Kenny Holston / EPA
Donald Trump, President of the USA, in the State of the Union address
Almost two hours of talking: the alleged golden age of the USA, the economy stronger than ever – and the Democratic congressman escorted out of the plenary.
Donald Trump This morning he gave his first speech on the State of the Union of the second term, before a joint session of Congress. It was the longest speech ever in this context, it lasted almost 1h48m. In fact, Tump had already said that he would talk a lot because he had “a lot to say.”
The tone was triumphant: “Tonight, just one year [de ter tomado posse]I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved an unprecedented transformation and a historic turnaround. We will never go back to where we were a short time ago.”
The head of state stated that the country is going through “golden age”.
“Our nation is back. Bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever”, he stated, being applauded by his allies in Congress.
The President began by highlighting his economic policy, arguing that it has boosted the nation’s job market and industry – hoping to convince increasingly skeptical Americans that the economy is stronger than many believe.
“A economy is stronger than ever“, he defended.
However, economic experts say that salaries are being outpaced by the high cost of living, with increasingly expensive housing, childcare and healthcare.
Associated Press-NORC polls show that most Americans don’t think the country is on the right track economically.
About two-thirds of American adults continue to say the country’s economy is bad.
“From 1776 to today, each generation of Americans has stepped up to defend life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for generations to come. Now, it’s our turn. Together, we are building a nation where every child has the chance to aim higher and go further – where the Government responds to the people, not to the powerful – and where the interests of hard-working American citizens are always our first and last concern,” said the President.
Rates
The American leader took the opportunity to address the ruling by the Supreme Court last Friday, which ruled that Trump exceeded his authority by imposing sweeping tariffs on several countries using a law reserved for national emergencies, and struck down part of that tariff policy.
This is a rare setback for the Government in the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority.
But the Republican tycoon assured, before the judges who were watching the speech at the Capitol, that will use other laws to apply tariffs“leading to an even stronger solution than before.”
Biden and threats
Trump also classified his predecessor, Joe Biden, like a “disaster” and attributed the “housing problem” in the country to the former Democratic President.
The North American President stated that he will seek peace wherever he can, but assured that he “will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever necessary”.
At a time when the United States is considering an attack on Iran, Trump assured: “As President, I will seek peace where I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever needed.”
Concrete announcements for the future were rare. Vice President JD Vance will lead a “war on fraud”; and Trump will negotiate a “ratepayer protection compromise” to soften the impact of new data centers on household electricity costs.
“They haven’t seen anything yet!” warned the US president.
Foreign policy was almost not a topic. The war in Ukraine has almost been forgotten.
“Lied”
Donald Trump said that a Ukrainian refugee was murdered in North Carolina by an immigrant – but the suspect is an American citizen.
He said he will “always protect” Medicaid – but the main legislation he signed in his second term is called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” and it provides for cuts that are expected to leave millions of people without health care.
On the opposition side, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger was clear: “In this speech, Donald Trump did what he always does: lied, looked for scapegoats, diverted attention and offered no real solutions to our nation’s urgent challenges – many of which he is worsening.”
“Who benefits from his rhetoric? Someone must be benefiting. He is enriching himself, his family and friends. We all know that the president is not working for the people of the USA”, warned Abigail.
Al Green escorted (again)
In the first minutes of the speech, the Democratic congressman Al Green he was escorted out of the chamber as Republicans chant: “United States of America, United States of America.”
Al Green held a plate with the phrase “Black People Are Not Monkeys!” in an apparent reference to the image published recently by Donald Trump on social media, which depicts former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.
This was the second year in a row that the Texas Democrat was removed from the floor while the President was speaking in Congress.
