President Donald Trump has declared that his administration is “just getting started” in his first joint address to Congress of his second term, as he touted his domestic and international achievements and criticised Democrats.
The speech, delivered to a palpably divided chamber in which several Democrats held signs of protest, caps a dramatic few months in which Trump has unleashed an aggressive agenda to reshape US trade and foreign policy.
It comes on the day Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, the US’s biggest trading partners, as well as additional 10 per cent levies on China, sending US stocks plummeting.
During his address, Trump defended his tariffs, arguing that the measures were “not just about protecting American jobs, they’re about protecting the soul of our country”. However, he admitted that the levies would cause “disturbance”.
Trump pledged to balance the federal budget, while also saying he would press ahead with planned tax cuts, calling this “a very big part of our plan”.
He added that his administration would “reclaim power from this unaccountable bureaucracy” amid an aggressive push to slash federal government spending.
Trump’s remarks on Ukraine and Russia will be among the most closely watched of the night, coming on the heels of his move to cut off military aid to Kyiv and last week’s big Oval Office altercation with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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