What Happened

 

On March 4, 2025, President Trump delivered his first joint address to Congress as the 47th President, speaking for a record-setting hour and forty minutes. After a rowdy start in the House chamber—which resulted in one Democratic lawmaker’s removal by the Sergeant at Arms—President Trump launched into a lengthy, and often ad-libbed, speech that centered on restoring “common sense, safety, optimism, and wealth” to the United States.

 

President Trump explicitly referenced his victory in the electoral college and the popular vote in 2024 as conferring a mandate on his administration—particularly with respect to defeating inflation, balancing the budget, and reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy. He stated that “Americans have given us a mandate for bold and profound change” and that “[t]he nation founded by pioneers and risk-takers now drowns under millions and millions of pages of regulations and debt.”

 

Special guests of First Lady Melania Trump, who were highlighted throughout the President’s address, included, in order of appearance:

 

• Payton McNabb, a former high school athlete, traumatic brain injury survivor, and advocate for protecting women’s sports;

• Jeff Denard, a longtime steelworker;

• Haley Ferguson, a former foster child and recipient of the First Lady’s Fostering the Future scholarship;

• Elliston Berry, a survivor of deepfake revenge pornography and advocate for the TAKE IT DOWN Act;

• Allyson and Lauren Phillips, the mother and sister of Laken Riley;

• Alexis Nungaray, the mother of Jocelyn Nungaray;

• Roberto Ortiz, a U.S. Border Patrol officer; ▪ Stephanie Diller, the widow of Jonathan Diller;

• January Littlejohn, a parents’ rights advocate who sued her local school board after school officials socially transitioned her daughter without her knowledge;

• Marc Fogel, an American wrongfully detained by Russia and released in February, who attended with his 95-year-old mother Malphine; and

• Helen, Allyson, and Kaylee Comperatore, the widow and daughters of Corey Comperatore.

 

President Trump also dedicated key moments to audience members D.J. Daniel, a 13-year-old with brain cancer whom he made a member of the U.S. Secret Service during the speech, and Jason Hartley, a high school senior whose acceptance to West Point was announced during the address. Looking Back: The First 43 Days President Trump highlighted the action-packed start to his second term, which included signing a slew of nearly 100 Executive Orders (EOs) and more than 400 executive actions. In particular, the President touched on:

 

• Border security: Declared a national emergency at the southern border and deployed the U.S. military to secure the border, resulting in the “lowest ever recorded” number of illegal border crossings in the month of February. Signed the Laken Riley Act into law.

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• DOGE: Immediately imposed a freeze on all federal hiring. Established Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), resulting in numerous federal contracts terminated and initiatives defunded. The President detailed many examples of DOGE-terminated projects, and insinuated that Social Security fraud would soon be targeted by his administration.

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• Regulatory reform: Immediately imposed a freeze on all new federal regulations. Required that for every new regulation, ten must be rescinded.

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•  Energy & environment: Declared a national energy emergency. Withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, rescinded Biden-era executive orders and actions on energy, and directed the termination of the “electric vehicle mandate” (i.e., commenced a review of fuel economy standards).

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• Tariffs: The President framed his tariff actions positively, saying that “a combination of the election win and tariffs” had already led to growth in the U.S. auto industry. He highlighted special guest Jeff Denard, a Nucor Steel worker, in the context of steel tariffs: “Stories like Jeff’s remind us that tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs. They are about protecting the soul of our country.”

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•  Social issues: Spoke extensively about ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government. Thanked the Supreme Court for its “brave and very powerful” 6-3 decision to end affirmative action in college admissions. Signed EOs making it the official policy of the United States that there are only two genders, banning men in women’s sports, and cutting off federal funding from institutions that permit “the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”

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• Foreign policy: Immediately imposed a freeze on all foreign aid. Withdrew the United States from the U.N. Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization.

