“Grocery prices and home prices are going up, not down. And he hasn’t laid out a credible plan to deal with either of those.”Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin
Grocery prices aren’t actually rising by much, except for high-profile items such as eggs. Grocery costs, on average, have risen just 1.9% in the past year. At the peak of inflation in 2022, grocery prices soared more than 13% in a year.
“No CEO in America could do that without being summarily fired.”
Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin
Slotkin criticized a Trump administration effort led by Musk for firing scores of federal employees only to rehire them then after realizing those dismissed worked on critical issues.
She suggested that Musk himself would have lost his job if he had done similarly in the business world.
Slotkin said that President Trump is “trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends.”
Slotkin is attempting to present a refined economic message as the Democratic Party continues to struggle to unify around a strategy to counter Trump.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., rehearses the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of congress Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Wyandotte, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, Pool)
“America wants change, but there’s a responsible way to make change and a reckless way, and we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country and as a democracy.”
Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin
Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin is giving the Democratic response to Trump’s speech from Wyandotte, Michigan, where she noted that both she and Trump won with voters last November.
She opened her remarks promising to keep things much tighter than Trump, who set a record for a joint address to Congress by talking for around an hour and 40 minutes.
“America is once again standing strong against the forces of radical Islamic terrorism,” Trump said in reference to a 2021 attack in Afghanistan that killed more than a dozen American service members and around 170 Afghan civilians.
Muslims around the world, including an estimated 4.5 million who live in America, began observing on Friday the holy month of Ramadan, during which many fast, gather and commit to strengthening their faith.
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)
Trump has set a record for the longest address to a joint session of Congress. And it wasn’t even close.
He talked for more than an hour and 40 minutes, breaking the previous record set by President Bill Clinton’s 2000 State of the Union address, which ran 1 hour, 28 minutes and 49 seconds.
That’s according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara, which has tracked speech length since President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
Trump’s speech is not technically a State of the Union since he only took office about six weeks ago. But his lengthy address is nonetheless the longest offered to a joint session of Congress.
Donald Trump wraps his joint address to Congress
“The golden age of America has only just begun,” he told Congress as he finished his speech after speaking for nearly 100 minutes.
Republican lawmakers rose to their feet and cheered the conclusion of Trump’s address, pumping their hands in the air while chanting “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Democrats quickly streamed from the chamber while GOP lawmakers tallied to shake hands with the president.
“Our goal is to get toxins out of our environment, poisons out of our food supply and keep our children healthy and strong.”
Trump said that driving down childhood cancer rates and studying autism cases in the U.S. will be a top priority for his health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine and environmental advocate who is lobbying to redesign the U.S. food supply.
Childhood cancer remains rare in the U.S., with about 15,000 children diagnosed with the disease every year.
Cases of pediatric cancer have risen in recent years, but treatments have improved, leading to a decline in deaths from the disease.
Among 8-year-olds in the U.S., about 1 in 36 were diagnosed with autism in 2020.
“I received an important letter”
Trump recited a letter he received earlier Tuesday from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying that the wartime president wants to come back to the table after an explosive Oval office meeting last week broke down negotiations for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
“We’ve had serious discussions with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace,” Trump said. “Wouldn’t that be beautiful?”
President Trump says the U.S. government is extraditing a suspect in the deadly Abbey Gate bombing in the final days of the Afghanistan withdrawal that killed 13 American servicemembers.
The White House identified the man as Muhammed Sharifullah and said he was on his way to the U.S. to face charges.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the extradition was the result of work by the FBI, Justice Department and CIA.
“I am pleased to report that in January, the U.S. Army had its single best recruiting month in 15 years.”
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Army had its best recruiting in January, suggesting that the turnaround is tied to his time in office.
In fact, according to Army data, recruiting numbers have been increasing steadily over the past year, with the highest total coming in August 2024 — before the November election. Army officials closely track recruiting numbers.
A significant driver of the recruiting success was the Army’s decision to launch the Future Soldier Prep Course at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in August 2022. That program gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards and move on to basic training.
“And we have Marco Rubio in charge. Good luck, Marco. Now we know who to blame if anything goes wrong.”
Trump gave a shoutout to Marco Rubio, his secretary of state, as the president detailed his plans to “reclaim” the Panama Canal. But Trump’s comments appeared to also be a veiled warning for his Cabinet official, who is under immense pressure to execute massive cuts to U.S. foreign policy efforts abroad.
