Becoming a nurse was practically a given for Eugenia Millender, who began her years of health service by helping her grandmother, who didn’t like needles, with her insulin injections. Born in Panama, Millender grew up in a racially diverse family and community. “My mom is Afro-Latina Panamanian, and my father was indigenous Guna Panamanian,” she says. When she was 12, she arrived in Brooklyn with her mother, who was hoping to give her a better life. Living in project housing, they experienced poverty, and Millender saw firsthand the inequities in both the access and quality of health care people received. “My mother did not speak English, and when she tried to get care, people ignored her and were not giving her proper care. So for that reason, I became even more interested in research in health disparities and how to provide the best care to all individuals, regardless of where they are from, or whether they have insurance.” Millender, 53, moved to Florida as a teen and joined the Army after high school, which allowed her to earn her undergraduate and master’s degrees in nursing. Working in emergency departments in the state, which often care for the uninsured, she witnessed families struggling with the same challenges her mother had. “You know they don’t have the resources to take care of their loved ones once they are discharged from the hospital, or they don’t understand what the doctors and nurses are telling them because they speak a different language or an indigenous language—with my indigenous background, I was sensitive to those things, because I also learned English as a second language.” Sorry, the video player failed to load.(Error Code: 101102) Now a tenured professor at Florida State University College of Nursing, Millender co-founded and serves as co-director of the Center of Population Sciences for Health Equity at the institution, which focuses on addressing the causes of health inequities—from language and cultural barriers to mental-health challenges. Building off her own life experiences, Millender takes time to learn from communities about their needs and the obstacles they face in receiving high-quality health care. That includes incorporating, rather than dismissing, cultural beliefs in community-based programs that connect people with health care, often for the first time. “If an individual believes in green tea as part of their regimen, then you need to include green tea as part of their medication list when you do an intake,” she says. “Do not ignore it, do not ask questions about it, but include these holistic approaches as part of the treatment plan.” Recently, Millender has seen her efforts come full circle with programs she has launched in her native Panama to improve health care for indigenous people. “I feel very privileged, so I have to give back,” she says.

When Elaine Welteroth was pregnant with her first child, she assumed she would give birth in a hospital, like her mother and grandmother had. But she struggled to find a doctor who made her feel safe and comfortable, often leaving appointments in tears. After going through eight, she found an alternative: Kindred Space LA, a Black-owned birthing center staffed with midwives. “[They] completely changed my perspective on birth, on my body, on my agency, and they really changed my life,” says Welteroth, now 38. Midwives, she explains, typically spend more time with an expectant family during appointments, and take a more holistic approach, such as by asking about stress levels and work life. Research also suggests that midwifery care can reduce maternal deaths, stillbirths, and neonatal deaths. Welteroth wanted to make that compassionate care more accessible, so she started a fundraiser on her Instagram in December 2023 to help one family afford midwifery services. She ended up exceeding that goal, raising enough money to support two. That motivated her to start birthFUND, which aims to raise awareness about midwifery and help expectant families access those services. Part of birthFUND’s mission, Welteroth says, is “to make birth joyful again” and help pregnant people understand what their options are. Officially launched in April 2024, birthFUND raises money through its founding family funders (which include celebrities like Serena Williams, John Legend, and Chrissy Teigen), corporate donations, and individual contributions. birthFUND partners with two organizations—Birth Center Equity and the Victoria Project—to identify midwifery-care providers, who then identify families in need in their communities. These families can then apply for grants to help them access midwifery care. As of mid-January, birthFUND had supported 53 families, and 26 babies had been born with birthFUND’s support. Welteroth says that birthFUND was a “natural extension” of her career thus far. Welteroth made history as the youngest editor-in-chief in Condé Nast’s history when she was chosen to lead Teen Vogue in 2016. Under her leadership, the magazine expanded its politics coverage and focused on uplifting marginalized voices. “The throughline throughout my whole career is creating what I feel I needed—creating what I feel the world needs more of, and not just contributing to the status quo,” says Welteroth, who left the publication in 2018 and went on to write the best-selling book More Than Enough. Welteroth was always aware of the statistics about maternal mortality: The U.S. has one of the highest maternal-mortality rates of any high-income country in the world, and Black women are three times more likely than white women to die from an issue related to pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And Welteroth’s own negative experience with the maternal-health-care system further galvanized her to make sure that “every mother who does not feel safe within the medical system and who wants to have a birth on their own terms, surrounded by community support of birth workers who are incredibly capable” have that option. “This is a systemic issue; there’s so many different contributing factors to why Black women are dying at higher rates during and after childbirth in this country,” Welteroth says. “But I think the beauty of birthFUND is that we’re taking on one solution that we know has worked to keep us alive and to help us thrive and to help us stay empowered through our birth journeys, and that’s midwifery.” “If we each can just focus on what we can do to move the needle, then I really, truly believe that we can solve this crisis in our lifetime,” Welteroth says.

