Trump’s Joint Address to Congress | 3.5.25

President Trump strikes a triumphant tone in his first address to Congress since retaking the White House. The golden age of America has only just begun.
It will be like nothing that has ever been seen before. What priorities did the president lay out and how was he received by both houses of Congress? I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
It's Wednesday, March 5th, and this is Morning Wire. Trump invited several special guests last night, including those victimized by past policies, as well as those who prevailed over hardship.
In 2018, DJ was diagnosed with brain cancer.

The doctors gave him five months. as well as those who prevailed over hardship.
In 2018, DJ was diagnosed with brain cancer.

The doctors gave him five months at most to live.

That was more than six years ago.

And every Senate Democrat votes against keeping men out of women's sports.

We talked to a legal expert about the efforts to protect women's spaces. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
Hey, guys. Producer Brandon here.
Did you know that over 140,000 family farms and ranches in the U.S. closed down since 2017? But by subscribing to Good Ranchers, you can help prevent the closure of more.
At GoodRanchers.com, you can rest easy knowing exactly where your meat comes from. Support those who work to feed Americans with meat exclusively and locally sourced.
Subscribe now at GoodRanchers.com for free bacon, ground beef, seed oil-free chicken nuggets, or salmon in every order for a year, plus $40 off with code WIRE. Good Ranchers, American meat delivered.
In his first joint address to Congress since retaking the White House, President Trump touted his record while laying out his plans on immigration, foreign policy, and trade. Here with some of the key highlights is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
Hey, Cabot, so all eyes on Washington last night as Trump gave his joint address. And the evening was many things.
It was raucous, funny, at times intense. What did we hear from the president last night? Well, we heard a lot.
At one hour and 40 minutes, it was the longest address to Congress in American history. Now, much of that was due to interruptions from Democrats.
We'll get to that in a bit. But a lot to cover.
The theme of Trump's address was, quote, renewal of the American dream. The president took the podium and kicked things off with a simple message.
To my fellow citizens, America is back. Now, typically, a president's first address to Congress is largely focused on what they're going to do in the future.
But Trump started things off by listing off what his administration has already accomplished in the six weeks since he took office. As we expected, he started by touting the record decrease in illegal border crossings last month.
And we quickly achieved the lowest numbers of illegal border crossings ever recorded. Thank you.
the media and our friends in the

Democrats border crossers ever recorded. Thank you.
The media and our friends in the Democrat Party kept saying we needed new legislation. We must have legislation to secure the border.
But it turned out that all we really needed was a new president. Next, Trump went on to laud the accomplishments of Doge, while pointing out especially egregious examples of government waste that his administration has uncovered.
$22 billion from HHS to provide free housing and cars for illegal aliens. $45 million for diversity, equity, and inclusion scholarships in Burma.
$40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is.
$8 million to promote LGBTQI plus in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.

And as we expected, Trump took aim at DEI policies,

vowing to force the federal government and corporations to implement merit-based hiring strategies.

We've ended the tyranny of so-called diversity, equity and inclusion policies

all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military. Our country will be woke no longer.
And the president also used the address to break news on multiple fronts. First, he announced that reciprocal tariffs on our trading partners would officially go into place on April 2nd.
Whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them. That's reciprocal back and forth.
Whatever they tax us, we will tax them. And then he announced for the first time the capture of one of the masterminds behind the Abbey Gate bombing that killed 13 U.S.
service members during the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity, and he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice.
Trump went on to address the war in Ukraine following that contentious meeting with Vladimir Zelensky last week. According to Trump, he says Zelensky is willing to come back to the negotiating table and end the war swiftly.
Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians, he said. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.
We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time that is convenient for you.
I appreciate that he sent this letter, just got it a little while ago. Simultaneously, we've had serious discussions with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace.
Wouldn't that be beautiful? Wouldn't that be beautiful? Now, as I alluded to earlier, one of the big stories of the night was the response from Democrats. Not only did they refuse to stand or even applaud for really anything Trump addressed, including the capture of terrorists or the return of American prisoners in Russia, they staged a number of protests.
Dozens of members held up signs throughout the evening with words like liar, Musk steals, this is not normal, etc. And there were also a number of loud outbursts and boos.
And in a truly stunning moment, one Democratic member, Al Green, stood up and yelled at Donald Trump in the middle of his speech. Green ignored numerous warnings from Speaker Johnson, continued to scream for 60 seconds or so,

and was finally forced off the floor by the House Sergeant at Arms.

