Donald Trump’s first address to Congress in his second term took place against a backdrop of tension. As evidence, the speech began with the expulsion of a Democratic representative who was interrupting the Republican president in a sign of protest.
It is a tradition of the American political system. The new president addresses a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate six weeks after taking office. This speech often resembles a state-of-the-union address, but last night was far from solemn in tone. Trump also broke the record for the longest such speech, previously held by Bill Clinton in 1993: he spoke for more than an hour and forty minutes.
Democratic representatives repeatedly shouted that he was stating falsehoods. The American president repeated phrases similar to those from his inauguration, taking care to add the many executive orders issued in recent weeks. Donald Trump also broke a record on that front, signing 70 executive orders in his first 100 days in the White House, the most in 40 years.
The president used his platform to reiterate his message that Canada and Mexico are not doing enough to control the flow of fentanyl into the United States. Donald Trump insisted that tariffs would make America wealthy again, and that his protectionist measures would benefit farmers. « There will be a little turbulence (with the tariffs), but stay with me. It will be great after that. »
The objective of the speech was clear: by imposing tariffs, Trump hopes to force foreign companies, including those based in Canada, to relocate to the United States.
The leader of the world power also insinuated that he would take Greenland one way or another, assuring its people they would be well treated if they joined the United States. He made similar remarks about the Panama Canal, which he openly covets.
Nearly half of Donald Trump’s speech was devoted to stories of citizens who had experienced difficult situations, particularly grieving families who had lost a loved one due to the actions of undocumented immigrants.
Promising to restore peace to the streets of American cities, the president said he would deport criminal undocumented immigrants from the country, and revisited his idea of a $5-million residency card to attract wealthy newcomers to American soil. He also returned to his tax cuts, which will benefit primarily those earning more than $300,000 annually.
Donald Trump’s first address to Congress reflected the tone of the opening weeks of his second term: polarizing and uncompromising. It remains to be seen whether this strategy of permanent confrontation will bear fruit, as the American administration already appears to be looking to partially walk back its tariff measures against Canada.
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