The skin is more than an expression of your health and youthful good looks. It is your one and only barrier between the internal and external realms, keeping in the good things and barring the bad. This complex organ is ingeniously designed, yet it faces new challenges in the modern world. It’s at risk of breaking down. “Broken skin barriers” are real. They’re the subject of great interest from "skinfluencers" on TikTok, but they’re also studied rigorously by dermatologists. “We love the skin barrier but in a very physiologic and scientific way,” says Dr. Anthony Rossi, a dermatologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In addition to physically blocking the elements, the barrier employs its own micro police: immune cells and millions of healthy microbes that crack down on rogue skin pathogens, among other important jobs. In recent years, researchers have learned more about why the barrier fails, the consequences of a compromised barrier, and how to protect it for health and—yes—beauty. The skin barrier is real The skin barrier involves four layers of protection: physical, chemical, immune, and microbial. Rather than a pancake stack, think of these layers as links in a chain. “Everything is interconnected and interdependent,” says Dr. Richard Gallo, professor and chair of the department of dermatology at the University of California, San Diego. “If any link is weak, your chain breaks.” The visible outermost part of the skin, called the epidermis, is responsible for most of the physical protection. It’s made of protein-rich cells plus fats, or lipids, that fill gaps between the cells. When this “brick and mortar” wall is robust, it holds natural moisturizing factors that keep the skin hydrated. It’s plump, crack-resistant, and shields harmful substances like UV rays and bacteria. The fats in the epidermis play another role: supporting the chemical layer of protection. They do so by promoting an acidic environment that’s ideal for preserving the epidermis. This acidity also provides a comfy home for beneficial microbes while repelling pathogens. Read More: 5 Dermatologists on the 1 Thing You Should Do Every Day The third layer, immune, involves specialized cells that fight off skin infections before they spread. These immune cells are found in the epidermis and the layer beneath it, the dermis, which also houses nerves and blood vessels. The fourth pillar of skin barrier defense is the skin microbiome. These microbes “produce all kinds of great stuff,” Gallo says, like molecules that kill pathogens and help build the fats needed for acidity and epidermal strength. Healthy microbes also outcompete pathogens for nutrients, adds Dr. Erin Chen, assistant professor of biology at MIT and a dermatologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. If these protective layers fail, the skin breaks down, literally and figuratively. Tears or cuts can expose underlying tissue to harm. Skin conditions may develop such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. Life-threatening infections like MRSA and streptococcal bacteria could also gain a toe-hold. “They exploit the breaks in the skin,” Gallo explains. Additionally, the risk of skin cancer goes up and wrinkles and skin blotchiness spread, along with acne. It’s not just looks; a compromised barrier may lead to systemic inflammation, which drives biological aging. So, which intrusions chip away at the barrier’s defenses, and how can we thwart them? Products that hurt the skin barrier It turns out that we do much of the damage ourselves by applying skin products that harm the very flesh envelope we seek to protect. Like stunting a plant’s growth by over-watering it, overzealous self-care can undermine the skin barrier. That’s especially true when using abrasive products. Chemical soaps and harsh cleansers have ingredients—such as foaming agents like sodium lauryl sulfate—that disrupt the fats in the epidermis, damaging and irritating the physical layer of protection. Cosmetics may have similar effects. “They dismantle the lipid membranes,” Rossi says. Soaps made from plant-based and other natural ingredients are often gentler on the skin than ones with sulfates and other synthetic additives. Another issue is too much showering. Full-body soaping is rarely if ever needed, Rossi says. “The natural lather of washing with water is going to clean you off,” unless you’ve been sweating profusely, he explains. Dr. Bruce Robinson, a dermatologist in New York City, advises the regular use of soapy body wash for hairier parts only; soap more thoroughly just 1-2 times per week and limit showers to about five minutes. Read More: 12 Weird Symptoms Endocrinologists Say You Should Never Ignore Steer clear of heavy exfoliants, says Dr. Esther Freeman, associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School. These harsh products can change the acidity of your skin, impairing its microbial police powers against pathogens. Many products have alcohols, dyes, and preservatives called parabens that can trigger allergic reactions and otherwise rub the barrier the wrong way. In particular, products with fragrances should be avoided. “We see so many skin allergies with fragrances,” Freeman says. “Especially if the barrier is not fully intact, you can induce an