 

Looking Forward: Legislative & Policy Agenda

 

The President laid out his agenda, including specific calls to action for Congress:

 

•  Taxes: The President stated that “the next phase of our plan to deliver the greatest economy in history is for this Congress to pass tax cuts for everybody.” The President voiced support for the following tax policies:

  • No tax on tips

  • No tax on overtime

  • No tax on Social Security benefits

  • Make interest payments on car loans tax deductible, but only if the car is made in the U.S.

  • 100 percent expensing for qualified property for manufacturers, retroactive to January 20, 2025

  •  Special tax incentives to build ships in the U.S., to be run out of a new office within the White House focused on shipbuilding

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• Trade and tariffs: The President discussed a number of forthcoming actions on trade policy:

  • Previewed his reciprocal tariff plan, set to take effect on April 2, 2025, citing examples of higher foreign tariffs faced by U.S. exporters to the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico, Canada, and South Korea. He stated, “[w]hatever they tax us, we will tax them” and that the United States would also put in place “nonmonetary barriers” to counter “nonmonetary tariffs” if applicable.

  • While discussing increased investment in the United States, the President said that “if you don’t make your product in America […] you will pay a tariff and in some cases, a rather large one.”

  • The President said that he had imposed 25% tariffs on aluminum, copper, lumber, and steel. (Tariffs on steel and aluminum are set to increase on March 12, while copper and lumber imports Origin Advocacy is a global consulting and government affairs firm based in Washington, D.C. providing clients with strategic counsel, effective risk management, and advocacy before the U.S. federal government. OriginAdvocacy.com. must be investigated by the Department of Commerce before the President may impose tariffs.)

  • The President acknowledged that, with increased tariffs, “there will be a little disturbance,” particularly for American farmers. He asked American farmers to “bear with” him again, in reference to the tariff war and “Phase One” deal with China from his first term.

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• CHIPS Act: President Trump called the bipartisan CHIPS Act “a horrible, horrible thing” and told Speaker Johnson, “you should rid of [it].” He further stated that tariffs should be sufficient incentives for companies to build in America.

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• Critical minerals: President Trump announced that he would, later this week, “take historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths” in the United States.

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•  Investor visas: The President announced that a “Gold Card” will soon be introduced to create a pathway to citizenship for foreigners who invest at least $5 million in the United States (i.e., the administration will attempt to restructure the existing EB-5 investor visa program).

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• Revenge pornography: The President called on Congress to pass the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which was endorsed by First Lady Melania Trump on March 3, 2025, and passed the Senate unanimously on February 13, 2025.

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•  Border security: President Trump called on Congress to fulfill his $175 billion funding request for border security, including border wall construction and the hiring of additional ICE officers.

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•  Law enforcement: The President called on Congress to pass into law a mandatory death penalty for anyone convicted of murdering a law enforcement officer. (The Thin Blue Line Act would make killing or attempting to kill a law enforcement officer an aggravating factor in favor of the death penalty.) The President also said that he would be supporting a “new crime bill” to crack down on repeat offenders and provide more protections for police officers.

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•  Childhood cancer: The President touched on the increase in childhood cancer rates since 1975, stating that reversing this trend would be a top priority of his administration under the leadership of HHS Secretary RFK Jr.

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• Sex change surgery for children: President Trump called on Congress to pass legislation “permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children.”

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•  Defense: The President called on Congress to fund a U.S. equivalent of Israel’s Iron Dome, to be named the “golden dome.” This request builds on the President’s January 27, 2025 Executive Order, “The Iron Dome for America.” The President also announced that the U.S. had apprehended, with the assistance of Pakistan, terrorist Mohammed Sharifullah, who is believed to be responsible for planning the Abbey Gate suicide bombing that killed 13 American servicemembers during the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan.

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• Foreign policy: The President reiterated that the U.S. would be “taking […] back” the Panama Canal, appealed to the people of Greenland to join the United States, and took a victory lap on the Abraham Accords. He discussed Ukraine at greater length, saying that Ukraine had agreed to come back to the negotiating table and sign a deal to give critical minerals to the United States as payment for military aid. The President also said that he had received “strong signals” that Russia is “ready for peace.”