Washington, 5 March 2025 (dpa/MIA) - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday delivered his first address to both chambers of Congress since returning to office in January, striking an uncompromising tone and reaffirming his commitment to a confrontational agenda.

The Republican president's address to the joint session of Congress, the longest in modern US history, was filled with attacks on his predecessor, Joe Biden, and the opposition Democrats.

During the 100-minute speech, several Democrats held up signs in protest of Trump's policies.

Opening with "America is back," his speech was met with enthusiastic applause and chants of "USA, USA" from Republican members.

The president called the first few weeks of his presidency the "most successful" in the history of the US as he took aim at migrants and minorities, while praising tech billionaire Elon Musk for his leadership in overseeing cost-cutting measures, which have included widespread layoffs across federal agencies.

Trump says tariffs could bring 'a little disturbance'

Trump also defended the introduction of far-reaching tariffs on long-time trade partners like Canada and Mexico, stating that the tariffs were designed to "make America rich again."

He conceded "there could be a little disturbance" and "there could be an adjustment period."

The US president repeated his announcement that new far-reaching tariffs would be imposed on April 2.

"We've been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on earth, and we will not let that happen anymore," he said.

Tariffs of 25% on goods from Mexico and Canada came into force on Tuesday. Trump had also announced that he would double the import tariffs on goods from China, which were imposed in February, to 20%.

China, Mexico and Canada all responded to the new US tariffs by imposing retaliatory measures on imports from the US.

Alaska pipeline and rare earths mining

Trump also said that his administration was "working on a gigantic natural gas pipeline" in Alaska, which would be one of the largest in the world.

He noted that nations like Japan and South Korea were eager to contribute "trillions of dollars"

The US president also said that, later in the week, he would take "historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in the USA."

MIA file photo