But he joked that he would “know who to blame if anything goes wrong,” resulting in some laughter from Republicans. He quickly pivoted to point out that Rubio was confirmed unanimously in the Senate and that “he’s going to do a fantastic job.”
Seated Democrats joined Republicans’ standing applause for Americans recently released from Russia through a deal brokered by the Trump administration.
A member of Congress holds up Ukraine’s flag as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
It was the only line from Trump’s speech that drew more applause from Democrats than Republicans, yet Democrats applauded as Trump acknowledged that the U.S. has sent billions of dollars in military aid for Ukraine.
A few Republicans also applauded but were more subdued. However, GOP lawmakers rose in a standing ovation when Trump told them that Ukraine was showing it was ready to negotiate a peace deal.
Trump says ‘we need Greenland’ in his joint address to Congress
“I think we’re going to get it. One way or another, we’re going to get it.”
Trump said the U.S. supports Greenland’s right to determine its own future but would “welcome” the country into the United States for national security — and to make them rich, he claims.
Since his first term in office, Trump has expressed interest in acquiring Greenland, which is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally and a founding member of NATO. It is also home to a large U.S. military base.
Democratic lawmakers are continuing to duck out of President Trump’s speech.
The Democratic side of the chamber now has plenty of open seats as lawmakers leave. Some made shows of their exit to protest the president’s remarks, while others appeared to be simply ducking out as Trump’s speech goes on.
The members of Congress included Reps. Veronica Escobar, Ilhan Omar, Pramila Jayapal and Jamie Raskin.
“I am announcing tonight that we will create a new office of shipbuilding in the White House and offer special tax incentives to bring this industry home to America.”
Trump wants the United States to start building more large ocean-going vessels. It’s a push also being made by labor unions who see job gains in shipyards. But it’s unclear just what Trump’s move would accomplish.
Trump’s address has gone beyond the 80-minute mark. His campaign speeches often went above 90 minutes. His inaugural address in January, however, was about 30 minutes long.
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)
President Donald Trump holds an executive order honoring Joseyln Nungaray as he addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“The death of this beautiful 12-year-old girl and the agony of her mother and family touched our entire nation greatly.”
Trump signed an executive order renaming a wildlife refuge for a young girl who prosecutors say was killed by two Venezuelan men in the country illegally.
Jocelyn Nungaray’s death was one of several cases last year that became flashpoints in the immigration debate. Prosecutors have charged two Venezuelan men who entered the U.S. illegally with capital murder. Nungaray’s mother campaigned for Trump. She was in the audience Tuesday as Trump gave his address.
Speaking of Jocelyn’s love of animals, Trump said he decided to rename the wildlife refuge near her Houston home for her.
Trump calls on Congress to criminalize sex changes for children
“I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body.”
Trump has already used executive actions to roll back a series of Biden administration policies promoting transgender rights, and he has vowed to stamp out “gender ideology.”
During his speech, the president asked Congress to limit gender-affirming surgeries performed on minors, though he offered few details. Some of Trump’s executive actions, meanwhile, have already been met by legal challenges.
“Beautiful towns like Aurora, Colorado, and Springfield, Ohio, buckled under the weight of the migrant occupation and corruption like no one’s ever seen before. Beautiful towns, destroyed.”
Both Springfield, Ohio, and Aurora, Colorado, are still standing, of course. Both figured in Trump’s campaign. The president amplified false conspiracy theories that legal Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating dogs and cats.
Aurora had a more serious issue — a series of incidents at rundown apartment complexes, one of which was captured on video that showed heavily armed men going door to door. But the buildings have since been closed and Aurora, population 400,000, is the size of Tampa. It never buckled.
Child who overcame cancer sworn in as honorary Secret Service member during Trump’s address to congress
More than a dozen Democrats joined Republicans in a standing ovation for a guest of Trump, a child diagnosed with cancer who Trump said aspires to become a policeman. The child, named DJ, was held up by his father as Republicans and attendees in the House gallery chanted “DJ.”
Trump announced DJ would be sworn in by his new Secret Service director as a member of the force. DJ was held up by his father as he received a Secret Service badge by Director Sean Curran.
Democrats then went largely silent as Trump discussed his health policies. Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib held up a whiteboard that read, “You cut cancer research.” One Republican shouted, “MAHA baby!”
