Latest News: Trump live: President prepares to make first second-term speech to Congress…..Read More

United States President Donald Trump is slated to address a joint session of Congress for the first time during his second term, taking a victory lap after 43 days back in office.
His speech coincides with the first day of sweeping 25-percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, prompting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to accuse Trump of launching a “trade war that will first and foremost harm American families”.
Trump has paused all military aid for Ukraine after a disastrous Oval Office meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, last week.
European Commission chiefUrsula von der Leyen presents plan to mobilise some 800 billion euros ($841.5bn) for European defence, including the provision of “immediate” military support for Ukraine following the US’s suspension.

Vance voices support for Pentagon nominee
US Vice President JD Vance has said that Elbridge Colby — the Trump nominee to serve as under-secretary of defence for policy — is a “really, really important person for us to have at the Defense Department”.

“I think the Senate will confirm him, and I’m glad to be here and speak on his behalf,” Vance added.

Colby, a Republican, has favoured a restrained foreign policy in a party long known for hawkishness.

He told a confirmation hearing earlier in the day that, while he would like to see Taiwan increase its defense spending, defending the autonomous island from Chinese aggression would not be an “existential” priority for US security.

It’s been 43 days since Donald Trump became president in this very hall on Capitol Hill.

And since then, it’s been really hard to follow what he’s been doing, because there’s just been such a torrent of executive orders, of actions, of decisions being made.

What he’s going to do over the next couple of hours is essentially set out what he sees as his successes and where he believes that Joe Biden left him a real mess to clean up. It’s going to be very much a Donald Trump-themed speech where he says, “Look, America is in a mess, and I alone can fix it.”

He’ll talk about the early success of DOGE. He’ll claim that it saved somewhere in the region of $105bn. He’ll talk about the executive actions that he signed, including making English the official language of the United States. And he’ll talk about how he succeeded in closing down the border, where there are a limited number of crossings.

So it’s going to be an interesting couple of hours. We’re also going to watch what the Democrats are going to do. They’re planning protests throughout. They may use some props, like empty egg cartons to suggest the price of eggs is way too high and the cost of living is way too high. Remember, Donald Trump talked about bringing that down.

They’re also perhaps going to use some sort of sign as well. We may see them dotted around the hall.

Google urges government to pull back from antitrust case: Media
The news agencies Reuters and Bloomberg have reported that representatives from the tech giant Google met with Trump last week, as the government considers an antitrust case that could break up the firm in the name of promoting competition.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is currently pursuing two anti-monopoly cases against Google, arguing that the mammoth company uses its substantial size and influence to stifle competition.

We routinely meet with regulators, including with the DOJ to discuss this case. As we’ve publicly said, we’re concerned the current proposals would harm the American economy and national security,” a Google spokesperson said.

The reports come at a time when the tech industry has sought closer ties with the Trump administration in the hope of influencing its policies.