Standout Lines From Trump's Address to Congress

President Trump addressed Congress and the American people Tuesday night and immediately proclaimed, "America is back," to cries of "USA! USA!" in response. He made it just a couple of minutes into his speech before Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas was removed from the House chamber, with House Speaker Mike Johnson calling Green's behavior a "willful and concerted breach of decorum." Standout lines from the president:

• America is back: "We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplish in four years, eight years, and we are just getting started. ... 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. ... Now for the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction."
• Washington-level success: "It has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency is the most successful in the history of our nation ... and what makes it even more impressive is that do you know who number two is? George Washington."
• A swing at Biden: "Illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded. They hear my words and chose not to come. ... Under Joe Biden, the worst president in American history, there were hundreds of thousands of illegal crossings a month, and virtually all of them, including murderers, drug dealers, gang members and people from mental institutions were released into our country."
• A swing at Democrats: "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. I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations ... and these people sitting right here will not clap."

• A recap of his moves I: "I imposed an immediate freeze on all federal hiring, a freeze on all new federal regulations, and a freeze on foreign aid. I terminated the ridiculous new green scam. I withdrew from the unfair Paris Climate Accord ... I withdrew from the corrupt World Health Organization and I also withdrew from the anti-American UN Human Rights Council. We ended all of Biden's environmental restrictions that were making our country far less safe and totally unaffordable."
• A recap of his moves II: "We have ended weaponized government where, as an example, a sitting president is allowed to viciously prosecute his political opponent like me. ... I renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, and likewise, I renamed for a great president, William McKinley, Mount McKinley again. ... Our country will be woke no longer. ... We have removed the poison of critical race theory from our public schools, and I signed an order making it the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female."
• Eggs: "Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control ... and we're working hard to get it back down."
• What's coming: "A major focus of our fight to defeat inflation is rapidly reducing the cost of energy. ... My administration is also working on a gigantic natural gas pipeline in Alaska, among the largest in the world. ... I will also take historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in the US."

• What's coming II: "We're also identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors ... believe it or not, government databases list 4.7 million Social Security members from people aged 100 to 109 years old. It lists 3.6 million people from ages 110 to 119 I don't know any of them. I know some people that are rather elderly, but not quite that elderly. ... 3.5 million people from ages 140 to 149 and money is being paid to many of them, and we're searching right now. ... And over 130,000 people, according to the Social Security databases are age over 160 years old. We have a healthier country than I thought, Bobby."
• What's coming III: "The next phase of our plan to deliver the greatest economy in history is for this Congress to pass tax cuts for everybody. ... I'm calling for no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security benefits for our great seniors. ... I also want to make interest payments on car loans tax deductible, but only if the car is made in America."

story continues below

• On tariffs: "If you don't make your product in America, under the Trump administration, you will pay a tariff, and in some cases a rather large one. Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it's our turn to start using them against those other countries. ... On April 2, reciprocal tariffs kick in, and whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them."
• The lines that got some of the loudest cheers: "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. We must have legislation to secure the border, but it turned out that all we really needed was a new president."
• On wokeness: "I also signed an order to cut off all taxpayer funding to any institution that engages in the sexual mutilation of our youth. And now I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body. This is a big lie, and our message to every child in America is that you are perfect, exactly the way God made you. ... We're getting wokeness out of our schools and out of our military, and it's already out and it's out of our society, we don't want it. Wokeness is trouble. Wokeness is bad, it's gone, it's gone. And we feel so much better for it, don't we feel better?"
• Military goals: "My focus is on building the most powerful military of the future. As a first step, I'm asking Congress to fund a state-of-the-art Golden Dome missile defense shield to protect our homeland, all made in the USA. ... I am announcing tonight that we will create a new office of ship building in the White House and offer special tax incentives to bring this industry home to America where it belongs. ... My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we've already started doing it."
• To Greenland: "I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland. We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America. We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we're working with everybody involved to try and get it ... And I think we're going to get it one way or the other. We're going to get it. We will keep you safe, we will make you richer. Together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before."
• An arrest: "Three and a half years ago, ISIS terrorists killed 13 American service members and countless others ... during the disastrous and incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan. ... Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity, and he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice ... and I want to thank especially the Government of Pakistan for helping arrest this monster."
• Zelensky sent a letter: "Earlier today, I received an important letter from President Zelensky of Ukraine. The letter reads, 'Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. 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. We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time.'"

(More President Trump stories.)