“We’re also once again giving our police officers the support, protection and respect they so dearly deserve.”
While Trump is touting his support of police, one of his first actions after returning to the White House in January was granting clemency to the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot, including dozens of people who assaulted police.
Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas., first shouted “January 6th” as Trump recounted his plans for combatting crime throughout the country. At least a dozen Democrats joined in the repeated chant as Trump discussed the need to crack down on violent criminals.
Those pardoned include more than 250 people convicted of assault charges, including people who attacked police with makeshift weapons such as flagpoles, a hockey stick and a crutch. One officer suffered a heart attack after a rioter pressed a stun gun against his neck and repeatedly shocked him. Many of the crimes were captured on surveillance and body camera footage and detailed in harrowing court testimony from officers who desperately fought to protect the Capitol.
“HOLY COW!!!!!” reads the subject line of an email from former Vice President Kamala Harris seeking contributions to the Democratic National Committee.
Harris and the Democratic Party’s prodigious fundraising operation raised more than $1 billion in their campaign against Trump. But the former vice president has continued to solicit contributions under the “Harris Fight Fund.”
That’s the postelection label for the “Harris Victory Fund,” a joint fundraising operation of Harris’ campaign, the DNC and state Democratic parties.
“As we reclaim our sovereignty, we must also bring back law and order to our cities and towns. In recent years, our justice system has been turned upside down by Radical Left lunatics.”
Trump has long promoted a tough-on-crime agenda and sought to paint Democratic-led cities as besieged by violence, despite statistics showing a downward trend in violent crime after a coronavirus pandemic-era spike.
Trump’s comments also echo his campaign trail rhetoric about the need for more aggressive policing. He suggested last year that “one rough hour” of law enforcement action would tamp down retail theft. He has also advocated for ensuring that officers “have immunity from prosecution.”
First lady Melania Trump arrives in the House Chamber before President Donald Trump arrives to address a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“I’m going to use that bill for myself, too, if you don’t mind.”
Trump praised his wife for lobbying for a bill that would make it a federal crime to post intimate imagery online, whether real or fake. He thanked the Senate for passing the measure.
The president called it a “terrible, terrible thing” to publish such images online, and then seemingly joked he would use that bill for himself.
“Nobody that gets treated worse than I do online. Nobody,” he said.
“Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it’s happening. And it will happen rather quickly. There’ll be a little disturbance, but we’re okay with that. It won’t be much.”
Trump is banking on the idea that taxing imports is the road to riches for the United States. Most economists say Trump’s tariffs would hurt the country, as they’re tax increases that could raise the costs of goods in ways that could also harm economic growth. Trump suggests that the impact on inflation would be minimal.
When the Yale University Budget Lab looked at the tariffs that Trump imposed Tuesday on Canada, Mexico and China, it found that inflation would increase a full percentage point, growth would fall by half a percentage point and the average household would lose about $1,600 in disposable income.
“Those goods that come in from other countries and companies, they’re really, really in a bad position in so many different ways. They’re uninspected. They may be very dirty and disgusting as they come in and they pour in and they hurt our American farmers.”
Laying out more details on how he plans to stimulate the farming economy, Trump argued that increasing U.S. tariffs on agriculture products from abroad would protect domestic producers at home while acknowledging, “It may be a little bit of an adjustment period.”
But tariffs wouldn’t necessarily stop farm products from coming aboard, only make them more expensive for U.S. consumers.
“For $5 million, we will allow the most successful job creating people from all over the world to buy a path to U.S. citizenship. It’s like the green card, but better and more sophisticated.”
Trump is touting a plan he announced Feb. 26 to offer a “gold card” for prospective, rich immigrants.
The program will replace an existing one offering U.S. visas to investors who spend about $1 million on a company that employs at least 10 people.
Under Trump’s plan, investors would have to pony up $5 million. They would have to pay taxes in the U.S., Trump said. More than 100 countries around the world have something similar.
But some countries, including Spain and the U.K., have ended their programs. Spain’s program was criticized for causing soaring housing prices, while there were security concerns over the U.K. program.
Laken Riley’s family gets a standing ovation during Trump’s address to Congress
Riley, a University of Georgia student, was killed by an immigrant in the country illegally. Congress passed and Trump signed into law a bill bearing her name as his first piece of legislation in his second term. Most Democrats were seated and, after the round of applause, again held up “False” signs at Trump’s claims about the Biden administration’s approach to immigration.