allergy over time.” Look for “fragrance-free” products. “Unscented” ones could still have chemicals masking fragrance, according to the EPA. Since the pandemic, dermatologists have seen an overage of personal cleaning behavior, harming the skin barrier. Gallo notes one example: constant hand sanitizer, even without significant germ exposure. Just don’t underestimate the value of washing your hands, says Akiko Iwasaki, professor of immunology at Yale University. “Washing hands regularly with warm water and soap goes a long way in preventing infections,” she says. When handwashing isn’t possible, sanitizer becomes key, especially in germy environments. However, none of this requires a lot of showering, she adds. Battling the elements: UV rays and pollution Excessive self-care has ramifications beyond the confines of our bathrooms. Because it weakens the skin barrier, we’re more vulnerable to threats outdoors—most troublingly, UV rays from the sun. Overcleaning strips away natural oils needed to produce a special protein called filaggrin in the epidermis. When plentiful, filaggrin keeps the barrier more hydrated and UV-resistant. With less filaggrin, more UV passes through. By the same token, high UV exposure may cause filaggrin to degrade, as well as collagen and elastin, which boost the skin’s pliability and resilience, Rossi says, “and we know that it causes skin cancer.” By age 70, skin cancer strikes 1 in 5 Americans. Read More: 8 Symptoms Doctors Often Dismiss As Anxiety Sunscreen is critical to prevent the barrier’s breakdown. Clothing matters, too, if you’re outside when the sun is strongest, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. “I’m a big fan of fabric with ultraviolet protective factor, which is like SPF for clothes,” Freeman says. A UPF rating of 30 or above is recommended. Another threat to the barrier is environmental pollution such as particulate matter and hydrocarbons. “They wreak havoc on the skin by causing free radical oxidation,” Rossi says. “They definitely cause reactions in the skin that prematurely age it,” Robinson notes. Preliminary evidence suggests that applying vitamin C topically before going outside could be protective. “It could potentially reduce some of the cytotoxic effects of particulate matter,” Freeman says. Yet another issue is dry air, which “causes an inflammatory response and a whole cascade of problems,” Robinson says. “You begin itching, and the scratching causes physical trauma, which compromises the skin more, so it loses moisture.” Moisturizer to the rescue A good moisturizer can salvage the skin barrier. “We do things all of the time that make our skin function poorly,” Chen says. “So we have to put the water back in.” Moisturizer battles the barrier’s enemies. Look for one with ingredients called humectants that attract and retain water from deeper layers of epidermis and dermis, keeping the outermost layer plump and strong. Robinson notes hyaluronic acid as an example; it holds up to 1,000 times its weight in water. Gallo recommends a close cousin, heparan sulfate, as potentially more effective. Glycerin is another beneficial humectant ingredient. Rossi tells patients to dampen the skin before applying moisturizer. This “soak and smear” technique traps the water on the skin, which enhances the moisturizer’s effect, he says. Other good moisturizing ingredients, known as occlusives, deliver fats to reinforce the gaps in the epidermis. “They act like cement or glue for our skin cells to stick together,” forming a unified front against assaults, says Rossi. Read More: Is Intermittent Fasting Good or Bad for You? Petroleum jelly, such as vaseline, is another kind of occlusive. It acts as a second shield over the skin barrier like a parapet protecting a castle, or as Freeman puts it, “a brick wall you’re putting on the skin.” The greasier the better, Chen says (but people with sensitive skin should avoid olive oil, which can be irritating). Gallo sees a downside to occlusives. “They could block pores,” he says. “It’s worth considering, but shouldn’t be the only component to keep the barrier operating.” Emollients like coconut or shea butter are a third moisturizer category. Experiment with products to find a personalized approach; a person’s needs depend on their genetics, among other factors. “What works well for one person might not work for others,” Gallo says. A dermatologist can provide guidance. As with other products, moisturizers should be fragrance-free. Go with your gut Companies offer products for fixing a broken skin barrier. Few have been studied to determine their benefits. However, Robinson thinks some injectable medications handle the repair job capably. “They interrupt a cascade of inflammation in the skin,” he says, noting dupixent and JAK inhibitors as “gamechangers” for the right patients. Some supplements provide probiotics marketed as improving the skin microbiome. These supplements “have not been shown to help the skin barrier,” Robinson says. More generally, though, scientists are actively studying links between the gut microbiome and skin microbiome, called the gut-skin axis. Gallo found that when the skin barrier was damaged in mice, their gut microbiomes changed. “The organs talk to each other, and the microbiome responds,” he says. This suggests that diets supporting a healthy gut microbiome could benefit the skin biome for a more effective barrier. Preliminary evidence shows that products made by gut microbes end up as building blocks for the skin. “The small molecules circulate through your blood to influence tissues throughout your body, including your skin,” Chen says. Nutrition also promotes the development of building blocks for stem cells essential for the skin barrier to regenerate and repair itself. A healthy lifestyle overall slows down aging, which supports skin barrier longevity, Chen says. Protect the barrier preventatively, before it breaks. “It’s more important than people probably realize,” Chen says. “Everyone should be thinking about their skin health.

