Wednesday morning news: March 5, 2025

AUDIO (Joint session intro): Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States!

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Trump joint session » For the first time in his second term, President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress last night. It was effectively, though not officially, a State of the Union address. Tradition holds that presidents don’t deliver State of the Union updates during their first year in office.

The president opened by touting actions he’s taken through his first month and a half in office.

TRUMP: Over the past six weeks, I have signed nearly 100 executive orders and taken more than 400 executive actions, a record.

He highlighted some of those, including actions to expand energy production, strip D-E-I policies from the government, and to declare that there are two genders: male and female.

TRUMP:   I also signed an executive order to ban men from playing in women's sports.

And another aimed at protecting children from transgender surgeries.

The president touted early successes by the Department of Government Efficiency in rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. He also celebrated new border numbers showing that illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border plummeted last month.

TRUMP:  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.

President Trump announced that his administration is already taking steps to reclaim U.S. ownership of the Panama Canal. He asserts that Panama is in violation of the treaty by which the U.S. surrendered control of the canal to Panama in 1977. And he once again mentioned his desire to see Greenland become a U.S. territory.

The president also had plenty to say about trade tariffs just hours after new tariffs took effect on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China.

TRUMP:  If you don't make your product in America, however, under the Trump administration, you will pay a tariff, and in some cases, a rather large one. Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it's our turn.

And Trump again stated as his top foreign policy priority, achieving a peace deal in Ukraine.

Dem response » First-term Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan delivered the Democratic response to Trump’s address. She acknowledged that in voting for Trump, a majority of Americans said they wanted change.

SLOTKIN:  But there's a responsible way to make change and a reckless way, and we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country and as a democracy.

The senator said Trump’s tax cuts could add to the national debt, contradicting his fiscal promises. She predicted that the president’s tariffs would fuel inflation. And she dismissed Trump's economic policy plans, as well as his administration’s DOGE efforts to cut government waste.

SLOTKIN: Donald 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.

On the global stage, she suggested that Trump is pursuing isolationist policies that she said will make Americans less safe at home and abroad.

Zelenskyy / Ukraine » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke out on Tuesday, just hours after the White House said it is pausing military aid to Ukraine until the country demonstrates it is genuinely ready to negotiate peace. WORLD’s Christina Grube has more.

CHRISTINA GRUBE: Zelenskyy said the White House meeting—quote—“did not go the way it was supposed to” and “it is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.”

Zelesnkyy added, “Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”

For WORLD, I’m Christina Grube.

Trade tariffs » While you heard President Trump’s take on new trade tariffs last night, hours before his address, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau again vowed to strike back with tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods. He said he finds himself in the uncommon position of agreeing with the Wall Street Journal:

TRUDEAU:  They point out that even though you're a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do. We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want.

Trump imposed 25% taxes on Mexican and Canadian imports, though he limited the levy to 10% on Canadian energy. Trump also doubled the tariff he slapped last month on Chinese products to 20%.

Beijing retaliated with tariffs of up to 15% on a wide array of U.S. farm exports.

Mexico says it will announce its response on Sunday.

Israel / Egypt Gaza proposal » Arab leaders and others are lining up to endorse Egypt's plan for a postwar Gaza as an alternative to Trump’s plan for the U.S. to rebuild the territory.

U-N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres:

GUTERRES: Gaza must remain an integral part of an independent democratic and sovereign Palestinian state, with no reduction in its territory or forced transfer of its population.

Egypt’s more than $50-billion-dollar plan would call for the reconstruction of Gaza over the next five years, without the removal of its population.

It would involve removing unexploded ordnance, clearing more than 50 million tons of rubble, and setting up temporary housing for Palestinians.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Washington Wednesday considers the possible effects of cutting the federal workforce. Plus, commentary from Janie B Cheaney on love and marriage.

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