Musk, Melania, tariffs and wokeness: 10 key takeaways from Donald Trump’s passionate speech to US Congress

US President Donald Trump addressed the joint session of Congress on Tuesday night (US time). The address lasted about 100 minutes and was his first major speech to lawmakers since returning to the White House six weeks ago in January.

The speech touched on several of Trump’s favourite topics, including his administration’s US immigration policies and a strengthened law and order situation. President Trump basked in Republican applause for his administration’s swift early actions during the speech at the House chamber in the US Capitol.

President Trump was also greeted by protests from Democrats as he spoke to a joint session of Congress. Some Democrats wore T-shirts reading protest slogans while President Trump spoke.

-“America is back,” Trump said, kicking off his speech to applause from his fellow Republicans. “The American dream is surging bigger and better than ever before,” he said.

Trump also spoke about the ‘Gold Card’, which, he said, goes on sale very soon.” “It’s like the green card, but better and more sophisticated. These people will have to pay tax in our country,” Trump said on Tuesday.

Why is ‘wokeness bad? Trump explains

President Trump repeatedly taunted his predecessor, Joe Biden, calling him the worst president ever while accusing him of imposing “insane and very dangerous open border policies.”

“Our country will be woke no longer. We believe that whether you are a doctor, an accountant, a lawyer or (an) air traffic controller, you should be hired and promoted based on skills and competence, not race or gender,” he said, in an all-out attack against wokeism. “Wokeness is trouble, wokeness is bad, it’s gone and we feel so much better for it, don’t we?” he said.

Here are key takeaways from President Trump’s speech.

What did Trump say about tariffs?

President Donald Trump defended the sweeping 25 per cent tariffs he imposed earlier this week on products from Canada and Mexico, saying “now it’s our turn” after other countries have levied them against the United States.

“If you don’t make your product in America under the Trump administration, you will pay a tariff, and in some cases, a rather large one. Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades and now it’s our turn to start using them against those other countries,” Trump said as scores of Republicans stood to applaud his tariffs.

President Trump said tariffs are about “protecting the soul of our country.”

“There’ll be a little disturbance,” Trump added. “But we are ok with that. It won’t be much.”

What did he say on reciprocal tariffs on India?

Trump said reciprocal tariffs against India and China will take effect on April 2, 2025. Trump said the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada charge the US significantly higher tariffs than the US, and termed that as very unfair. Trump singled out India saying, “India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100 per cent.”

Why he blamed Joe Biden for egg prices?

Donald Trump repeatedly blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden in his speech and labelled the Democrat as “the worst US president in history.”

Trump said he would bring down, for example, the cost of eggs. “Joe Biden, especially, let the price of eggs get out of control,” Trump said.

Trump also accused Biden of leaving him problems from the previous administration. He blamed Biden for stubborn inflation, vowing he is “fighting every day to reverse this damage and make America affordable again.” Trump touted his administration’s efforts to lower energy prices, including expanding federal oil and gas leases.

Zelensky letter

During his speech Trump read from a letter from Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky he had received earlier in the day. “The letter reads Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” Trump said.

“Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians … My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”

Trump said he has been working tirelessly to end the conflict in Ukraine, where he says thousands of Russians and Ukrainians are being killed each week. Trump said he wants it to stop.

“You want it to keep going another five years?” he asked. Trump criticised Europe, saying that it has spent more money on Russian oil than it has on aiding Ukraine. The US has given hundreds of billions in aid to Ukraine, he said

On Friday, Trump and Vice-President, JD Vance, had a showdown with Zelensky in front of the press in the Oval Office.

Democrat Al Green escorted out

Democrat Representative Al Green from Texas interrupted and heckled President Trump address yelling, “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid.” Green was escorted out after he refused to stop shouting. Several other Democratic members walked out of the House in protest.

A group of House Democrats waved signs that read “Musk Steals,” “Save Medicaid” and “Protect Veterans.” Representative Rashida Tlaib from Michigan brought a whiteboard and wrote different messages on it through Trump’s speech, including “No King” and “Lies.” Some Democrats skipped the speech entirely.

Praises Musk and Melania

Donald Trump showered praise on Elon Musk, the billionaire he has tasked with overhauling the federal government and workforce. Musk, seated in the gallery above, stood when Republicans applauded him. At this moment, Democrats held signs that said, “Musk steals.”

The president said that Musk has found “hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud.”

Trump also praised his wife, Melania Trump for devoting herself to the foster community. Trump spoke about the Take It Down Act – which would make it a crime to post non-consensual intimate imagery online. Melania visited Capitol Hill on Monday to press for passage of the legislation.

Panama Canal and Greenland

Trump also reiterated to bring the Panama Canal and Greenland into US control. “We didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama. We’re taking it back,” Trump said of the Panama Canal.

Trump had a message for the “incredible people of Greenland.” We strongly support your right to determine your own future. And if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” says Trump. 

President Trump said that the US needs Greenland for national security and international security. “I think we’re gonna get it. One way or the other we’re gonna get it,” he said.

Left lunatics & law and order

President Trump said, as US ‘reclaims’ sovereignty, there was a need to bring law and order back to cities and towns. 

“In recent years, our justice system has been turned upside down by radical left lunatics. Many jurisdictions virtually ceased enforcing the law against dangerous repeat offenders while weaponising law enforcement against political opponents like me. My administration has acted swiftly and decisively to restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law starting at the FBI and DOJ (Department of Justice),” he said before giving a shoutout to newly-appointed US Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI chief Kash Patel.

The two-gender policy

Trump reiterated ‘two genders’ claim while addressing the Congress. ” We have removed the poison of critical race theory from our public schools. I signed an order making it the official policy of the US government that there are only two genders, male and female.”