Trump declares his presidency ‘golden age of America’ from a ‘nation in crisis’

President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union speech of his second term Tuesday night. In the speech, he stated that he had turned the country around from a nation in crisis that it was under former President Joe Biden. “Our nation is back – bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before,” Trump said before a joint session of Congress.  
The president in his roughly two-hour speech touted his success in securing the border and bringing down crime. Fentanyl is down by a record 56%, and the murder rate saw its single largest decline in history, Trump said. As a result of his policies, Trump said, Washington D.C. is one of the safest cities in the U.S., with a drop of 100% in the murder rate in the city. 
He also said he would stop fraud in government programs and mentioned “Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota,” referring to a multi-million dollar fraud scheme uncovered within the Minnesota Housing Stabilization Services program, a state-run, Medicaid-funded initiative for seniors and disabled people.
Trump said he was demanding full restoration of all funding for border security and called for an end to “sanctuary cities,” which don’t enforce federal immigration laws. 
The president discussed his record on the economy, including bringing down gas prices from a peak of over $6 per gallon under former President Joe Biden to below $2.30 a gallon. 
Trump also touted his “drill baby drill” energy policies, stating that American oil production is up by more than 600,000 barrels per day and natural gas production is at an all-time high.
This included his actions in Venezuela. Trump met with oil company executives in January, hoping to coax them into investments in the country’s oil production following the capture of its dictator, Nicolás Maduro. He said Tuesday that the U.S. had received 80 million barrels of oil from the country. 
“Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it,” he said. 
Trump said he would implement a program that requires data centers to pay for the cost of powering their facilities. 
Trump’s accomplishments on the economy were a focus throughout the speech. 
He touted the successful passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act. He said many Americans are benefiting from the tax cuts it’s providing. These included no taxes on overtime, tips and Social Security. 
“Democrats – every single one of them – voted against these really important and very necessary massive tax cuts,” Trump argued.
Trump remarked on the performance of the stock markets, which have reached record highs since he took office. He attributed these accomplishments to his tariffs. 
“Countries that were ripping us off for decades are now paying us hundreds of millions of dollars. They were ripping us so badly,” Trump said. 
He called the Supreme Court ruling against his signature tariff policies “disappointing.” He said he would make a “new deal,” which will continue down the “successful path” prior to the ruling. He said that the tariffs paid by foreign countries will replace income taxes. 
Following the ruling, Trump took to Truth Social to call the ruling “very intentionally divisive,” and he argued that the decision inadvertently gave him even more “powers and strength” than he had before. 
During his speech Tuesday, Trump said he’s addressing the cost of healthcare that followed the passage of the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, with his Great Healthcare Plan. He said he plans to stop all payments to big insurance companies. 
Trump said he has lowered the costs of drugs and highlighted his TrumpRx.gov. The government-run portal is an initiative intended to direct patients toward manufacturers offering low-cost drugs. 
“I took prescription drugs, a very big part of healthcare, from the highest price in the entire world to the lowest,” Trump said. 
Trump also took aim at members of Congress using insider information to profit off the stock market. Many lawmakers stood up to applaud the statement, which Trump said surprised him. 
“Did Nancy Pelosi stand up? Pass the Stop Insider Trading Act without delay,” said Trump. The California Democrat’s has purportedly outperformed the S&P 500, but there have never been charges of illegal insider trading.
Trump also discussed his foreign policies, which he said had ended a number of conflicts across the world. This included the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. 
“Under the ceasefire I negotiated, every single hostage, both living and dead, has been returned home,” Trump said. 
He said he would make peace, but would address threats to America. This is why he executed the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, he said. 
“It had been the policy of the United States never to allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. 

Read Full Article: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/all-things-trump/trumps-state-union-speech-expected-tout-economy-immigration-and?utm_source=justthenews.com&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=external-news-aggregators