It was a wild, unprecedented moment. Have a listen.

Mr. Green, take your seat.
Take your seat, sir.

Take your seat.

Finding that members continue to engage in willful and concerted disruption of proper decorum, the chair now directs the sergeant-at-arms to restore order. Remove this gentleman from the chamber.
It's worth noting after the address, Speaker Johnson said that there would likely be an effort to censor Green over that outburst. For his part, Trump took the opportunity to address the Democrats gathered in the chamber.
Democrats sitting before me, for just this one night, why not join us in celebrating so many incredible wins for America? For the good of our nation, let's work together and let's truly make America great again. Well, as you said, we witnessed a lot last night that we've never quite seen before.
Yeah, nothing quite like it. Cabot, thanks for bringing us the highlights.
Anytime. Next up, we'll talk about the special guests Trump invited to the event.
What's the secret behind wildly successful businesses? It's not just great products or brilliant marketing. It's the unsung hero, the business behind the business.
It's time to make those business goals a reality. For millions of entrepreneurs, that hero is Shopify.
Upgrade your business and get the same checkout we use with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash morningwire, all lowercase.
Go to shopify.com slash morningwire to upgrade your selling today. Shopify.com slash morningwire.
While Trump's speech was heavy on policy, he also dedicated quite a bit of time to special guests who joined him in the gallery. The tributes were heartwarming and in some cases, heartbreaking.
Joining us now to highlight some of the personal stories shared with the American people last night is Daily Wire managing editor Tim Rice. So, Tim, there were laughs and tears.
What can you tell us about the president's guests? Absolutely, Georgia. And, you know, there's way more to recap than we have time for, but I'll do my best to highlight some of the most notable moments.
We have to start with one of the most tender moments of the night. DJ Daniel, a young Texas boy who was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018 and who dreams of being a police officer.
He was in the audience dressed in a police uniform given to him by the Houston Police Department. Trump shouted him out and mentioned that he had been made an honorary cop by a number of police departments.
And then Trump surprised him with a very special honor. And I'll be honest,

I shouted out loud when it happened. Here's some of that incredible moment.

I am asking our new Secret Service director, Sean Curran, to officially make you

an agent of the United States Secret Service. Trump also told the story of Peyton McNabb, a female high school athlete who suffered a traumatic brain injury when a male player who was allowed to play on the girls' team spiked a volleyball into her head.
It was a shot like she's never seen before. She's never seen anything like it.
Peyton is here tonight in the gallery and Peyton from now on schools will kick the men off the girls team or they will lose all federal funding. Also in attendance was Jason Hartley, a high school senior who comes from a family of military service members and law enforcement.
As a boy, Jason lost his father, who was a Los Angeles County sheriff. His dream is to be accepted to West Point.
Here's what Trump said to him. I'm pleased to inform you that your application has been accepted.
You will soon be joining the Corps of Canada. The gallery erupted with that unexpected good news.
Well, I got chills when Trump spoke about Mark Fogel, another one of his guests. As we reported here, Mark was detained in a Russian prison for years until Trump worked to have him released.
What was that moment like? Yeah, what a remarkable story. And it ties into the first assassination attempt.
As our own Cassie Akiva has reported, Trump promised Mark's mother, Malphine, that he would get her son back if he was reelected. He made that promise just minutes before taking the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a would-be assassin fired at him.
Tonight, Trump said that God spared him that day so he could make America great again. But I imagine Malfin thinks God saved Trump so he could bring her son home.
After 22 days in office, I did just that.

And they are here tonight. As fate would have it, Mark Fogle was born in a small rural town in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Have you heard of it? I just happened to go there last July 13th for a rally. that was not pleasant

and that is where I

met his beautiful mom

right July 13th for a rally. That was not pleasant.
And that is where I met his beautiful mom right before I walked onto that stage. And I told her I would not forget what she said about her son.
My life was saved by a fraction of an inch, but some were not so lucky. Corey Comparatore was a firefighter,

a veteran, a Christian, a husband,

a devoted father,

and above all, a protector.

