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Trump's spectacle on the Hill 

In the first major speech to Congress of his second term, President Donald Trump made clear that he intends to barrel ahead with the MAGA agenda.

Unsurprisingly, he cast the past 43 days of disruption and controversy as filled with historic wins, the greatest of any president in history (George Washington was number two, he said). And while he offered few new details on what he planned going forward, it’s obvious we should expect more of the same.

For instance, Trump sounded enthusiastic about expanding his trade war, hyping a new round of “reciprocal tariffs” he says will go into effect April 2. These tariffs, he claims, are on countries that have their own tariffs on US goods — or that have value-added taxes.

He mentioned the European Union, India, Brazil, and South Korea as tariff targets, in addition to China, Canada, and Mexico, which he’s already imposed tariffs on. There “may be a little bit of an adjustment period” for American agricultural exporters, Trump said.

Meanwhile, Trump claimed he was going to “balance the federal budget,” but also championed his plan for big new income and business tax cuts, including reiterating his campaign promises to make tips, overtime payments, and Social Security income tax-exempt. It’s hard to see how that math could add up.

Trump also praised Elon Musk and rattled off more than a dozen absurd-sounding contracts that he claimed Musk’s team had canceled. On the topic of rising egg prices, Trump blamed Joe Biden and said his team was “working hard” to lower them but did not offer any specifics. 

One big question mark for the speech was how Trump would handle Ukraine after Friday’s Oval Office blow-up and the administration’s subsequent pause on aid to the country. On Tuesday morning, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a social media post that seemed to give in to several of Trump’s demands while calling Friday’s disastrous meeting “regrettable.”

In his speech, Trump said, “I appreciate that he sent that letter,” and added that Russia had sent “strong signals that they are ready for peace. “Wouldn’t that be beautiful?” he added. However, he did not give any further details on what he hoped a peace arrangement would look like.

Trump bragged that his administration had ended “wokeness” and “diversity, equity, and inclusion” not only in the federal government but also in the private sector. In addition to his typical denunciation of unauthorized immigrants who committed crimes, Trump attacked trans athletes — one of his invited guests had been injured when, in Trump’s words, “her girls’ volleyball match was invaded by a man.”

“Wokeness is trouble, wokeness is bad, it’s gone,” he said. “And we feel so much better for it, don’t we?”

During the speech, Democrats tried to show protest in various ways. Rep. Al Green (D-TX) disrupted the speech at the beginning and was escorted out of the chamber by the House sergeant at arms. Others held up small signs with phrases like “Save Medicaid” or “Musk steals” written on it, or chose to walk out themselves. But ultimately, Trump’s speech wasn’t meaningfully disrupted.

Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

Not so popular: Recently, there was a lot of buzz about Trump’s surprisingly positive poll numbers. Christian Paz reports those numbers are now going down.

Bad news on the economy: The US’ economic picture isn’t looking so hot, and that’s why the Trump administration is talking about tweaking how we talk about the economy, Eric Levitz writes. 

Tariffs 101: Need a refresher on tariffs and how they work? Allow me to direct you to this from the Today Explained (the newsletter!) archive.

Armor up: The EU is proposing spending big to beef up its military capabilities in the wake of the US pulling military support for Ukraine. [Reuters]

Raising heartland hackles: Trump’s trade war has farmers worried about who they’ll sell their meat and produce to. [Politico]

Don’t be sad, it’s Carnival: Brazil is celebrating its legendary Carnival, and AP has photos from some of the biggest parties. [AP]

Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images

The Trump administration has promised massive deportations. If those do come to pass, they’ll disturb many industries, including childcare. Rachel Cohen investigates what it would mean for American families if child care workers are deported.

Simone Lueck/Bloomberg/Getty Images

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Today’s edition was produced and edited by me, news editor Sean Collins. I have my fingers crossed that you're having a good day.

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