Daywatch: Takeaways from President Donald Trump's address to Congress

Yahoo

05-03-2025

Good morning, Chicago.
President Donald Trump took a defiant victory lap in the House chamber on Tuesday night, using his address to a joint session of Congress to promote the flurry of drastic changes to domestic and foreign policy that his administration has made in just the first six weeks.
Delivering the longest address to Congress in modern presidential history, Trump reprised many of the themes that animated his campaign for president and spent little time unveiling new policies, as presidents traditionally have done on these occasions. He spoke for roughly one hour and 40 minutes.
'We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplish in four years or eight years — and we are just getting started,' he said.
Democrats lodged protests throughout the evening, with one member getting kicked out and others holding signs in silent opposition. But Trump argued that it was the Democrats who left him a country besieged by crises and that his administration was working to clean them up.
Here are six takeaways from Trump's first address to a joint session of Congress in his second term.
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Mayor Brandon Johnson and Democratic leaders from three other major U.S. cities are set to testify this morning before a Republican-led congressional committee holding a hearing on sanctuary policies for immigrants, setting the stage for a day that will be heavy on political theater and rhetoric about one of the nation's most divisive issues.
The appearance by the first-term Chicago mayor before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of its much-hyped hearing beginning at 9 a.m. Chicago time will give Johnson a national audience to defend the city's sanctuary city policies that block local police from assisting in immigration enforcement.
Watch live: Mayor Brandon Johnson to testify on sanctuary city policies for immigrants
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See Preservation Chicago's full 'Most Endangered' list of historic buildings, districts and objects at risk
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