Trump speech to Congress Key Takeaway: From Egg prices to tariffs and taxes — what US President said in ‘longest’ speech

Donald Trump speech to Congress Key Takeaways: US President Donald Trump is delivering his first address to the joint session of Congress on Tuesday (local time). Listing out his achievements in first six weeks of office, Trump said he brought back free speech on America, made English the official language of United States of American and “renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America”.

Trump's speech lasted about 1 hour and 40 minutes, including pauses for clapping, applause and other reactions, CBS News reported. This made it the longest address to a joint session of Congress since at least 1964, including State of the Union speeches, according to The American Presidency Project by the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Top 10 Quotes From Donald Trump Speech to Congress:

1. 'America is back'

Trump started his address by stealing a line from his predecessor in the White House, Joe Biden. As president, Biden repeatedly said in speeches that he told world leaders that “America is back.” The former president meant those words as a sign to allies in Europe and Asia that the United States was re-engaging with the world.

2. Trump described Democrats as a lost cause

“This is my fifth such speech to Congress,” Trump said. "And once again I look at the Democrats in front of me and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud. Nothing I can do."

3. ‘Our country will be woke no longer’

"Our country will be woke no longer," Trump said, adding that workers should be hired based on "skill and competence, not race and gender." He said, "We've ended the tyranny of so called 'Diversity, Equity and Inclusion' policies all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military.

4. Egg prices

Trump said Biden “let the price of eggs get out of control” and instructed members of his Cabinet to bring them down, saying they need to fix rising prices that he suggested the previous administration left them with

“You inherited a total mess from the previous administration," Trump said while talking about the price of eggs and other key staples at grocery stores, where prices have remained high due to inflation.

5. Federal budget

“We are going to balance the federal budget,” Trump said. "I want to do what has not been done in almost 24 years. Balance the budget. We are going to balance the federal budget," he said.

6. Get Greenland

“I think we’re going to get it. One way or another, we’re going to get it.” Trump said the US supports Greenland’s right to determine its own future but would “welcome” the country into the United States for national security — and to make them rich, he claims.

Since his first term in office, Trump has expressed interest in acquiring Greenland, which is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime US ally and a founding member of NATO. It is also home to a large US military base. Read more

7. ‘…or you’re fired’

President Donald Trump warned federal workers: Resist his administration’s policies and you’re fired. Trump railed against regulations and debt approvals that slow down the workings of the federal government.

“My administration will reclaim power from this unaccountable bureaucracy, and we will restore true democracy to America again. And any federal bureaucrat who resists this change will be removed from office immediately,” Trump said. “Because we are draining the swamp. It’s very simple. And the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over,” he added.

8. Reciprocal tariffs

Trump promised that come April 2, reciprocal tariffs will be imposed for most of the country’s trading partners. “Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it’s our turn to start using them against those other countries," he said.

“That’s reciprocal, back and forth. Whatever they tax us, we will tax that,” he said. Trump has made similar threats for weeks but said he didn’t want to make the announcement on April 1 because of April Fool’s Day.

"If you don't make your product in America, however, under the Trump administration, you will pay a tariff, and in some cases, a rather large one," he said.

"Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades and now it's our turn to start using them against those other countries. On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada — have you heard of them? — and countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them. It's very unfair. Read more here

9. Car loans tax

Trump said he wants to make interest payments on car loans tax deductible, “but only if the car is made in America.” He said, "By the way, we're going to have growth in the auto industry like nobody's ever seen, adding that “plants are opening up all over the place. Deals are being made.” He said that his policies would allow the US auto industry to "absolutely boom." Read more here

10. Zelensky's letter to Trump

Trump read from a letter from Zelensky he had received earlier in the day. “The letter reads Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” Trump said.

“Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians ... My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.” Read more here

11. Citizenship Gold Card

US President Donald Trump said during his first address to joint session of Congress, “We have developed in great detail what we are calling the Gold Card, which goes on sale very soon.”

“It's like the green card, but better and more sophisticated. These people will have to pay tax in our country,” Trump said on Tuesday. Read more here