“Over the past four years, 21 million people poured into the United States.”
That figure, which Trump cites regularly, is highly inflated. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports more than 10.8 million arrests for illegal crossings from Mexico from January 2021 through December 2024.
That’s arrests, not people. Under pandemic-era asylum restrictions, many people crossed more than once until they succeeded because there were no legal consequences for getting turned back to Mexico. So the number of people is lower than the number of arrests.
“I signed an order making it the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”
Trump’s order actually states that there are only two immutable sexes, and it was one of a series Trump has signed that target the rights of transgender people.
The orders paved the way for kicking transgender people out of the military, denying changes to the sex marker on passports and erasing any mention of transgender people from a website commemorating the Stonewall riot, among others. And they’re facing legal challenges.
Two judges in the past week have kept on hold a policy to block federal funding for gender-affirming health care for transgender people under age 19.
Trump said farmers need to “bear with me again” as he imposes tariffs. But the retaliatory action from other countries could hurt farmers’ bottom lines by billions of dollars collectively if they remain in place long term, and consumers could quickly see that result in higher prices of produce and ground beef at the grocery store.
The exact toll is hard to predict at this stage. But tariffs make farmers uneasy about investing in expensive equipment. “Farmers are very concerned,” said Steve Kuiper, a director at the Iowa Corn Growers Association.
Trump says Democrats will pay a price for opposing his tax cuts
“I’m sure you’re going to vote for those tax cuts because otherwise I don’t believe the people will ever vote you into office.”
Trump was taunting Democrats for opposing his tax cut plans, which could cost anywhere from $5 trillion to $11 trillion over 10 years, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog.
Of course, Democrats know what happened after they opposed Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, many of which are set to expire next year because they were funded through debt. There was no political penalty for opposing Trump’s cuts that Democrats portrayed as favoring those with extreme wealth. In the 2018 midterms, Democrats picked up a majority by gaining 40 seats, their strongest gain since the 1974 elections.
“Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it’s our turn to start using them against those other countries.”
Trump promised that come April 2, reciprocal tariffs will be imposed for most of the country’s trading partners.
“That’s reciprocal, back and forth. Whatever they tax us, we will tax that,” he said. Trump has made similar threats for weeks but said he didn’t want to make the announcement on April 1 because of April Fool’s Day.
Trump’s shoutout to one of his guests, an Alabama steelworker, father of seven and foster parent to forty, received a standing ovation from Republican lawmakers and applause from a clear majority of the seated Democratic caucus. Other of Trump and First Lady Melania Trump’s guests received scattered seated applause from Democrats as well.
“Eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.”
Trump cited the funding as an example of government waste uncovered by his administration and the Department of Government Efficiency. Trump’s move to freeze foreign aid has significantly impacted a program that fights HIV in Lesotho, a poor nation in south Africa. The program was started by Trump’s Republican predecessor, former President George W. Bush.
“From now on, schools will kick the men off the girls team or they will lose all federal funding.”
One of Trump’s orders is intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. At least 24 states have already passed similar laws and a federal version sputtered this week in the U.S. Senate.
Like others, he portrays it as a way to protect girls and women. And in the audience was Payton McNabb, a former North Carolina high school athlete who suffered a concussion and neck injury that ended her athletic career after a ball hit by a transgender athlete struck her in a 2022 match.
Payton McNabb, of Murphy, N.C., waves as she is recognized by President Donald Trump, as he addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, standing next to Usha Vance, right.. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The president of the NCAA said last year he was aware of fewer than 10 active NCAA athletes who identified as transgender.
“This is a time for big dreams and bold action. Upon taking office, I imposed an immediate freeze on all federal hiring, a freeze on all new federal regulations and a freeze on all foreign aid.”
Trump is touting his moves to cut federal staffing and downsize America’s global diplomatic footprint as a win, a “big dream” that will protect American interests. The groups cited by Trump play a significant role in setting global policy on climate change, pandemics and human rights. Trump also withdrew the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission during his first term. The organization has been criticized by Israel.
“We’re also identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors, and that our seniors and people that we love rely on. Believe it or not, government databases list 4.7 million Social Security members from people aged 100 to 109 years old. It lists 3.6 million people from ages 110 to 119.”
The databases may list those people, but that does not mean they are getting paid benefits, as Trump implied.
