President Trump told Congress Tuesday he expects “a little disturbance” as he broadens his trade war, less than a day after imposing 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico.
The president vowed to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on countries around the globe starting on April 2.
“Whatever they tariff us, we tariff them,” 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 also added 10% to tariffs on goods from China, on top of the 10% tariff imposed last month. The speech came after the stock market declined on Tuesday, rolling back all the gains made in the S&P 500 since the November election.
Trump spoke for one hour and 37 minutes, a record for an address to a joint session of Congress. The previous record was Bill Clinton’s State of the Union address in 2000, at one hour and 28 minutes.
Trump declared at the outset of the speech that “America’s momentum is back,” and said his administration is “just getting started.”
At times, he goaded Democrats, telling them they will lose re-election unless they vote for his tax cut package. The Democrats, in turn, held up signs saying “False.”
Rep. Al Green, a Democrat from Texas, was also evicted from the House chamber after interrupting Trump and refusing to stop heckling him. Responding to Trump’s claim to have “a mandate like has not been seen in many decades,” Green shouted, “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid.”
Later on, some Democrats walked out as the speech went past the one-hour mark.
Trump ran through a litany of cultural issues, saying he would deny federal funds to schools that allow trans athletes to participate in girls’ sports, and urging Congress to ban sex change operations for minors.
“Wokeness is trouble,” Trump said. “Wokeness is bad. It’s gone. It’s gone.”
He also sought funds for the “largest deportation operation in U.S. history,” noting that border apprehensions have already dropped to a historic low point in February.
“The media and our friends in the Democrat Party kept saying we needed new legislation to secure the border — but it turned out that all we really needed was a new president,” Trump said.
He also called for Congress to eliminate the tax on tips, overtime wages, and Social Security benefits. And he reiterated his hopes for territorial conquest, saying he will retake the Panama Canal and inviting residents of Greenland to voluntarily join the U.S.
“One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” he said.
A day after pausing aid to Ukraine, Trump said he had received “strong signals” from Russia that they are “ready for peace.” He also read from a letter from Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, saying he looked forward to coming to the bargaining table.
At another point in the speech, he called out Secretary of State Marco Rubio, wishing him “good luck.”
“We know who to blame if anything goes wrong,” Trump said.