As the Trump Administration moves aggressively to shrink the federal government and cut its spending, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) may be next on the chopping block. Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican, recently reintroduced legislation to abolish OSHA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Labor. The bill, called the Nullify Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act, has been nicknamed “NOSHA.” What would it actually mean to abolish OSHA? Here’s what to know. What does OSHA do? OSHA’s objective is to keep Americans safe and healthy at work. “The OSHA law says that employers have the legal responsibility to provide safe workplaces for their employees,” says David Michaels, who was assistant secretary of labor for OSHA from 2009 to 2017 and is now a professor at the George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. “OSHA’s job is to ensure that employers do that.” Grottoes bear the enduring touch of Tang Branded Content Grottoes bear the enduring touch of Tang By China Daily Since President Richard Nixon signed the law that established OSHA in 1970, it has gone on to set standards on a wide range of potential workplace health hazards, from limiting exposure to harmful substances like asbestos and benzene to avoiding falls and other on-the-job injuries. Almost 700,000 lives have been saved by such safety standards since OSHA was established, according to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, a group of 61 labor unions. Why do some Republicans want to abolish OSHA? This isn’t the first time OSHA has been caught in political crosshairs. Biggs first proposed abolishing the organization in 2021, after OSHA began enforcing COVID-19 vaccination measures under the Biden Administration. OSHA’s policy, which was quickly withdrawn after being blocked by the Supreme Court, required employers with at least 100 workers to either mandate COVID-19 vaccination, or require unvaccinated workers to mask on the job and undergo regular testing. In 2021, Biggs’ bill had nine cosponsors, but it never advanced to a congressional vote. This time, Biggs does not have any cosponsors on his bill. He is not alone among Republicans in criticizing OSHA, however. Last year, an Ohio contractor—with the support of 23 attorneys general from Republican states—asked the Supreme Court to hear a complaint arguing that OSHA’s far-reaching authority is unconstitutional, The Hill reported. Although the Supreme Court did not take up the case, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas called the question at its heart “undeniably important.” By reintroducing the bill, Biggs is trying to further the Trump Administration’s goal of reducing the government’s size and scope; stop “federal meddling” in workplaces; and turn regulatory powers over to the states, he said in a YouTube video explaining his motivations. “I have constitutional concerns about the federal regulation of private workplaces,” Biggs said in the video. “I think most Americans who read the Constitution also have those similar questions.” The Arizona Congressman specifically mentioned concerns about OSHA’s “one-size-fits-all” standards around outdoor work in hot weather, which he said unfairly penalize states with warm climates, like his. “It makes no sense to set a uniform national standard for heat,” Biggs said. What would happen if OSHA is abolished? “There would be a race to the bottom,” Michaels says. Without a legal requirement to do so, companies might decide not to expend the time, effort, and money necessary to keep staff safe—especially if their competitors aren’t doing so. “What would be the impetus to protect workers from [dangerous] exposures?” Michaels asks. State regulations could fill some of the void. Twenty-two states or territories currently operate federally approved OSHA State Plans. But, Michaels says, it would be a mistake to rely on state-level regulation alone. Current law does not require states to regulate workplace safety; it says only that if states choose to do so, they must set policies that are at least as effective as those spelled out by federal OSHA. Even still, that doesn’t always happen. Arizona, for example, has an OSHA State Plan—but Michaels notes that its policy has previously conflicted with that set by federal OSHA, including around fall protections for residential construction workers. The safest way to protect workers, Michaels says, is to maintain national workplace protections across the country.

