On today’s show: President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress last night, for the first time in his second term. In his speech he covered a wide range of topics as Republicans cheered and Democrats staged small protests. NBC News has the key takeaways. Trump has said he wants Palestinians out of Gaza. NPR breaks down a plan proposed by Egypt to keep them there and rebuild. Plus, Republicans are being advised not to hold in-person town-hall events after angry constituents confronted a number of GOP lawmakers, two American astronauts stuck in space are set to come home, and how warming temperatures and too little snow have changed this year’s Iditarod dog sled race. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Full Episode
Good morning. It's Wednesday, March 5th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, Trump touts his early victories before Congress, the Arab state's proposal to rebuild Gaza after the war ends, and the astronauts stuck at the International Space Station are finally getting ready to come home.
Let's start with President Donald Trump's address last night to a joint session of Congress, his first since taking office in January. From the moment he entered the chamber, he was greeted by Republican cheers. And Democrats protesting. Several dozen held up signs reading things like, Musk steals and protect veterans.
Texas Congressman Al Green stood up to disrupt the president's speech and protest threats to Medicaid, and he was escorted out by the sergeant at arms.
The chair now directs the sergeant at arms to restore order. Remove this gentleman from the chamber.
Throughout his speech, Trump suggested he had a sweeping mandate from the American people to enact broad changes across the federal government. At one point, he said that God had spared his life from assassination in order for him to return to the presidency. With that mandate, Trump touted his long list of early actions. Everything from dismantling DEI programs and U.S.
government agencies like USAID to increasing resources at the southern border and renaming key landmarks like the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali.
We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. And we are just getting started. Yeah!
Trump also celebrated Elon Musk's work with the Department of Government Efficiency, claiming Doge has found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud, a figure that's been hard for journalists to verify, though many outlets have found instances of Doge overstating its savings. Trump attacked federal workers, though notably he didn't mention how much the government is saving with mass layoffs.
And he said the days of being ruled by, quote, unelected bureaucrats are over, to which Democrats responded by pointing to Elon Musk sitting up in the gallery. Trump later turned to his plans for the future, spending quite a bit of time on tariffs and the economy.
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