President Donald Trump is addressing a joint session of Congress Tuesday, where he is expected to tout his administration's achievements so far and focus on an economic agenda for the United States.
The White House says the president will also press Congress to increase funding for his administration's deportation efforts, and explain the ongoing efforts to peacefully resolve conflicts around the world.
"I return to this chamber tonight to report that America’s momentum is back. Our spirit is back. Our pride is back. Our confidence is back. And the American Dream is surging — bigger and better than ever before," President Trump said.
Watch Scripps News' special coverage of the president's address:
President Trump began by recalling his victory in the presidential election, and highlighting actions his administration has taken during his first weeks in office, including executive orders to crack down on border security, withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization and end environmental restrictions.
President Trump highlighted a focused crackdown on DEI policies in government, an order that designated English the official language of the U.S. and his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The pace of deregulation, the president said, would continue.
"To unshackle our economy, I have directed that for every one new regulation, ten old regulations must be eliminated," President Trump said.
Economic and energy relief
"Among my very highest priorities is to rescue our economy and get dramatic and immediate relief to working families," President Trump said, criticizing energy costs and record inflation that have weighed on families in recent years.
The president brought up egg prices, calling them "out of control."
"As president I'm fighting every day to reverse this damage," he said.
The administration's energy policies, President Trump said, would unlock U.S. natural resources and bring down prices for U.S. consumers.
"Later this week, I will also take historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in USA," President Trump said.
The Department of Government Efficiency
"Listen to some of the appalling waste we have already identified," President Trump said, listing various programs including grants for the decarbonization of homes, housing of illegal migrants in New York hotel rooms, climate and education programs abroad and DEI contracts at the Department of Education.
"We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud," the president said. "We've taken back the money and reduced our debt to fight inflation and other things."
Excessive regulations and a ballooning government workforce has hampered the operation of government, President Trump said.
"Any federal bureaucrat who resists this change will be removed from office immediately," he said. "The days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over."
Budget priorities
"In the near future, I want to do what has not been done in 24 years: balance the federal budget," President Trump said.
A new "gold card" scheme that allows foreign entrepreneurs to buy into a path to citizenship would help address U.S. debt loads, the president said.
Tax cuts working their way through Congress would relieve inflation pressures on consumers, President Trump said.
"I also want to make interest payments on car loans tax deductible, but only if the car is made in America," he said.
"We want to cut taxes" on "domestic production and all manufacturing," he said.
The House in February voted to pass a comprehensive budget resolution that includes over $4 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in spending reductions over the next decade.
If enacted, the cuts are forecast to add about $4.6 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade.
The threat and impact of tariffs
The president claimed countries charged the U.S. steep tariffs, compared to those the U.S. levies on imports.
"This system is not fair to the United States and never was," Trump said. "April 2nd, reciprocal tariffs kick in. Whatever they tariff us, we will tariff them. Whatever they tax us, we will tax them."
"We will take in trillions and trillions of dollars and create jobs like we've never seen before," the president said.
Tariffs had driven companies like TSMC to build new manufacturing in the U.S. to avoid paying for imports, President Trump said.
And they would cause sharp changes in U.S. agricultural practices by incentivizing more domestic production of food.
"To our farmers: Have a lot of fun. I love you, too," President Trump said.
The speech comes on the same day that President Trump used an economic emergency declaration to enact 25% tariffs on nearly all goods from Canada and Mexico, and 10% tariffs on energy-related imports from Canada, including oil, natural gas and electricity. In a separate executive order Monday, President Trump also increased the tariff on all goods imported from China to 20%.
All three countries quickly announced they would take retaliatory action against the tariffs. The overnight trade war has eliminated all gains made in the S&P 500 benchmark index since President Trump took office in January, and trade experts and retail CEOs have warned that U.S. consumers will now pay higher prices, potentially in a matter of days.
There'll be a little disturbance, but we'll be okay with that," President Trump said.
Increasing border security
President Trump claimed "murderers, human traffickers and gang members" had entered the U.S. thanks to relatively lax border policies. "But we are getting them out, and getting them out fast."
"We quickly achieved the lowest number of illegal border crossings ever recorded," he said of his administration's policies so far.
President Trump characterized a "migrant occupation" in towns like Aurora, Colorado, and Springfield, Illinois, that his policies had addressed.
"But there still is much work to be done," he said.
In an executive order signed on the day he took office, President Trump designated several cartels as foreign terror organizations, to facilitate the removal or imprisonment of their members in the U.S.
These cartels, President Trump claimed, now held "total control" over Mexico.
"The cartels are waging war on America, and it's time for America to wage war on the cartels," he said.
The president has asked Congress for more funding to expand deportation operations, promising to sign legislation as quickly as it's delivered to his desk.
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