Do you hear all that whining about the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s, the one forged by Michael Jordan and forever immortalized by The Last Dance docuseries? Or, say, the three-headed Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic tennis dynasty, which won all those tournaments in the 2000s, and gifted fans memorable duels and wondrous points and fevered appreciation for their sport? Or complaining that Serena Williams or Tiger Woods, in their primes, won too much? Of course not. Because history looks quite fondly upon sports dynasties, of both the team and individual varieties. Jordan and the Bulls, through their six NBA championships, were international rock stars who helped grow basketball into the global phenomenon it is today. Tiger and Serena and the tennis guys, they’re called GOATs. Sports dynasties are pretty great. And the current NFL royals, the Kansas City Chiefs—who on Feb. 9 will try to become the first team ever to win three straight Super Bowls—are no different. You’d never know it, however, judging from all the Chiefs hate out there. A segment of the NFL’s fan base seems convinced that the refs rig the games in the Chiefs favor. Barstools Sports founder Dave Portnoy claimed he was done watching the NFL after Kansas City’s win over Buffalo in the AFC Championship game cost him $1 million in a bet. The hashtag #boycottsuperbowl trended on social media. Yes, the Chiefs received some favorable calls against Buffalo. But jokes about how the refs favor Kansas City, just like they did New England and Jordan back in the day—remember that pushoff on “The Last Shot”?—are just that, jokes. There’s no real evidence of a Chiefs conspiracy to speak of. Kansas City draws record audiences. Some 57.4 million viewers tuned in to Chiefs-Bills, the most ever for an AFC championship game. The second Chiefs-Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl—KC beat Philly two years ago—is safe money to set another audience record, and for good reason Sure, Taylor Swift’s presence at these games since she started dating Travis Kelce has undoubtedly attracted new fans to football. But plenty of fans love watching Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes work his magic, or KC’s somewhat underappreciated defense grind out wins, while appreciating the team’s penchant for exciting comeback victories. Don’t forget, the Chiefs trailed by double digits in each of the last two Super Bowls—against Philadelphia and San Francisco, respectively—only to pull both games out. And a healthy portion tunes in hoping the Chiefs get their comeuppance. Rooting for underdog opponents is what sports is all about. Plus, compared with the NFL’s most recent dynasty, the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick New England Patriots, Kansas City comes up roses. There’s been no whiff of scandal—no spying, no football deflating—attached to these Chiefs. KC coach Andy Reid isn’t a professional grump like Belichick. He seems pretty jovial, he’s not afraid to make a fool of himself, we have the always amusing clip of him competing in a youth football competition as a giant 13-year-old, he looks like a walrus, and that baby dressed up like him for Halloween. There’s a lot to like there with Andy. Mahomes might be the MJ of his day. He rocks a dad-bod, sounds like Kermit the frog—something he gleefully acknowledged while firing back at haters the other day—but constantly delivers on the football field, with both his arms and legs. With a win on Feb. 9, not only would Mahomes become the first three-peat QB in Super Bowl history, he’d join Brady, Joe Montana, and Terry Bradshaw as the only QBs with four or more Super Bowl titles. Brady was 37 when he won his fourth. Montana was 34. Bradshaw was 31. Mahomes would be 29. Brady’s seven titles would be in reach.

