Transcript of What Trump Said Last Night, Trump On Immigration, China Tariff Confidence

President Trump addressed Congress promising new waves of tariffs on products Americans buy and criticizing Democrats for not smiling or applauding.

What did the speech reveal about the administration's next moves?

I'm Michelle Martin. That's Steve Inskeep, and this is Up First from NPR News. The President also talked up a plan to let rich foreigners buy US residency for $5 million. He also spoke of current migrants as terrorists.

Every last one will be rounded up and forcibly removed from our country.

His homeland security Tsar says they are short of resources, so what's the President's need from Congress?

Also, how is China responding to US terrorists? The Communist government has its own public ritual, the annual meeting of its one-party Congress. Our colleague, John Ruhich, is there and helps us to listen in. Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day.

Hey, it's Scott Detra, the host of Trump's Terms, a podcast where we bring you short, focused episodes about the 47th President and the biggest changes he is trying to make. A lot of those changes will be front and center during his address to a joint session of Congress on March fourth. In the days after, we will bring you stories not just about what he said, but about what is actually happening and what isn't happening. Listen to Trump's terms from NPR.

On the Embedded podcast. No.

It's called Denying a Freedom of Speech.

It's misinformation. Like so many Americans, my dad has swept up in conspiracy theories.

These are not conspiracy theories.

These are reality. I spent the year following him down the rabbit hole, trying to get him back. Listen to alternate realities on the Embedded podcast from NPR. All episodes available now.

President Trump took the occasion of a speech to Congress to proclaim in his view that America is back.

For more than 90 minutes, he talked of securing the border, slashing government and imposing tariffs. And he said he did not expect much support from Democrats.

The These people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won't do it no matter what.

The opposition party did spend most of his speech stony-face, seated or protesting.

Npr White House Correspondent, Franco Ordonias, was listening to all of those minutes, and he joins us now. Franco, good morning.

Good morning, Steve.

What was it like?

Yeah, there was always some tension in these kinds of speeches, but last night, that tension was really so much I mean, in the first five minutes, a Democratic congressman, Al Green of Texas, stood up in protest. He was waving his cane and calling out that Trump didn't have a mandate. When he wouldn't sit down, House Speaker Mike Johnson actually had him escorted out of the chamber, which was a first as far as I can remember. Throughout the speech, Republicans were cheering, Democrats were holding up these signs that read things like, false and save Medicaid, and just repeatedly, Trump would go after former President Joe Biden by name and calling Democrats radical left lunatics. I mean, the partisan nature of this speech is really likely what this is going to be remembered for.

Well, the President certainly celebrated some of his more divisive or partisan achievements.

Yeah, Trump actually spent a lot of time touting the work of Elon Musk and his project to cut costs, known as the Department of Government Efficiency. He got into some of the nitty-gritty, giving this long list of examples that he said were being cut. Here's a small part.

$40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. $8 million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.

Now, Steve, Trump's critics have said some of these cuts were for necessary services like aid for starving children. In some cases, the White House did acknowledge this and rehired people. But NPR has also looked into some of the claims of savings posted on the DOGE website, and documents show that most of those savings don't actually exist.

Well, did the President talk about his plans for the year ahead? This can be a table-setting moment.

Yeah, a little bit. He asked Congress to pass his tax cuts. He talked about a plan that he announced this week to expand production of critical minerals in the US. But he really spent most of his time talking about things that he's already done.

Well, did he use guests in attendance to make his points, as presidents often do?

He did. That shows the priorities. A lot of the guests were victims of crime or worked in law enforcement. There was this really heartwarming moment when Trump honored a 13-year-old boy who has fought brain cancer. He was dressed in a police uniform, and Trump said he had a special surprise for him.

Tonight, DJ, we're going to do you the biggest honor of them all. I am asking our new Secret Service Director, Sean Curran, to officially make you an agent of the United States Secret Service.

Trump's Secret Service Director then came out and gave him a badge and a hug.

In this 90 minute or more speech, Franco, did anything go unset?

Well, I mean, one of the biggest concerns Americans have is their grocery bills. And Trump promised to cut high prices, but we really didn't hear anything new about those plans. He just blamed Biden.

That's White House correspondent, Franco Ordonias. Franco, thanks so much.

Thanks, Steve.

Now, Democrats took note of what the President didn't say about prices. Senator Alyssa Slotkin of Michigan delivered the party's response.

President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends. He's on the hunt to find trillions of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest in America. To do that, he's going to make you pay in every part of your life. Grocery and home prices are going up up, not down, and he hasn't laid out a credible plan to deal with either of those.

Slott can argue that Trump's tariffs and other proposals will raise prices the opposite of what voters said they wanted in last year's election.

Another big issue in last year's election was immigration, and the President spoke last night of rounding up migrants that he described as terrorists.

Every last one will be rounded up and forcibly removed from our country, or if they're too dangerous, put in jails, standing trial in this country.

Npr's immigration Policy Reporter, Ximena Bistillo, is listening in and is with us after a long night. Ximena, good morning.

Good morning, Steve.

Well, how did the President highlight immigration as you listened?

There were several guests in the audience invited that showcased this priority, not just for the administration, but for Republicans. One was House Speaker Mike Johnson's guest, who was White House Borders, our Tom Homan. Homan is one of the key advisors designating and directing Trump's immigration policy through the federal agencies and has been one of the Spokes people for the administration's goals. Other guests of the White House included Roberto Ortiz, a US border patrol agent. Also there were family members of Lake and Reilly. You might recall that she's a Georgia nursing student whose murder became a rallying cry for Republicans criticizing the Biden administration's immigration plans. The first law, Trump signed in his second term, was named after Reilly, and it expanded the scope of who could be deported.

