Trump touted his administration’s achievements in its first 42 days, and promised greater prosperity and security for the nation.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump capped off his first six weeks in office with a 100-minute speech to a joint session of Congress
The March 4 address followed a blitz of more than 100 executive actions that impacted nearly every aspect of government and U.S. relationships with other nations.
Here are the highlights of the speech, which began with the statement “America is back” and ended with a call to “renew the unlimited promise of the American dream.”
| 1. Tax Cuts Promised for All Americans | 7. Victims Spotlighted |
| 2. Border Closed, Deportations Underway | 8. Direct Appeal to Greenlanders |
| 3. Trump Touts ‘Common Sense Revolution’ | 9. Letter From Zelenskyy |
| 4. Tariffs Explained, ‘A Little Disturbance’ | 10. New Shipbuilding Office |
| 5. DOGE Findings Highlighted | 11. Arrest of Terrorist Responsible For Abbey Gate |
| 6. Promises Balanced Budget | 12. Democrats Respond |
1. Tax Cuts Promised for All Americans
Trump pledged across-the-board tax cuts, including personal income, corporate, and industry cuts.
After Republicans’ 2017 tax bill failed to make personal income tax cuts permanent, Trump says he is pushing lawmakers to ensure that this Congress does so.
Trump reiterated his campaign proposals to end taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits, and proposed zero interest on loans for American-made vehicles.
Trump encouraged Democrats to join Republicans in backing the legislation, suggesting they would face political consequences otherwise.
“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,” he said.
Trump added that these tax cuts—which would total $4.5 trillion over a decade under the current House GOP plan—would be retroactive to Jan. 20, 2025.
2. Border Closed, Deportations Underway
Trump touted his administration’s efforts to secure the border, having signed 10 executive orders related to halting the flow of illegal immigrants and initiating mass deportation efforts nationwide to remove violent criminals from the country.
“Within hours of taking the oath of office, I declared a national emergency on our southern border, and I deployed the U.S. military and border patrol to repel the invasion of our country, and what a job they’ve done,” Trump said. “As a result, illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded.”
Trump said his rhetoric also helped encourage would-be illegal immigrants to reconsider their plans.
“They heard my words, and they chose not to come,” he said.
The president also highlighted his order designating cartels and transnational gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.
3. Trump Touts ‘Common Sense Revolution’
Trump also announced a “common sense revolution,” including primarily through rooting out “woke” ideas from the government and federally-funded programs.
He referenced an executive order signed early in his second term declaring that the federal government recognizes only two sexes, based on biological sex at conception and not “gender ideology.”
Trump highlighted his executive order stripping federal funding for schools that allow males to compete in female sports. One order declared that it is the official policy of the United States that Title IX applies to women and not men who identify as transgender females.
The first gallery guest introduced by Trump was Payton McNabb, a female athlete who suffered injuries while playing volleyball against a male player.
Trump also referenced merit-based hiring—rather than hiring to meet diversity quotas—as part of his “common sense revolution” agenda.
4. Tariffs Explained, ‘A Little Disturbance’
Trump said his trade policies will remain centered around tariffs that are designed to boost foreign investment in the United States and balance multi-billion-dollar trade deficits. The goal is to bring trillions of dollars into the president’s new “external revenue service.”
“If you don’t make your product in America,” Trump said, “you will pay a tariff, and in some cases, a rather large one.”
A series of tariffs—including 25 percent fees on goods from Canada and Mexico and 20 percent in addition to those already imposed on China—took effect on March 4, and across-the-board reciprocal tariffs are set to take effect on April 2.
“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.
While critics have suggested the tariffs could cause inflation, the president rejected the notion and said any impact would be temporary.
“There’ll be a little disturbance, like we’re okay with that,” Trump said. “It won’t be much.”
5. DOGE Findings Highlighted
Trump praised the work of Elon Musk in leading the Department of Government Efficiency, which has announced savings of over $105 billion through contract cancellations, staff reductions, and identifying fraud and waste.
Trump listed a number of multi-million dollar projects related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) that had been terminated, and a $22 billion plan to provide housing and automobiles for illegal immigrants.
“We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud,” Trump said, noting that the Government Accounting Office has estimated that up to $500 billion in fraudulent payments are made annually.
“By slashing all of the fraud, waste, and theft we can find, we will defeat inflation, bring down mortgage rates, lower car payments and grocery prices, protect our seniors, and put more money in the pockets of American families,” Trump said.
6. Promises Balanced Budget
Trump also formalized plans to balance the federal budget during his second term.
“I want to do what has not been done in almost 24 years: Balance the budget,” Trump said. “We are going to balance the federal budget.”
A balanced federal budget is a longtime goal of many Republicans but it is not an issue Trump has historically addressed directly.
On Feb. 7, he first indicated interest in such a plan, writing “Balanced budget!” in all caps in a post on Truth Social.
Balancing the budget would require either substantial spending cuts or substantial increases in government revenues, whether from internal or external sources.
He said part of achieving this would be a “gold card” program under which foreigners or their employers could pay $5 million for a path to citizenship.
By Lawrence Wilson, Joseph Lord, Travis Gillmore, Sam Dorman
