A triumphant U.S. President Donald Trump told Congress on Tuesday that "America is back" after he reshaped U.S. foreign policy, ignited a trade war and ousted tens of thousands of government workers in six tumultuous weeks since returning to power, drawing jeers from some Democrats who walked out in protest.
The prime time speech, his first to Congress since taking office on January 20, followed a second day of market turmoil after he imposed sweeping new tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China.
Trump devoted only a few minutes of his speech to foreign policy. He signaled a willingness to press ahead with a minerals deal with Ukraine that was set aside after last week's disastrous White House meeting.
"Simultaneously, we've had serious discussions with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace," Trump said. "Wouldn't that be beautiful?"
And he repeated his promises – though without adding detail – to bring peace to the Middle East and expand the Abraham Accords, deals signed during his first term that established relations between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors.
Trump vowed to balance the federal budget, even as he urged lawmakers to enact a sweeping tax cut agenda that analysts say could add more than $5 trillion to the federal government's $36 trillion debt load. Congress needs to raise the nation's debt ceiling later this year or risk a devastating default.
The speech shared some of the hallmarks of Trump's campaign rallies. Trump repeatedly assailed his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, attacked immigrant criminals as "savages" and promised to ban what he called "transgender ideology," all while peppering his remarks with exaggerated or false claims.
Democratic protests
"To my fellow citizens, America is back," Trump began to a standing ovation from fellow Republicans. "Our country is on the verge of a comeback the likes of which the world has never witnessed, and perhaps will never witness again."
Democrats held up signs with messages like "No King!" and "This Is NOT Normal," and about half the Democrats had walked out by the end of the speech.
One Texas congressman, Al Green, was ordered removed after he refused to sit down.
Trump, a political brawler by nature, reveled in the disagreements.
"I look at the Democrats in front of me, and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud," he said after Green's ejection.
The speech took place in the House of Representatives, where lawmakers huddled in fear for their lives four years ago while a mob of Trump supporters ransacked the Capitol in an unsuccessful effort to overturn Biden's 2020 victory over the then-incumbent Trump.
The Democrats chose to give their rebuttal speech to moderate U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin who invoked an iconic Republican president in criticizing Trump.
"As a Cold War kid, I'm thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in the 1980s. Trump would have lost us the Cold War," Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who won election in Michigan in November even as Trump carried her state, said, referring to President Ronald Reagan. "Donald Trump's actions suggest that, in his heart, he doesn't believe we are an exceptional nation."