Trump airs familiar grievances, charts MAGA plan in address before bitterly divided Congress
Sen. Elissa Slotkin delivered the Democratic response to Trump's address.
President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, six weeks into his historic return to the White House.
During the speech, Trump said "America is back" and defended the tariffs on key U.S. trading partners. He touched on immigration and the mineral deal with Ukraine, but neglected to go into detail on his economic plan. The speech was also met with protests and disruptions from Democrats.
Key headlines:
- Slotkin encourages concerned Americans not to despair and organize
- Slotkin: Reagan 'rolling in his grave' over Trump's foreign policy approach
- Slotkin slams DOGE, Trump over mass firings of federal workers
- Slotkin criticizes Musk's power in government
- Slotkin starts with economy, says Trump talked a 'big game'
Trump surpasses some of his previous addresses in length
Surpassing the one hour mark, Trump’s address is now longer than his first joint session of Congress in 2017, which lasted about one hour.
His 2019 State of the Union speech was one hour and 22 minutes long, which marked the third longest address.
Former President Bill Clinton’s 2000 speech was the longest, sitting at just over one hour and 28 minutes.
Trump calls for 13-year-old's dream of being a police officer to come true
Trump called attention to 13-year-old DJ Daniel, who aspires to become a police officer but was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018.
"The doctors gave him five months at most to live. That was more than six years ago," Trump said. "Since that time, DJ and his dad have been on a quest to make his dream come true."
"And tonight, DJ, we're going to do you the biggest honor of them all. I am asking our new Secret Service Director Sean Curran to officially make you an agent of the United States."
Daniel reacted with a face of shock, before his dad lifted up to the crowd. DJ proudly raised a certificate and was met with claps, chants and cheers.
In one of the rare moments, a Democrat stood in support. Rep. Laura Gillen, rose up and applauded for Daniel.
Claim: There will be a little disturbance for Americans because of tariffs
FACT CHECK: This is lacking context.
The Yale Budget Lab estimates that the tariffs could cost the average household up to $2,000 annually. Cars and car parts are big exports from Canada and Mexico, and tariffs could increase the cost of a new car by over $3,000 per vehicle on top of last year’s average new car price of $44,811, according to JP Morgan Research.
Most economists predict that prices, and therefore, inflation will go up, with consumers seeing higher prices for food, gasoline, clothes, shoes, toys and other household items.
-ABC News' Soo Youn
Democrats yell 'January 6th' as Trump talks law enforcement
Several Democrats including Rep. Veronica Escobar yelled "January 6th" as Trump discussed law enforcement and protecting police officers.
Trump pardoned all of the defendants charged with the riot.