Trump makes case for legislative agenda before deeply divided US Congress

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump made the case for lawmakers to pursue his legislative agenda Tuesday night as he addressed a sharply divided joint session of Congress as Democrats heckled him and many walked out of the chamber.

Trump's first congressional address of his second term kicked off with Democratic Representative Al Green of Texas defiantly standing and shouting at the president, telling him: "Mr. President, you don't have a mandate!" Green's protest was quickly drowned out by chants of "USA" from Trump's fellow Republicans before the Texas lawmaker was escorted out of the House chamber.

Green told reporters at the Capitol that he was willing to accept whatever punishment he is met with, saying: "It's worth it to let people know that there are some people who are going to stand up" to Trump.

The Democratic protests continued throughout much of Trump's nearly 1 hour and 40 minute speech, with dozens of lawmakers leaving the chamber in waves as Trump touted his accomplishments during his nearly two months in office and boasted of his 2024 election win while making the case for lawmakers to push through his legislative agenda.

"To my fellow citizens, America is back," he said defiantly. "Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden age of America. From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country."

Trump said his overhaul of the American tax code represents "the next phase of our plan to deliver the greatest economy in history."

"We're seeking permanent income tax cuts all across the board, and to get urgently needed relief to Americans hit especially hard by inflation," he said amid repeated choruses of applause from the Republican section of the chamber as Democrats sat, many either stone-faced, shouting, or holding up protest signs.

Tariff plan

Trump pledged to implement his reciprocal tariff plan on foreign trading partners on April 2, in which he will impose equal import duties to those being charged on American exports.

"Whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them. That's reciprocal. Back and forth. Whatever they tax us, we will tax them. We tax them. If they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we will do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market," he said.

Trump repeatedly put himself in the thick of the partisan heat that enveloped much of Tuesday's address, calling former President Joe Biden "the worst president in American history," while self-ranking the first month of his presidency as the most successful in history. He dubbed George Washington, America's founding father, as the second most successful.

For Democrats, Trump said: "There is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy, or to make them stand or smile or applaud, nothing I can do."

"I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history, or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded. And these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements," he said.

"Democrats, sitting before me, for just this one night, why not join us in celebrating so many incredible wins for America, for the good of our nation?" he asked rhetorically.

Trump further asked Congress to codify an executive order he said he signed that mandates the death penalty for any individual convicted of killing a police officer while calling on lawmakers to pass "a new crime bill getting tough on repeat offenders while enhancing protections for America's police officers so they can do their jobs without fear of their lives being totally destroyed."

He repeated his suggestions that drug cartels have taken control of Mexico, saying the US southern neighbor "is now dominated entirely by criminal cartels that murder, rape, torture and exercise total control."

"They have total control over a whole nation, posing a grave threat to our national security. The cartels are waging war on America, and it's time for America to wage war on the cartels, which we are doing," he said.

The president further threatened to immediately remove any federal bureaucrat from office "who resists" his agenda.

"My administration will reclaim power from this unaccountable bureaucracy, and we will restore true democracy to America again," he said to applause from Republicans. "Any federal bureaucrat who resists this change will be removed from office immediately because we are draining the swamp. It's very simple, and the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over."