Today's Edition
Washington (AFP)
Donald Trump declared "America is back" Tuesday in his first address to Congress since returning to power, touting his policies in the face of raucous Democratic hostility while proclaiming a breakthrough on Ukraine.
In the longest presidential speech to lawmakers on record, the Republican repeatedly hailed billionaire advisor Elon Musk's controversial assault on the federal bureaucracy and said his administration was "just getting started".
"The American Dream is unstoppable," said Trump in a speech lasting over one hour and 40 minutes, which beat Bill Clinton's record for his State of the Union speech in 2000.
Almost every line got loud applause from Republican Party members, including on two occasions when Trump singled out SpaceX and Tesla tycoon Musk, who stood up to salute Congress.
But protests also began within minutes.
One Democratic congressman, Al Green, was ejected because he refused to stop heckling Trump over healthcare programs, and shaking his walking stick at the president.
The 78-year-old president was undeterred, hailing his first six weeks and vowing to press on with his bid to reshape the US government and end the Ukraine war -- whatever the cost.
At one point he called attention to a boy with brain cancer who -- in front of Congress -- was handed an official ID by the head of the Secret Service.
He claimed that he was trying to resolve an "economic catastrophe," despite inheriting the strongest developed economy in the world from his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.
He defended his disruptive economic moves -- even as the trade war he launched against Canada, China and Mexico is prompting jitters on world markets.
"We have been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on earth," Trump said.
After a torrent of warnings that tariffs will badly hurt US exporters, including politically powerful farmers, he conceded they would bring "a little disturbance."
And after enumerating a series of murders committed by migrants, Trump got big applause when he vowed to "wage war" on Mexican drug cartels.
Well before he had finished, dozens of Democrats had already walked out.
Quest for power
Trump is pushing to extend presidential power to its limits, with the popular vote behind him and a Republican-controlled House and Senate doing his bidding.
"The days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over," Trump said.
Days after a televised row in the Oval Office with Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump said Ukraine's leader had told him he was now ready for talks with Russia and a US minerals deal.
"I received an important letter from President Zelensky of Ukraine. The letter reads (that) Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer," Trump said.
