President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress for the first time since he entered office 6 weeks ago. On Monday, the President gave a speech that lasted for about 1 hour and 40 minutes, which counts pauses for applause and other events. The speech was the longest address to a joint Congress since at least 1964, according to The American Presidency Project. The President spoke about a variety of topics, policies, and issues that are relevant to the American people since he took office. President Trump has faced a lot of criticism for the misinformation and false statements he mentioned during his speech, in total, the National public radio recorded 27 lies or false statements across the whole  speech. We have identified the 3 biggest takeaways from the speech and summarized them here for you. 

Trump claims a reset is coming with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

Trump claims a reset is coming with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Following Trump’s suspension of Ukrainian military aid a day earlier, Zelensky stated in a letter to Trump, that he is “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer.” This comes as positive news for the Ukrainian people, who feared their country’s future without the U.S. aid they had relied on since 2022. Trump stated that he ‘appreciated’ the letter, and hopefully this will help restore some trust with many European nations, who have felt uncertainty about the situation since Trump took office. This was one of the most memorable moments of the address and gave hope for better U.S. and EU relations in the remainder of President Trump’s term. Some see this as a major shift in U.S. foreign policy and a possible step toward peace, while others are unsure if it will lead to real change. Many are waiting to see what happens next and whether this will bring actual progress or just be political talk. If Trump truly follows through, this could improve relations between the U.S., Ukraine, and Europe and help shape the future of the region.

Trump still supports tariffs, despite early market crashes           

President Donald J. Trump still wants to continue pushing tariffs on Canada and Mexico, despite the market crashing in fear of it. The Dow has fallen by almost 700 points since Trump put his tariffs into place, and it continues to fall. With the direction Trump is going, he is inciting a trade war with Canada and China. Even Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau stated that “Today the United States launched a trade war against Canada…” and the Chinese Embassy in the US said “If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.”

Trump was protested heavily by the democratic party throughout the night.

Dominating the headlines since the address night, these protests were both loud and silent, and some more disruptive than others. The focal point of these protests was Rep. Al Green’s standing protest of President Trump. Green stood in the aisle and wove his cane at the president around the beginning of the address. This protest was met by a chant from the republican side of the house with the phrase “USA” repeated. Eventually House Speaker Mike Johnson removed Green after several warnings and a repeated breach of decorum. Many other protests occurred throughout the night, such as refusal of applause, boos, and signs with phrases such as “This is not normal.”, “False”, and “Musk Steals”. Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida even wore a suit jacket with the slogan “No Kings live here” written on the backside. These protests have become more of a trend from both sides of the aisle, left and right, especially with the huge house divide in congress currently.

The Congressional Address was a mix of positives, negatives, and room for improvement on both sides. Americans can look forward to our relationship with Ukraine being back to normal, but it is worrisome how the situation with Canada and China is escalating due to tariffs, which could cause a trade war. The Democrats protested Trump and what he’s doing, some loud, some quiet.