Trump addresses US Congress after pausing Ukraine aid

US President Donald Trump is delivering a speech to Congress after upending US foreign policy, igniting a trade war with close allies, slashing the federal workforce and stretching the limits of presidential power since returning to the White House.

The speech, his first to Congress since taking office on 20 January, began at around 9:20pm ET (2:20am Irish time) after Mr Trump's sweeping new tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China drove US markets sharply downward for a second straight day.

Mr Trump is speaking in the House of Representatives, where politicians huddled in fear a little over four years ago after a mob of his supporters entered the US Capitol in an unsuccessful effort to overturn Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 victory over the then-incumbent Mr Trump.

The president intends to boast about his first 44 days in office, calling it "the most successful" first month of any US presidency in history, according to excerpts released by the White House ahead of the speech.

He will also defend his tariff campaign, despite concerns that it could raise consumer prices and slow economic growth.

"Whatever they tariff us, we tariff them. Whatever they taxes, we tax them," Mr Trump is expected to say.

"If they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market."

A former TV showman , Mr Trump at one point appeared to be preparing for a surprise announcement: the signing of a minerals deal between the US and Ukraine that could ease tensions between Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Mr Trump told advisers earlier in the day that he wanted to announce the deal in his speech, sources told Reuters, though they cautioned that nothing had been finalised.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent then told Fox News there was "no signing planned" for a minerals deal, a reporter for the network said on X.

Mr Trump paused all military aid to the beleaguered US ally late on Monday, following a row in the Oval Office in which Mr Trump angrily upbraided Mr Zelensky in front of TV cameras.

The suspension dealt a heavy blow to Kyiv's efforts to defend against Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion three years ago, and further concerned European leaders worried that Mr Trump is moving the US too far toward Russia.

While the US president has appeared to fault Ukraine for starting the war, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found 70% of Americans – including two-thirds of Republicans - say Russia was more to blame.

Mr Trump's 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, two of the country's closest allies, and an additional 10% on Chinese imports deepened investor concerns about the economy.

The Nasdaq Composite is down more than 9% from its record closing high on 16 December.

Just one in three Americans approve of Mr Trump's handling of the cost of living, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll, a potential danger sign amid worries his tariffs could increase inflation.

A senior White House official said the theme of Mr Trump's speech is the "renewal of the American dream".

The speech is akin to a State of the Union address but not called that in a president's inaugural year.

The official said Mr Trump's topics will include laying out his plans to end the Ukraine war and gain the release of hostages abducted from Israel by Hamas militants and held in Gaza.

He is expected to laud his rapid-fire efforts to slash the federal bureaucracy, reduce the flow of migrants over the US-Mexico border and use tariffs to force other nations to bow to his demands.

On the domestic front, Mr Trump is likely to make a case for extending his 2017 tax cuts.

Congressional Republicans have advanced a sweeping $4.5 trillion plan that would extend the cuts, tighten border security and fund a huge increase in deportations.

The proposal calls for $2 trillion in spending reductions over a decade, with possible cuts to education, healthcare and other social services.

Mr Trump has asserted an unprecedented level of executive power, working with Elon Musk - the world's richest person - to jettison more than 100,000 workers across the government despite dozens of lawsuits.

Mr Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has dismantled agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and canceled billions of dollars in foreign aid, including lifesaving medicine and food, that had been authorised by Congress.

Mr Musk is in attendance for the speech.

Democrats plan to underscore the harm they say Mr Trump's policies have caused everyday Americans by inviting civil servants hit by DOGE firings or funding freezes to the speech.

Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a former CIA agent, will deliver the Democratic Party's rebuttal.

First lady Melania Trump will be joined at the address by selected guests, including the family of Corey Comperatore, a firefighter killed by the gunman who grazed Mr Trump with a bullet during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July.

Others include Marc Fogel, a history teacher freed from detention in Russia in February.