Corey Comparatore's wife, Helen,

and two daughters, Allison and Kaylee,

were also in the audience.

Corey, of course, was in attendance

at the Butler rally

and who was killed by Trump's would-be assassin.

Trump has made it a point to honor Comparatore since then, including over the summer at the Republican National Convention and, of course, again tonight. Right.
And then there were others who lost daughters to illegal immigrants and gang members. Trump honored Lakin Riley's mother and sister and Jocelyn Nungary's mother, Alexis.
Lakin was stolen from us by a savage illegal alien gang member who was arrested while

trespassing across Biden's open southern border.

He had then been arrested and released in a Democrat-run sanctuary city, a disaster,

before ending the life of this beautiful young angel.

With us this evening are Lakin's beloved mother,

Alison, and her sister, Lauren.

And it's worth noting that at least three Democrat senators,

Mark Kelly, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Richard Blumenthal,

did not stand for Riley's family.

And those are just the ones we saw on the feed.

While some really unforgettable tributes last night.

Tim, thanks for sharing these stories. You bet.
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act failed to garner a single Democrat vote on Monday, falling below the 60 votes it needed to advance in the Senate. Joining us now is Sarah Parshall Perry, Senior Legal Fellow at Heritage.
Sarah, thank you so much for joining us. So first, can you lay out the details of the act? What exactly this vote was about? It was actually simply an amendment to Title IX that would have centrally codified Trump's executive order preventing biological males from participating in women's sports.
Very simple. Use the structure of Title IX itself and simply would have made very clear that male and female individuals are biologically distinct and that schools have to keep their athletic scholastic programs separate.
Unfortunately, the bill fell short of the threshold of 60 votes needed to end debate by nine votes. In fact, 43 Democrats and then two nominal independents who caucused with them voted against the bill.
Essentially, Democrats, Democratic, and they did exactly what, unfortunately, we all anticipated they were going to do. While there is Democrat resistance like this, conservatives have seen some major wins in this arena.
There's one supposed win that I wanted you to drill down on for us. The NCAA announcing a policy change that appears to better protect women's sports.
Some say this is actually deceiving. Can you unpack that for us? Yeah, absolutely.
It looks like a win. In theory, it talks about individuals who are assigned male and female at birth.
Well, that's a misnomer right there. We know individuals are not assigned sexes.
They are clinically verified to be a male or female, except in rare instances where there are developmental disorders of sexual function. But that is less than one percent of the entirety of the population.
There are no, quote, transgender athletes in American collegiate athletics. There are only males and females.
And there are, of course, no enforcement mechanisms in this particular policy. What they've done is exactly what they did before and what they've done now since the beginning of the transgender contagion.
And that is to essentially send everything back to the membership governing sports bodies and say, OK, now you can enforce this. And what enforcement looks like, no one can tell because there are no enforcement mechanisms.
There's one point two eight billion dollars at stake in the funding that goes to the annual revenue that funds these particular member colleges and universities. That's on the line.
And of course, these schools are incentivized to make sure they are trans inclusive because they want a cut of the pie. And what about the Olympics sports? There have been some reports that we might see some changes there, some pressure from the White House.
Where does that stand now? Well, what we're seeing is essentially increasing international calls to be able to make sure that male and female athletics are separate. As goes America, I believe so goes the rest of the world.
And Trump himself has made calls for international sports governing bodies to make sure that we don't see a repeat of individuals injured like we have in past events, whether at the collegiate level or on the international stage. I'm hopeful that now that we've seen the rest of the developed world back off of what this really was in terms of a transgender contagion and the trans early trans often with an ignorance toward biological reality And in light of the fact that 79 percent of

Americans, including 67 percent of Democrats, support sex-separated sports, that the Olympic

Committee will take a nod considering America's presence in the International Olympic Games

on a grand scale and will ultimately toe the line on common sense and biological reality.

That truly is an 80-20 issue, as you just highlighted.

Sarah, thank you so much for talking with us.

Thanks, John.

Thanks for waking up with us.

And if you enjoyed what you heard this morning, share this episode with a friend.