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In the six weeks since Donald Trump has returned to the White House, he has empowered an angry billionaire to fire tens of thousands of people across multiple government departments, alienated historic allies in Europe and Canada, abandoned Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion, and wiped out all stock market gains of the year with tariffs against America’s neighbors.
Or as the president himself called it in his first address to Congress of his second term, “nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country.”
It’s a perk of the job that the president gets to write his own performance review, but even for a man not known for his modesty, this was a generous one.
He exaggerated the size of his mandate, claiming to have won the “popular vote by big numbers” when in fact he won by one of the smallest margins since the Second World War. He proclaimed his first month in office “the most successful in the history of our nation.” He claimed to have “brought back free speech in America” and seemed hurt that the Democrats assembled before him would not applaud his “astronomical achievements.”
But the achievements he was most emphatic about are, conveniently, the most difficult to measure. Like scotch mist, difficult to grasp.
“America’s MOMENTUM is back. Our SPIRIT is back. Our PRIDE is back. Our CONFIDENCE is back,” he said, as federal workers fired by Elon Musk looked on aghast.
Trump entered the chamber to applause from Republicans eager to cheer for anything. Any movement, hint of a joke or pause, was jumped on by the party that has been bent to his will.
He spoke for two hours, painting a picture of a country already reinvigorated by his return and on the verge of greatness once again.
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The Democrats did what they usually do in Congress and protested ineffectively. Some held signs that said: “That’s a lie,” and “Musk steals.” A handful of representatives walked out of the chamber as Trump spoke. Rashida Tlaib, refusing to be bound by one protest sign for the entire speech, brought a whiteboard which she used to adapt her messaging throughout.
Texas representative Al Green made perhaps the most notable stand, shouting out “you have no mandate” repeatedly before being escorted out of the chamber by the Sergeant at Arms.
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It didn’t seem to break Trump’s stride. Before long his speech settled into the usual rally patter, reading from a script but breaking away in moments to deliver his signature notes.
The president paid tribute to Elon Musk, who appropriately looked down on members of Congress from the lofty gallery above. He spoke with astonishment at all of the savings Musk had found, both real and imagined. He was aghast to learn that the government had been funding “illegal alien hotel rooms,” “social and behavior change in Uganda” and “improving learning outcomes in Asia.” He repeated a brazen lie that Social Security was being paid to people over 120 years old. The claim, first made by Musk, was the result of the billionaire’s inability to read a spreadsheet.
He didn’t mention the life-changing Ebola prevention and HIV treatment that also found its way onto the chopping board. But if he had, his party would have cheered that too.
There were only brief mentions of the rampant inflation that was a cornerstone of his campaign, but an afterthought of his first six weeks in power.
“Joe Biden especially let the price of EGGS get out of control—and we are working hard to get it back down. A major focus of our fight to defeat inflation is rapidly reducing the cost of energy,” Trump said.
In fact, he spent more time talking about his new friend Musk (40 seconds) than he did about the economy (30 seconds).
Marjorie Taylor Greene was the happiest person in the room. But heckling is so embedded in her DNA that she often seemed torn between applauding and jeering Democrats across the room.
JD Vance and Mike Johnson, seated behind Trump at the podium and visible for the entirety of the speech, competed for the title of most obsequious sidekick.
Vance in an ill-fitting suit, and Johnson in stern glasses, they looked every bit an awkward comedy duo.
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Trump managed a solemn moment when he paid tribute to the family of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered by a Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally while she was jogging in Athens, Georgia.
Her death became a rallying cry for Republicans in their campaign against what they claimed was Biden’s lax approach to border security.
“Laken was stolen from us by a savage illegal alien gang member who was arrested while trespassing across Biden’s open southern border and then set loose into the United States under the heartless policies of that failed administration,” Trump said.
“I told Laken’s grieving parents that we would ensure their daughter would not have died in vain,” he added.
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He reverted to form soon after, denying the existence of trans people entirely and calling for new laws to enforce his dangerous view.
“I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body,” he said. “This is a big lie.”
He also repeated his threats to annex Greenland — “We need it for international world security. And I think we’re gonna get it. One way or the other we’re gonna get it” — and seize back the Panama Canal.
For as bitter as Trump’s speeches can be, and for all of the bellicosity of the last six weeks, some might even call his address restrained. Unhinged in parts, of course, but in other parts a softening of some of the language he would use outside of the chamber.
He did not repeat his plans to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” and he softened his tone on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, reading aloud a conciliatory letter he received from him just hours earlier.
It was also full of contradictions. Trump spoke of his desire to launch a new “Golden Age,” and to “plant the American flag on the planet Mars.”
But many will be left wondering how he plans to achieve those lofty goals when he can’t bring even down the price of eggs.