In 1996, the New York-based civil rights organization known as UPROSE was struggling. Founded by Puerto Rican activists, the organization could tout a rich history of organizing amid the rapid change of the 1960s, but by the ‘90s it was small and underfunded. Then civil rights litigator Elizabeth Yeampierre took over. In a year engaging with members of the Brooklyn area that UPROSE serves, Yeampierre heard time and again about racial-justice issues that were deeply intertwined with sustainability: the siting of toxic industrial facilities in their backyards and the prevalence of lead paint in their homes. And so a revamped organization was born with a focus on civil rights through an environmental lens, a burgeoning area known as environmental justice. “It didn't start with me being an environmentalist,” says Yeampierre, 66. “We staff the community's priorities.” Since then, UPROSE has opposed the expansion of a highway that would pollute the local community, helped lead the push for legislation that would fund a revamp of abandoned toxic sites, and fought a developer’s plan to transform the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal into an office park out of step with the community—and won. The new plan will feature clean-energy jobs accessible to local residents. Yeampierre wants to see the approach to the new green industrial park replicated. “I hope people can see that something that has had a legacy of harm can become something that is not only incentivizing the local economy, hiring people, reducing emissions… but also addressing the future needs of our communities,” she says. “Cohesion is at the heart of everything that we do.” Yeampierre’s work in New York City, where she was born and raised, has given her a national platform. She chaired the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and works regularly with environmental-justice leaders across the country. But she keeps coming back to the need to root environmental-justice solutions in the communities where people live. “We speak different languages. We table at churches. We go to community festivals. We pass out literature. We have cultural events here,” she says. It’s a helpful reminder as the environmental-justice movement faces headwinds from the Trump Administration, which immediately began trying to roll back environmental initiatives. Yeampierre says it’s important not to ignore the significant challenges that will emerge from Washington over the next four years. “The harm is epic,” she says. Nonetheless, working directly with affected communities can still offer a path forward. “Our people have survived all kinds of things—our ancestors have, our parents have,” says Yeampierre, who is Puerto Rican and of African and Indigenous ancestry. “We're going to be the people we've always been: creative, resourceful, solution oriented—and we are not going to be fearful.”

When Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race in July and endorsed Kamala Harris for President, Jotaka Eaddy was at her childhood home down a dirt road in Johnsonville, S.C., getting ready to host her regular online gathering of Black women leaders. The weekly Sunday video conference quickly ballooned from its usual several hundred attendees to more than 90,000, and the network’s hashtag #WinWithBlackWomen radiated across the Internet, sparking nearly 200 more groups to form under monikers like Cat Ladies for Kamala, Train Lovers for Harris, and Swifties for Kamala. The call raised $1.6 million in 100 minutes for Harris’ campaign. Two months later, as Eaddy sat in the front row at a campaign event hosted by Oprah Winfrey and featuring appearances by celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, and Chris Rock, Harris turned to her and said, “Jotaka started it.” Eaddy launched Win With Black Women in 2020 to counter racist and sexist attacks against Black women being considered to join Biden’s ticket as Vice President. The group mobilized a get-out-the-vote effort for Biden and Harris, and when they won, the group pushed for Black women to be named to senior positions. They demanded the Senate hold a swift vote to confirm Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. And they pressured the Biden Administration to bring home WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner from captivity in Russia. “When we as Black women show our economic power, our political power, it sends a message to the country about our rightful place in this country, but also about the investments in Black women,” says Eaddy. “How do we close these gaps? How do we harness the collective power of Black women so that we collectively rise?” As a strategy consultant and former tech executive, Eaddy has worked with Silicon Valley companies to measure the social impact of technology and close racial gaps in access to online lending and startup financing. Black women, she says, receive less than 1% of venture-capital tech funding. She previously worked as senior director for voting rights at the NAACP and also advocated around the U.S. in the early 2000s to end the juvenile death penalty, helping to lay the groundwork for the Supreme Court in 2005 to ban the practice that disproportionately ended the lives of Black and Latino youth. Eaddy’s social-justice work started early. She caught the attention of her community in rural South Carolina with her Easter speeches in church. In high school, she