,
“The American Dream is unstoppable.” Throughout his 1 hour and 40-minute speech, Trump discussed various topics, including the price of eggs, energy prices, supporting police officers and firefighters, a peace agreement for ending the Russia- Ukrainian War, and tariffs.
Trump’s speech was met with heckling from Democratic Representative Al Green, who was eventually removed from the chamber by the sergeant-at-arms. Trump appeared to revel in the partisan rancor, saying, “There is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy”.
One of the notable moments of the speech was when Trump sent a conciliatory message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying that Zelenskyy was ready to sign a minerals deal and come to the negotiating table to end the war.
Trump also took the opportunity to praise his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who was watching from the gallery. Trump said, “Thank you, Elon. He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this.” Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency taskforce has been working to cut billions of dollars in foreign aid and slash programs across the US government.
The speech was followed by responses from various Democratic leaders, including Senator Elissa Slotkin, who delivered the Democratic response, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who responded on Instagram Live.