“We are only starting to start”: Tuesday evening, speaking for an hour and 40 minutes in front of the congress, Donald Trump broke the previous record set by Democratic President Bill Clinton during his speech on the state of the Union in 2000.
For his first major speech before the congress since his return to power, tinged with tension and jubilation, Donald Trump approached several subjects, such as “wokism”, customs rights, war in Ukraine or Greenland. Overview of the main declarations of the White House tenant.
Customs duties to “defend the very soul of our country”
Customs duties could provoke “some disturbances” in the American economy, “but we agree with that,” said the American president. “Customs duties will make the United States again rich and large. It will happen and even rather quickly. There will be some disturbances, but we agree with that. It will not be much,” he said.
This is the first time that Donald Trump also clearly recognizes that customs duties may have an impact on the American economy. He had so far assured that prices would drop and that the Americans would not feel their effects, the customs duties being paid, according to him, by foreign companies.
According to Donald Trump, customs duties will also protect American farmers, because “no one will be able to compete”. “Customs duties are not only used to protect the jobs of Americans, but also to defend the very soul of our country,” said Donald Trump
“Nothing can stop the American dream”
“Nothing can stop the American dream,” Donald Trump said on Tuesday evening. “America has regained its momentum. Our mind is back. Our pride is back. Our self-confidence is back. And the American dream is sweeping, stronger and better than ever. Nothing can stop the American dream,” said the republican president. The United States is “about to know a return in force as the world has never known it and may never know more,” said the republican billionaire.
Volodymyr Zelensky would be “ready” to negotiate with Russia
Donald Trump did not linger on Ukraine on Tuesday evening, after his incredible altercation on Friday with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, under the eyes of the whole world. The American president said, however, that his Ukrainian counterpart would be “ready” to negotiate with Russia and to sign an agreement on minerals. “I received an important letter from Ukrainian President Zelensky. The letter says that Ukraine is ready to sit at the negotiation table as soon as possible to get closer to lasting peace,” said Donald Trump.
“He said: ‘My team and I are ready to work under the energetic leadership of President Trump to obtain lasting peace. We really appreciate everything that America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence,” said Donald Trump.
Greenland recovered “in one way or another”
Donald Trump reaffirmed his expansionist aims on Tuesday, notably in Greenland that he intends to recover “in one way or another”, in a discourse at Congress where foreign policy has not had a predominant place. “I also have a message to send this evening to the incredible people of Greenland. We strongly support your right to determine your own future and, if you wish, we welcome you to the United States of America,” said the American president, in the form of an invitation made to the population of this Danish autonomous territory.
“We really need it for international security and I think we will get it. In one way or another, we will get it,” he said. “We will ensure your safety, we will make you rich and, together, we will lead Greenland to peaks that you would never have imagined possible,” he said.
Donald Trump also said that the United States was going to “resume” the Panama canal after the announcement that two ports held by the Hong Kong giant Hutchison will be given to an American consortium. “To further strengthen our national security, my administration will take over the Panama canal, and we have already started to do so,” he said, referring to this agreement announced on Tuesday.
“Thank you Elon (Musk), he works a lot”
Donald Trump applauds Elon Musk, who undertook at his request to dismantle the federal government and slash in public spending. “Many scams have been found and denounced and we put an end to it thanks to a group of very intelligent, rather young people, led by Elon. […] Thank you Elon, he works a lot, “he said, while Tesla and Spacex boss, who is the richest man in the world, got up.
“Our country will no longer be ‘woke'”
The United States will no longer be a country “‘Woke’,” said Donald Trump in the United States Congress, to the applause of republican parliamentarians. By this pejorative term, the conservatives designate what they consider to be an excess of activism with regard to the demands of minorities.
A speech marked by tensions
On the left, dismay, on the right, jubilation: Donald Trump’s speech was made in an atmosphere of palpable tension, the division between Democrats and Republicans having rarely been so visible. When Donald Trump joins the perch, half a republican hemicycle takes up “USA!” “USA!” And jubilation is read on many faces. On the other side, the elected democrats sit seated, the serious mine. Some brandish small “Musk flies” signs. When the US President claims to defend the law enforcement, the opposition replied “January 6”. That day in 2021, supporters of Donald Trump had taken the Washington Capitol to storm the vain police attempts to repress them.
A few minutes after the start of the speech, the Democrat Al Green rises and launches the president “You do not have a mandate” to cut into public spending. His protest is drowned by the Republicans, a standing wind, who were unrealizing to sit down and repeat their “USA”, “USA”. Al Green refuses and, after a few minutes, is expelled from the assembly, under the mockery of the right.
The demonstrations of frank hostility on the one hand, and of playful membership on the other gave the event an air of show of Vaudeville, far from the decorum expected for the parliament of the first world power. A few hours before Donald Trump’s arrival at the Capitol, a dozen outdoor demonstrators brandished signs “stood up to the tyranny”, or “Musk must go”.