By Armin Sijamić
On Tuesday night to Wednesday, according to our time, US President Donald Trump addressed both houses of Congress. US presidents have often used such addresses as an opportunity to call for unity and point out the challenges facing the country. But not Trump. In his world, everything is rosy, except for the policies of the defeated American Democrats.
"America is back," Trump began his address, which lasted just under an hour and forty minutes, making it the longest speech by a US president at a joint session of Congress. The fact that Trump was particularly inspired for this performance is also indicated by the fact that his addresses from this venue in his first term lasted an average of about eighty minutes.
Trump was interrupted by numerous applause from politicians and guests, as well as his own applause directed at individuals he mentioned who were present in the hall. Thus, the hall, often a synonym for serious politics, resembled a sports arena where the audience greets their favorites with applause and cheers.
Democratic Congressman Al Green, who was removed from the hall by security just minutes after Trump began speaking, also contributed to the sports arena atmosphere. He shouted and heckled Trump, saying he "has no mandate" and refused to sit down. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a close associate of Trump, said that "Green has made history in a terrible way."
Al Green (with a cane) was removed from the hall
Some Democrats held signs that read "False" and "Musk is stealing," targeting the world's richest man, whom Trump's critics call the real president of the United States, highlighting his role in the White House. Elon Musk was in the audience and also received strong applause after Trump praised his work in the Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump Against All
Trump was not deterred by the behavior of some Democrats. From the first to the last moment of his address, he showed the same energy and never gave up on proclaiming himself and his policies as the best in the history of the United States, while portraying his political opponents in the complete opposite way, presenting arbitrary and false data, and threatening...
Some media outlets checked the accuracy of Trump's claims and concluded that he made many untruths. Some statements are difficult to assess in any way. "We have achieved more in 43 days than some administrations in four or eight years, and we are just getting started," he said, praising his administration's successes.
But for some people outside the United States, that is the least of the problems in Trump's speech. Trump threatened some countries and reiterated that he would take the Panama Canal from Panama and that Greenland would belong to Washington "one way or another."
Trump's remarks about other countries sometimes sounded like a call for submission, without regard for anyone's position. He described almost every mention of other countries and international agreements as a rip-off of the United States, while before and after that he spoke of a "golden age" in the country he leads. As proof of success, he cited the executive orders he signed since returning to the White House.
Ideological War
However, the most important part of Trump's address was the continuation of his confrontation with the Democrats, who are a minority in Congress, and former President Joseph Biden, whose political career has seemingly ended with the conclusion of his presidential term.
Targeting Biden is not accidental and likely points to revenge, which many have feared since his return to the White House. But there is no doubt that Trump used his address to Congress to, legally and legitimately, confront the policies of the Biden administration. From the same venue, Biden targeted Trump long before the presidential elections in November.
Trump's spin doctors have taken LGBTQ+ issues and "woke culture" as symbols of the downfall of American society. Everything related to this, which some Republicans also supported, including being part of that population, Trump attributed to the Democrats. Such policies are not difficult to attack, and Trump does so by stating where and how American money was spent. He listed Lesotho, Serbia, Moldova, Uganda... as places where tens of millions of dollars were spent on these programs.
Many voters will support this. It is not difficult to determine that an over-indebted country, which the United States is, should not send millions of dollars around the world for programs that voters would not support even in their own neighborhood. For an American struggling to make ends meet, the idea of American money being sent for social inclusion programs in Peru or Colombia sounds terrible. The number of people who will support this stance of Trump's is sure to grow, especially if they experience economic difficulties and as this narrative becomes dominant. Thus, Trump will try to bury the policies he defeated in the presidential elections.
This ideological confrontation, which will affect various areas of life, will be Trump's magic card on the domestic political scene. Regardless of the results in other areas, his administration will use the fact that it has abolished all genders except male and female, that it has protected women's sports from transgender individuals, or that it has eliminated words denoting such people from the language.
Trump will "export" this worldview to places where his political supporters and followers of alleged conservatism reside, a conservatism that is supposed to save "ordinary" people from the "evil left," which has essentially ceased to be so in most of the world decades ago. On this matrix, Trump will gain sympathy around the world and strengthen American positions in some places.
However, this will not change the fact that the United States and the West need change, and problems are accumulating. Divisions among Western countries are becoming more pronounced, and Trump is fueling them. Biden's addresses at least contained hope that cooperation was possible and that Washington needed allies. In Trump's worldview, even the closest ally can be an enemy. He confirmed this in his speech to Congress, suggesting that Democrats and American allies had only done what was wrong.
Some Republicans, aware of the above, will likely begin to push Trump towards positions held by previous administrations at some point, regardless of their party affiliation. Otherwise, it will not be long before we are talking about the United States "that we once knew."
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