President Donald Trump’s Tuesday night address to Congress beat his own last endurance record of an hour and 22 minutes, clocking in at an hour and 39 minutes. Differing from his style of speech used during his campaign rallies, his Tuesday night address showed an effort to detail his accomplishments in fewer than 50 days. 

From border security to deregulation, foreign investment to hostage releases, here are the most consequential initiatives just 3% into his second term:

Energy policies

On January 20, 2025 Trump signed the executive order titled  "Unleashing American Energy." This order revoked several past executive orders mandating green energy initiatives including the Biden administration’s electric vehicle mandate. The order also included "Unleashing Energy Dominance Through Efficient Permitting" to streamline the regulatory process, confining it to 30 days to gain permitting approvals. In another section titled Prioritizing Accuracy In Environmental Analyses it mandates that “agencies shall strictly use the most robust methodologies of assessment at their disposal and shall not use methodologies that are arbitrary or ideologically motivated.” 

Another day-one initiative by the Trump administration was declaring an "energy emergency," reducing red tape in the permitting process. A number of energy industry icons reacted positively, with Chevron announcing that they “are increasing production 50% between last year and what we will see next year.” BP announced that it would disregard a number of its green goals and increase oil production by between 2.3 million and 2.5 million barrels per day by 2030. 

The Trump administration granted its first approval for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal, following years of stringent LNG regulation under Biden. The Washington Examiner reported that the Trump administration has also shut down the Biden Administration’s American Climate Corps, an environmental public works program that utilized taxpayer money for initiatives like hiring “garden educators” with a “commitment to social justice and anti-racism.” 

Immigration and securing the border

Referring in the speech to one of his day-one Executive Orders, President Trump said "I declared a national emergency on our southern border, and I deployed the U.S. military and Border Patrol to repel the invasion of our country." Indeed, on January 20, he declared a national emergency at the border to redirect efforts and resources to fortify this southern border. He also placed a pause on refugee admittance “until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees align with the interest of the United States.” 

He reminded citizens and lawmakers that on the previous Saturday, he designated English as the official language of the United States and added that "As a result, illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded, ever." As a result, Trump claimed, his administration is now deporting immigrants at a slower pace than Joe Biden did last year. 

However, with a “worst first” policy to be utilized during deportation efforts — not to mention the inevitable lawfare — it may become more logistically complex and may be protracted. Trump has in the past said because of his immigration policies and threats of deportation, many immigrants are self deporting, and leaving the United States voluntarily.

Economy and foreign investment

The Trump administration says it has secured nearly $2 trillion in foreign investments with the most recent being an injection of $165 billion from Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. Other investments purportedly include $500 billion in private sector investment for AI infrastructure by SoftBank, Oracle, and OpenAI. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced a $600 billion investment shortly after Trump took office.  

Trump reminded citizens and lawmakers that Apple will also be investing in the United States with a $500 billion initiative, which includes the hiring of roughly 20,000 workers over the next four years. On a kitchen table issue, after the price of eggs spiked under Biden to nearly $5 and grocery prices generally remain high, on February 26 Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a $1 billion effort to combat Avian flu and bring down egg prices. 

Broken down, that effort is described as a: “five-pronged strategy includ[ing] an additional $500 million for biosecurity measures, $400 million in financial relief for affected farmers, and $100 million for vaccine research, action to reduce regulatory burdens, and exploring temporary import options.” 

Trump promised that "We will defeat inflation, bring down mortgage rates, lower car payments and grocery prices, protect our seniors and put more money in the pockets of American families."

DOGE and shrinking government size and waste

Trump's campaign extensively on reducing the size of the federal government, and his speech raised this issue with special emphasis. Despite the bureaucratic left's war on Elon Musk’s aggressive quest to root out waste, fraud and abuse, Trump has urged him to be even more aggressive. 

According to the DOGE website tracking the amount of taxpayer dollars saved, it says it has saved $105 billion as of publishing time. Both Musk and Trump have floated the idea of returning 20% to the American people in the form of “DOGE dividend checks,” totalling about $20 billion.

In the speech, he also expressed a desire to balance the budget in the near future, presumably during his second term in office. 

Terrorism and hostage releases in second term

Trump boasted of securing the release of six American hostages in Venezuela, freedom for U.S./Israeli citizen Keith Siegel held by Hamas, and repatriated Pennsylvania teacher, Marc Fogel from Russian prison, and an American hostage from Belarus: all since the beginning of his new term. Fogel was in the gallery at the speech at the Capitol, and received a warm ovation from Republican lawmakers. Most Democrats, in what was possibly choreographed, did not rise to applaud Fogel's new-found freedom.  

Trump also delivered breaking news in his speech, announcing the extradition of one of the ISIS-K terrorists responsible for the deadly August 2021 Abbey Gate suicide attack. That assault took the lives of 13 American troops and 170 Afghan civilians during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

Big ideas popular with voters

In the speech, Trump said "We’re seeking permanent income tax cuts all across the board and to get urgently needed relief to Americans hit especially hard by inflation. I’m calling for no tax on tips, no tax overtime and no tax on Social Security benefits for our great seniors."

There is now legislation being considered in the House to make good on that promise. He followed up that promise with “no tax on overtime” which is currently a part of the “big, beautiful bill” being considered by the House.