Now, the President made a claim during the address that illegal border crossings are at the lowest level ever recorded. What do the facts show you?

The agency has not reported the numbers for February yet. That's the Customs and Border Protection. However, posts on social media by the President suggests the administration is on track to report about 8,500 arrests at the US-Mexico border in the month of February. This could be the lowest number of crossings since Homeland Security started reporting the data in 2000.

Okay, so that is a drop.

Right. And these numbers can ebb and flow depending on serious factors. During President Biden's administration, unlawful crossings nationwide peaked in 2022. There was another peak again in 2023, but they've been declining ever since, and we're on a downward trend when Trump took office.

Now, the President, interestingly enough, also talked about letting people in to the country. Future action on visas. What's he talking about?

Trump recently announced a plan to create a so-called gold card, which he said would allow, quote, very high-level people to apply to become lawful permanent guidance. His administration has pitched this as a replacement to the current EB5 immigrant investor visa. But the President can't solely create a new visa. That power lies within Congress. So far, a formal proposal has not been issued by the Trump administration. And speaking of Congress, Trump also took this speech as a reminder to lawmakers that his administration is asking for more money to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Speaking to reporters at the White House earlier in the day, border Tsar Tom Holman described the immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency as being, in the hole. He said that they needed more money for detention beds and flights to send people out. But that money has to come from Congress.

And Pierre Cimena Bustillo, get some sleep.

Thank you.

Okay, President Trump was not the only world leader to give a big speech in front of a legislature in the past day.

Yes, Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered an annual government work report on the first day of the annual session of China's Parliament. It's a state of the Union type address, and it gives us an idea of what's on the minds of the leaders of the world's number two economy.

And, Pierre, John Ruhich was at the Great Hall of the People, big building in the middle of Beijing to hear this, and he's on the line. John, hi there. Hi, Steve. So did China's leaders use this occasion to respond to what President Trump was saying here, including about them?

Well, no. Li Qiang's speech was wrapping up as Trump was getting started. So we haven't really seen a Chinese response to Trump's speech yet. The Chinese government responded, though, to the new tariffs by Trump. He ratcheted tariffs on Chinese imports up to 20% yesterday. They retaliated with their own tariffs on American chicken, wheat, corn, soybeans, and such, blacklisted about 15 US companies. The Chinese Premier did not mention the US by name in his address. It's the document that's drafted over the course of months, doesn't change with headlines. But he did talk about, quote, an increasingly complex and severe external environment. Now, those are words we've heard from Chinese leaders before. Analysts say they're basically code for this confrontational situation they have with the US. On that front, Lee flagged some concerns that that external environment may actually have a greater impact on China going forward. Rank and file delegates to the National People's Congress didn't seem too worried, though, about the terror.

Oh, this is really interesting. I've been talking with economic and business figures connected with China who seem to I think that tariffs will hurt Americans more than they're going to hurt the Chinese. But what are you hearing where you are?

Yeah, we had a chance to talk to a handful of delegates on their way into the opening session today. One of them was Tian Huan, who's a professor of finance, part of the Shanghai Delegation. He told me that China's basically in a better position to handle the tariffs now and to offset them than before. China has a huge domestic market, for instance. It's got comprehensive supply chains. He He says the authorities are taking steps to stimulate domestic demand, and he says the terrorists are also a motivator for China to promote high tech and to expand relations with other countries. Economists, like you say, say the terrorists will probably start to hurt, especially if they keep going up. But these pick delegates to parliament were projecting confidence, as you might expect.

Okay, so that's the spin, and there's not nothing behind the spin. But also China's economy has really been struggling, sputtering, and doing strange things the last couple of years. So how do they address that?

Well, the premier flagged the risks like that external environment, like sluggish domestic demand. But he also projected some confidence. He set a growth target of around 5% this year. It's about the same as last year. To get there announced some fresh fiscal stimulus, a willingness to pursue more accommodative monetary policy, to increase funding for industries of the future like quantum technology, AI, these types of things.

Okay, so I just want to note, this is a one-party Congress, not likely to have a failed vote or a close vote on anything, but it does, I guess, signal where the government is going. So what do you expect in the coming days?

Well, one interesting thing we'll be looking out for is that the NPC may pass some legislation that would support and protect private businesses. And that's pretty interesting because the leadership here seems to have renewed its interest in these companies as drivers of the economy and innovation, especially after the Chinese company Deep Seq released an advanced AI model in January that shocked the world.

Npr's John Ruich with some insights from Beijing. Really appreciate it, John.

You're welcome.

That's a first for this Wednesday, March fifth. I'm Steve Inskeep.

I'm Michelle Martin. There is an easy way to stay connected to news and podcasts from the NPR Network, the NPR app. Hear community coverage from your local station, stories from around the world, and podcast suggestions based on what you like. Download the NPR app in your app store.

Today's Up First was edited by Roberta Rampton, Kevin Drew, Rylan Barton, Alice Wolfley, and Mohamed El Bardisi, who was produced by Zyad Batch, Nia Dumas, and Chris Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hyness, and our technical director is Stacey Abbott. Join us again tomorrow.

I know it's almost baseball season.

I should have described her fist pump, as I said her name. She's ready. Stacey Abbott. Okay.

Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks?

Amazon Prime members can listen to Up First sponsor-free through Amazon Music. Or you can also support NPR's vital journalism and get Up First Plus at plus. Npr.

Org.

That's plus. Npr. Org.