Trump's 2025 Address to Congress: 'America Is Back,' a Disputed Poll Claim and 'Saved by God'

Donald Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress in his second term began at 9:19 p.m. on March 4, 2025, 43 days after he returned to office [1]. It ran about an hour and 40 minutes, the longest such address on record, breaking the mark set by Bill Clinton’s 2000 State of the Union [4]. This page covers the two passages featured in the video: the opening, where Trump declared “America is back” and claimed record gains in public optimism, and the closing, where he honored Corey Comperatore and said he had been “saved by God.” Quotes are from the official transcript [1][2]. NPR called it a “pointedly partisan” address [3].

Key Moments

”America is back”

Trump opened with three words: “And to my fellow citizens, America is back.” He tied the night to his inauguration six weeks earlier: “Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden age of America. From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action.” He added: “We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in 4 years or 8 years, and we are just getting started.” Later in the opening he said he had signed “nearly 100 Executive orders and taken more than 400 executive actions — a record.”

The mandate, and an interruption

Trump called the November 2024 result “a mandate like has not been seen in many decades,” noting that he won all seven swing states and 312 electoral votes. As he went on, Rep. Al Green, a Texas Democrat, stood and shouted that he had “no mandate to cut Medicaid.” Speaker Mike Johnson warned him twice, then directed the sergeant at arms to remove him from the chamber, while some members sang “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” [1].

”An astonishing record”

Back at the podium, Trump made two claims about public mood: “For the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction. In fact, it’s an astonishing record: 27-point swing, the most ever.” And: “Small-business optimism saw its single largest 1-month gain ever recorded — a 41-point jump.” Both are examined in the fact check below.

Corey Comperatore and “saved by God”

The speech’s most personal passage came near its end. Trump recalled the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania: “My life was saved by a fraction of an inch, but some were not so lucky.” He described Corey Comperatore, a firefighter, veteran and father, who “threw himself on top of his wife and daughters and shielded them from the bullets with his own body.” Comperatore’s widow, Helen, and their daughters were in the gallery. “It was love like Corey’s that built our country,” Trump said. Then: “I believe that my life was saved that day in Butler for a very good reason. I was saved by God to make America great again. I believe that.”

Background

The speech came at the end of a fast and contentious six weeks. Trump had declared a national emergency at the southern border on his first day, signed a burst of executive orders, and given Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency a mandate to cut federal spending and jobs. Trade was the day’s news: hours before he spoke, 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico took effect, with Canadian energy at 10%, and the tariff on all Chinese imports doubled to 20% [13]. Two days later he postponed many of the Mexican and Canadian tariffs for a month [13].

Most Democrats stayed seated; Trump remarked that “there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud” [1]. Besides Green’s protest, the party’s formal answer came from Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who delivered the Democratic response [14].

Fact Check

“More Americans believe that our country is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction … 27-point swing, the most ever.” Not supported. The RealClearPolitics average of right-direction/wrong-track polls still showed wrong-track ahead by about 9 to 10 points and had not shown a right-direction plurality since the average began in 2009. In February 2025, only a small number of polls showed more Americans saying the country was on the right track. PolitiFact rated the claim Mostly False [5][6].
“Small-business optimism saw its single largest 1-month gain ever recorded — a 41-point jump.” Misleading. The 41-point figure is real but narrow. In the National Federation of Independent Business survey for November 2024, taken before Trump took office, the net share of owners expecting the economy to improve jumped 41 points, to 36%. The overall Small Business Optimism Index rose 8 points that month [7].
“A mandate like has not been seen in many decades.” A matter of interpretation, but the numbers are modest by historical standards. Trump won the popular vote by about 1.5 percentage points, 49.8% to 48.3%, the closest popular-vote result since 2000, according to the Cook Political Report [12].
Illegal border crossings in February were “the lowest ever recorded.” Half true, according to PolitiFact. Border Patrol’s February 2025 apprehensions were the lowest monthly figure since monthly records began in 2000, although crossings had already been falling for months before he took office [6].

What Happened Next

Al Green: Two days later, on March 6, the House censured Green by a vote of 224–198, with 10 Democrats joining Republicans. He said he would do it again [8].
Tariffs: In the speech Trump promised sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs starting April 2. He announced them that day, then paused most of the higher rates for 90 days on April 9, after a stock market sell-off, while raising tariffs on China [9].
No tax on tips and overtime: The tax law Trump signed on July 4, 2025, made the 2017 tax cuts permanent and added temporary deductions for tips and overtime pay, set to expire after 2028 [10].
DOGE: Elon Musk, whom Trump thanked in the speech for leading the Department of Government Efficiency, left the effort at the end of May 2025 [11].