Hirings in the US will be based on merit and the country “will no longer be woke”, President Donald Trump told a joint session of Congress today, as he stressed that his administration had ended the “tyranny” of diversity and inclusion programmes.
This was his first address to Congress since the thumping win in the November election and came four years after his supporters stormed the Capitol building to protest the 2020 election defeat.
Listing multiple diversity programmes funded by the US in several parts of the world and launching a no-holds-barred attack on the Joe Biden regime, Trump said the country had suffered its worst inflation in 48 years and his top priority was to rescue the economy.
Less than two months in the top post, the 78-year-old said he is “just getting started” and that “America is back”. As he spoke, several Democrats waved placards that read “false”. Congressman Al Green was asked to leave the gathering after heckled and shook his walking stick at the president.
“We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplish in four years or eight years,” Trump said. “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.”
“Our country will be woke no longer. We believe that whether you are a doctor, an accountant, a lawyer or (an) air traffic controller, you should be hired and promoted based on skills and competence, not race or gender,” he said, in an all-out attack against wokeism. “Wokeness is trouble, wokeness is bad, it’s gone and we feel so much better for it, don’t we?” he said.
He said he was working tirelessly to end the Ukraine war and spoke at length about how his administration was working to curb illegal immigration into the US.
During his address, Trump praised his advisor and billionaire Elon Musk for his work leading the Department of Government Efficiency, which has been tasked with trimming the federal government.
“Thank you Elon, he’s working very hard,” he said as Musk stood up in the gallery to applause from Republican lawmakers. “Thank you very much, we appreciate it.”
Trump also spoke about the tariff war his administration has launched and referred to India in this connection. “Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades now. On an average, many nations… India, Mexico and Canada, they charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them. India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100 per cent… this is happening by friend and foe. This situation is not fair to the US. So from April 2, reciprocal tariffs kick in. Whatever they tax us, we will tax them,” he said to loud cheers from Republican Congress members.
Experts have warned that the tariff war could weigh on US growth and lead to rise in inflation.
The US economy will see some “disturbance” due to tariffs, Trump said today, adding that “it won’t be much”. “Tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs. They’re about protecting the soul of our country. There’ll be a little disturbance, but we’re okay with that. It won’t be much,” he said.
Turning to crime, Trump said, “As we reclaim our sovereignty, we must also bring law and order back 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 weaponising 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 (Department of Justice).” He gave a shoutout to newly appointed US Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI chief Kash Patel.