FULL SPEECH: Trump says he's ushering in 'Golden Age' of America

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump spoke to Congress from the House floor Tuesday evening, highlighting what his administration has accomplished in its first 43 days and laying out his priorities going forward. 

Although it was not an official State of the Union address, the event carried all the traditional hallmarks of one with lawmakers from both chambers filling the House floor as Trump talked about what's to come for the country.

Taking the podium, Trump was greeted with chants of "USA" as he declared that "America is back." Moving past an interruption by Rep. Al Green (D-TX), Trump began to talk about how he believes his administration is ushering in a "Golden Age" for America. 

In what he accurately described as "unrelenting" action by his administration, Trump talked about his numerous executive orders, the immense federal downsizing push led by Elon Musk, how he plans to help the economy recover — with particular focus on new tariffs — and his administration's sweeping immigration reforms. 

He also talked about what's been front-of-mind for many in the past few days: Ukraine. On Monday, the administration announced that it was pausing all aid to Ukraine following Trump's heated Oval Office meeting last week with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Then in his speech, Trump recited a letter he said he received from Zelenskyy earlier in the day, saying that Ukraine wants to come back to the table after the negotiations for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine broke down.

"We’ve had serious discussions with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace," Trump said. "Wouldn’t that be beautiful?"

On the topic of foreign policy, the president also briefly reiterated his desire to acquire Greenland. He said the U.S. supports Greenland’s right to determine its own future but would "welcome" the country into the U.S. for national security and to make them rich, he claimed.

Another key platform issue Trump addressed was his gender policies. He boasted about his executive order stating that there are only two sexes and an executive order to keep biological men from playing in women's sports — part of a series of EOs that Trump has signed targeting the rights of transgender people, and particularly transgender youth. 

On the economic front, Trump blamed the Biden administration for the crippling inflation Americans have struggled with for years.

"As you know, we inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare. Their policies drove up energy prices, pushed up grocery costs and drove the necessities of life out of reach for millions and millions of Americans," Trump said.

The president doubled down on his promises to increase tariffs on a multitude of foreign products and promised that come April 2, reciprocal tariffs will be imposed for most of the country’s trading partners. He called to end taxes on overtime pay, as well as other things like tips and Social Security.

He claims that through those tariffs, increased domestic production and tax cuts, his administration will restabilize the American economy.

"The golden age of America has only just begun," Trump told Congress, ending his address. He was met with cheers of "fight, fight, fight!" from Republican lawmakers, while Democrats quietly streamed out.

According to the Associated Press, his speech set a record for the longest address to a joint session of Congress at nearly 100 minutes. 

White House Releases Excerpts

Key Highlights:

"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. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplish in 4 years or 8 years—and we are JUST GETTING STARTED. 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. The American Dream is UNSTOPPABLE, and our country is on the verge of a comeback the likes of which the world has never witnessed, and perhaps will never witness again."
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"Now, for the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is headed in the RIGHT direction than the WRONG direction—an astonishing record 27-point swing since Election Day alone. Likewise, small business optimism saw its single largest one-month gain ever recorded—a 41-point jump. Over the past 6 weeks, I have signed nearly 100 Executive Orders and taken more than 400 Executive Actions to restore COMMON SENSE, safety, optimism, and wealth all across our wonderful land. The People elected me to do the job, and I am doing it. In fact, it has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency is the most successful in the history of our nation."
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"Among my very highest priorities is to rescue our economy and get dramatic and immediate relief to working families. As you know, we inherited, from the last administration, an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare. Their policies drove up energy prices, pushed up the cost of groceries, and drove the necessities of life out of reach for millions of Americans. We suffered the worst inflation in 48 years, but perhaps even in the history of our country. As President, I am fighting every day to reverse this damage and Make America AFFORDABLE Again." 
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"Joe Biden especially let the price of EGGS get out of control—and we are working hard to get it back down. A major focus of our fight to defeat inflation is rapidly reducing the cost of energy.  The previous administration cut the number of new oil and gas leases by 95%, slowed pipeline construction to a halt, and closed more than 100 power plants. We have never seen anything like it. That is why on my first day in office, I declared a National ENERGY Emergency."
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"My administration is also working on a gigantic natural gas pipeline in Alaska, among the largest in the world, where Japan, South Korea, and other nations want to be our partner—with trillions of dollars being spent by them. It will truly be spectacular.
 
Later this week, I will also take historic action to dramatically expand production of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths here in USA."
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"Whatever they tariff us, we tariff them. Whatever they tax us, we tax them. If they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market. We will take in trillions of dollars and create jobs like we have never seen before." 
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"Since taking office, my administration has launched the most sweeping border and immigration crackdown in American history—and we quickly achieved the lowest numbers of illegal border crossers EVER recorded. 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." 
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"I have sent Congress a detailed funding request laying out exactly how we will eliminate these threats, protect our Homeland, and complete the largest deportation operation in American history, larger even than current recordholder Dwight D. Eisenhower—a moderate man but someone who believed very strongly in borders. Americans expect Congress to send me this funding without delay, so I can sign it into law." 
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"I am also working tirelessly to end the savage conflict in Ukraine. Millions of Ukrainians and Russians have been needlessly killed or wounded in this horrific and brutal conflict, with no end in sight. The United States has sent hundreds of billions of dollars to support Ukraine’s defense. Meanwhile, Europe has sadly spent more money buying Russian oil and gas than they have spent on defending Ukraine – by far! And Biden has authorized more money in this fight than Europe has spent."
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"As we reclaim our sovereignty, we must also bring back LAW and ORDER to our cities and towns. In recent years, our justice system has been turned upside down by Radical Left lunatics. Many jurisdictions virtually ceased enforcing the law against dangerous repeat offenders, while weaponizing law enforcement against political opponents, like me. My administration has acted swiftly and decisively to restore fair, equal, and impartial justice under the Constitutional Rule of Law—starting at the FBI and DOJ." 

"We are also once again giving our police officers the SUPPORT, PROTECTION, and RESPECT they so dearly deserve. This also includes our great fire departments throughout the country,who are likewise under siege." 

Read the full, unedited transcript here.