Donald Trump
“Legitimate alternatives” to duties
Trump called the decision to impose duties “unfortunate.” According to him, the administration is considering “legitimate alternatives.” The American leader also criticized the Supreme Court’s decision that he had exceeded the president’s authority by imposing a slew of global duties under the Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The US president said the duties have brought the US “hundreds of billions of dollars to make good deals for our country, both economically and in terms of national security”.
Donald Trump also drew attention to the decline in energy prices “to the point where they can’t believe it.” The Guardian notes, however, that the average US household energy bill rose by 6.7% from 2024 to 2025.
Trump also announced new “commitments to protect taxpayers”. He said Americans will be protected from rising electricity prices caused by increased demand from data centers for artificial intelligence. The president has reportedly agreed with technology giants that they will finance the increased electricity costs in regions where new data centers are being built.
U.S. and the rest of the world
On foreign policy, Trump said Iran is developing missiles that could pose a threat to the US.
“They have already developed missiles that could threaten Europe and our bases overseas. And they’re working on missiles that could soon reach the United States of America,” he said, without giving details about those weapons systems.
Trump also emphasized that he would “never allow a country that is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism to obtain nuclear weapons.”
During the speech, Trump got into an argument with Democrats. He asked all lawmakers to stand if they agreed that “the primary responsibility of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal immigrants” and to restore funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats remained seated, and Trump rebuked them.
Trump also said that “Somali pirates were robbing Minnesota” through “bribes, corruption and lawlessness.” He said “importing these crops through unrestricted immigration and open borders causes these problems to occur in the United States as well.”
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who was in the audience, called the president a “liar.” The U.S. leader said the administration’s “war on fraud” will now be led by his vice president, J.D. Vance.