Social Security’s acting administrator, Lee Dudek, said last month: “The reported data are people in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record. These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits.”
Part of the confusion comes from Social Security’s software system, which is based on the COBOL programming language and has a lack of date type. This means that some entries with missing or incomplete birthdates will default to a reference point of more than 150 years ago.
”…end critical race theory in public schools.”
During his campaign, Trump pledged to bar public schools from teaching content he deemed to be “woke,” including the vaguely defined “critical race theory.”
The term refers to an academic framework, but Republican activists repurposed it to include a broad range of lessons, including those on institutional racism and those that emphasized the role of slavery in U.S. history. He has pledged to cut federal funding to schools that teach content deemed to be critical race theory and told schools to end diversity programs.
Some schools have complied, but others have shrugged off the directive.
“And importantly, we ended the last administration’s insane electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto workers and companies from economic destruction.”
Trump again said incorrectly — as he has done many times before — that his administration ended what he called the Biden administration’s “insane electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto workers and companies from economic destruction.”
But there is no federal mandate to force the purchase of EVs. The Democratic president’s policies tightened restrictions on pollution from gas-powered cars and trucks and were aimed at encouraging Americans to buy EVs as car companies shift from gas-powered vehicles to electric cars.
Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office that revokes a nonbinding goal set by Biden that EVs make up half of new cars sold by 2030.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib shouted, “Tell them you’re going to cut Medicaid” as she held a whiteboard that read “That’s a lie!” Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan stood and held a small white sign that read “LIES” alongside the standing ovation from the GOP.
Republicans jumped to their feet in applause as President Trump told them that “the days of unelected bureaucrats are over.”
But at the same time, more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers pointed and shouted “Musk!” Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania stood as she pointed and said, “Start there!”
“As you know, we inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare. Their policies drove up energy prices, pushed up grocery costs and drove the necessities of life out of reach for millions and millions of Americans … We suffered the worst inflation in 48 years, but perhaps even in the history of our country, they’re not sure.”
Trump is keen to blame former President Biden for inflation, even as consumer sentiment surveys by the Conference Board and the University of Michigan show people are worried about Trump’s tariffs pushing up prices.
Voters certainly felt worse off under Biden as the cumulative price increases exceeded the growth in average weekly wages, leaving many people feeling like they were falling behind. The consumer price index peaked at 9.1% in June 2022, the highest since December 1981. That was a four-decade high, but the rate declined through September 2024 and now stands at 3%.
Economists are definitely sure that inflation under Biden wasn’t the highest in history. After all, it was higher at the start of Ronald Reagan’s presidency, after having spiked during Jimmy Carter’s presidency. The consumer price index went as high as 23.7% in June 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Another House Democrat has exited the chamber, bringing the count to at least a half dozen opposition lawmakers who have exited Trump’s joint address.
House Democratic members walk out as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The lawmaker was dressed in pink.
Democratic Rep. Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., shouted, “What about the $400 million Tesla contract!” at Trump as the president discussed his cuts to the federal government.
Democrats increasingly groaned, shouted, “Not true!” and “Those are lies!” as Trump listed cuts his administration believes it has made to the federal budget.
“A major focus of our fight to defeat inflation is rapidly reducing the cost of energy … That is why on my first day in office, I declared a national energy emergency.”
President Trump has already begun dismantling his predecessor’s climate change and renewable energy policies and declared a national energy emergency to speed up fossil fuel development. But most experts think the characterization of an “energy emergency” does not accurately reflect reality. Scientists say the globe is experiencing a climate emergency instead.
“The reality is that the United States is well-supplied with energy in all of its forms,” said Gary Dirks, senior director of the Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University.
Trump also highlighted his moves to open up areas in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling. But expanding the area available for companies to lease and drill doesn’t necessarily mean that more oil and gas will be produced.
“You inherited a total mess from the previous administration.”
Trump was talking about the price of eggs and other key staples at grocery stores, where prices have remained stubbornly high due to inflation. He said Biden “let the price of eggs get out of control” and instructed members of his Cabinet to bring them down, saying they need to fix rising prices that he suggested the previous administration left them with.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-N.C., applauds as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
President Trump’s list of USAID program cuts is getting Republican lawmakers to double over in laughter.
Trump delivered the list of programs cut around the world in a cheeky tone, and Republicans responded with laughter, as well as boos for some of the programs.
