President Trump treats a joint session of the Congress at the Capitol in Washington on March 4.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
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J. Scott Applewhite / AP
NPR brings you the last of President Trump’s address to a joint session of the congress. Look here. And for more updates, get our NPR Politics Newsletter or the Podcast Politics NPR.
President Trump pronounces an address to a joint session of the Congress in the American Capitol this evening, six weeks after his second term. Since his inauguration, he worked quickly to try to radically reshape the government and have signed dozens of decrees, many overwhelming policies created by former president Biden. Trump should take stock of what he has done so far and expose your vision Economics, immigration and foreign affairs.
Follow this page this evening for verification of the facts annotated by journalists from the whole NPR editorial hall as the speech takes place.
Illegal border crossins
Trump: “In a few hours after taking oath, I declared a national emergency at our southern border, and I deployed the American military and border patrol to repel the invasion of our country, and what work they did. Consequently, The illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded ever recorded. They heard my words and they chose not to come. “”
Customs and American border protection agents had around 30,000 meetings with migrants who tried to cross American borders illegally in January, The agency reported. The agency did not report the figures for February.
Trump’s claim is not true. CBP was Record apprehensions since 1925. In 1935, there were only 11,000 apprehensions on a national scale for the whole year. During the administration of President Biden, the country’s illegal crossings reached a record level in 2022 – CBP reported more than 2.2 million games. However, the last full month of Biden, December 2024, saw around 48,000 games.
– Sergio Martínez-BeltránImmigration
Eggs
Trump: “Joe Biden, in particular, let the price of eggs become uncontrollable – the prices of eggs out of control – And we work hard to put it back. “”
Overall, the prices of the grocery store began to stabilize, increasing less than 2% between January 2024 and January 2025. But many people still experience a supermarket sticker. Eggs have been a particularly painful spot lately, prices jumping 53% in the past year. It is largely due to Continuous challenge of avian fluWho forced egg producers to shoot down tens of millions of weighted chickens. The egg supply deficit was aggravated by the purchase of panic – similar to what happened with hygienic paper in 2020 – leading certain stores to limit egg purchases. Last week, the Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a 1 billion efforts to combat avian fluIncluding $ 500 million for new health precautions in egg farms. The USDA also explores vaccination to lay hens and increase the supply of imported eggs.
– Scott HorsleyChief economics
Energy production
Trump: “The previous administration has reduced the number of new oil and gas leases by 95%, slowed down the construction of pipelines and has closed more than 100 power plants. We are opening a lot of these power plants at the moment. And frankly, we have never seen anything like this. “”
President Trump has promised to stimulate the production of fossil fuels, but the United States already produces record quantities of oil and natural gas. Even if the lease auctions and the construction of pipelines slowed down during the Biden administration, the production of crude oil in 2023 reached 12.9 million barrels per day, eclipstating the previous record set in 2019. 2023 was also a record year for domestic natural gas production. A large part of the interior boom in oil and gas production is the result of hydraulic fracturing or “fracturing” techniques.
In recent years have also experienced rapid growth in Solar and wind energyWhile the coal continued to decrease as a source of electricity.
Trump is hostile to the production of wind energy. On the first day of return to the White House, he signed an executive decree temporarily blocking federal leases for offshore wind farms and hitchhiking permits for wind and offshore projects.
– Scott HorsleyChief economics
Inflation
Trump: “We suffered the Worse inflation in 48 yearsBut maybe even in the history of our country, they are not sure. As president, I fight every day to reverse this damage and make America affordable again. “”
Inflation increased to 9.1% in 2022 – the highest rate in 40 years, not 48 – following the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Robust public spending has probably added to price increases in the United States, putting more money in people’s pockets. The demand has increased, exceeding the tangled supply chains. But high inflation was a global problem, even in countries where governments did not pass so much.
While inflation has since been held, settling at 3% in January, prices are increasingly climbing faster than most people would not want.
Although high prices are a source of frustration for many Americans, the average worker has more purchasing power today than she did before the pandemic. Since February 2020, just before the pandemic settled in the United States, consumer prices have increased by 22.8% while average wages increased by 25.8%. Salaries climbed faster than prices for most of two years.
– Scott HorsleyChief economics
Voter
Trump: “Now, for the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is going in the right direction than in the wrong direction. In fact, it is an amazing record swing of 27 points since the day of the ballot.”
More people have said that the country was directed in the wrong direction than the good for a long time. In an average of the polls compiled by Realclearpolitics has been thus every month since June 2009 after former President Obama was sworn in.
And despite improving these points of view since Trump won the elections, mainly due to republican enthusiasm, more people continue to say that the country is heading in the wrong direction.
The latest NPR / PBS News / Marist survey reveals that 54% think that the country is heading in the wrong direction, while 45% said it was heading in the right direction. This is a significant improvement compared to December, when 64% thought that the country was heading in the wrong direction, once again, largely due to the Republicans.
RCP At the average at 51% in poor direction, 43% good management. It is an improvement, but not clear positive.
– Domenico MontanaroPolitical editor / Main correspondent
Energy production
Trump: “The previous administration has reduced the number of new oil and gas leases by 95%, slowed down the construction of pipelines and has closed more than 100 power plants. We are opening a lot of these power plants at the moment. And frankly, we have never seen anything like this. “”
President Trump has promised to stimulate the production of fossil fuels, but the United States already produces record quantities of oil and natural gas. Even if the lease auctions and the construction of pipelines slowed down during the Biden administration, the production of crude oil in 2023 reached 12.9 million barrels per day, eclipstating the previous record set in 2019. 2023 was also a record year for domestic natural gas production. A large part of the interior boom in oil and gas production is the result of hydraulic fracturing or “fracturing” techniques.
In recent years have also experienced rapid growth in Solar and wind energyWhile the coal continued to decrease as a source of electricity.
Trump is hostile to the production of wind energy. On the first day of return to the White House, he signed an executive decree temporarily blocking federal leases for offshore wind farms and hitchhiking permits for wind and offshore projects.
– Scott HorsleyChief economics
Climate change
Trump: “I got back from Paris Climate Agreementwhich cost us billions of dollars in dollars that other countries did not pay. “”
The Paris Agreement, which was agreed in 2015, forces countries to periodically subject objectives or plans to reduce pollution trapping heat. There is no punishment for countries that fail to achieve their goals. The purpose of the agreement is to reduce emissions in order to limit global warming and avoid the worst impact of things like more extreme storms, heat waves and floods. The agreement has also reaffirmed that industrialized countries like the United States, which has built its richness and use of fossil fuels, should provide funding to help the poorest nations to manage global warming. However, the rich countries were slow to respect their financial commitments.
– Michael CopleyClimate correspondent
Define two sexes, men and women
Trump: “I have signed an order, which makes it the official policy of the American government that there are only two sexes, men and women.”
While DNA will indeed code for two sexes, the way in which genes are expressed can create individuals who have atypical sexual development, including, in some cases, characteristics of both sexes, such as ovarian and testicular tissues. These individuals have conditions called differences in sexual development (also called intersex).
Individuals can identify with a sex which differs from their biological gender attributed to birth – and the actions taken by the administration have sought to limit the rights of transgender persons in the United States which identifies themselves as transgender and non -binary see this executive decree as a form of discrimination that erases their identity on official documents.
– Maria GodoyHealthy correspondent