was invited to Washington, D.C., to attend a law conference, and friends held bake sales and community dinners to raise $3,000 for her to go. She went on to become the first Black woman elected student-body president in the history of the University of South Carolina. Harris’ loss to Trump initially left her feeling defeated until a longtime mentor told her, “No one’s dropped the baton. We simply had the honor of carrying it further.” While Harris didn’t win the election, Eaddy says, “we did not lose the collective forward movement of Black women.” She now lives in the nation’s capital, but she has been spending time in Johnsonville recently to help her father after her mother died in December. On the wall of her childhood bedroom, her mom had put up a painted sign reading “All you need is love.” Eaddy says her parents taught her to have love for herself, love for people, “but most importantly love for our collective freedom.” Styling by Jasmine Pittman; hair by Maureen Rumble; make-up by Lola Okanlawon

T his article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. Perhaps the clearest distillation of President Donald Trump’s sprawling first address to the new Congress came Tuesday night when he laid the premise for making cuts to Social Security, a program he cast as ripe with fraudulent payments to zombies. It was as disingenuous as it might prove persuasive to those Americans who are cheering for Trump’s race through Washington, torching all he touches. “Over 130,000 people, according to the Social Security databases, are aged over 160 years old,” Trump asserted. He then added there are 1,041 people over the age of 220. The claims have been thoroughly debunked, with even his own Social Security chief explaining it is a misreading of an ancient federal database, one that could cost $9 million to update, and none of those “people” were getting monthly checks. But facts were not the point in the speech. This was a night entirely about feelings, and many of Trump’s promises sounded good to his ear with him at the center of the circus. Car loans’ interest payments to become tax deductible, but only made-in-America vehicles? Sounds good, until you realize auto production supply chains make that designation almost impossible. A citizenship-for-sale scheme for super-rich foreigners? That’s not something a President can do unilaterally. Automatic death penalties for those convicted of murdering law enforcement? His existing executive order only instructs the Justice Department to pursue them, but Congress and the courts are going to have something to say about such instant sentencing. If everything about this feels overwhelming, that is because it is, and by design. For the last six weeks, Americans have been yanked and ghosted, lurched and launched with a merciless urgency. “Swift and unrelenting action” is how Trump pumped up his record. It was one of the rare completely unspun statements of the evening. If the cruelty was the point of the first Trump term, then the chaos is the thesis of the second. As TIME’s Eric Cortellessa reported going into the evening, Trump’s team was more interested in staging moments to go viral than presenting an operating argument for actually governing. He did not leave the Capitol empty handed. There were plenty of headlines, made-for-TV moments, and memes that partisans of all stripes can exploit. So much of Washington has been spiraling since Trump returned to town. Every day seems to bring new developments, reversals, and initiatives, each more brazen than the last. Democrats in Congress have watched with confusion, fear, and outrage as Trump has taken steps that have canned tens of thousands of federal workers, shut down offices that feed the world’s poor and track weather systems, and upended decades of international norms. Nothing has been beyond Trump’s boorish reach, not even a Kennedy Center musical about a shark who befriends would-be prey or, briefly, the building that houses the American Red Cross. So as Trump stood under the klieg lights of Congress on Tuesday night and before millions of Americans, he took the next logical step toward a more disunified national agenda. With his pronouncements, Trump made pledges to purge and criminalize revenge porn, expand foster care programs, and pursue debunked theories about autism. He returned to a missile defense shield for the U.S., right after informing one student he was heading to West Point and a child with brain cancer he had just been made an honorary Secret Service agent. He suggested the United States had succeeded in reclaiming the Panama Canal, hinted that Greenland would become part of the United States “one way or another,” and would relaunch shipbuilding as a major domestic industry. It was impossible to keep track of what was practical and what was purely political messaging, which is entirely how Trump has been lashing D.C. since Jan. 20. It has left everyone just doing their best to keep up. When Rep. Al Green of Texas, a Democratic lawmaker who is often a step afield from his party, stood in protest of Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered him removed by the security staff. Democrats stayed in their seats holding signs declaring “Musk Steals,” their minor attempt at expressing disapproval of Elon Musk’s rampage through government. Within the first half hour of a record-breaking 100-minute speech, Democratic lawmakers began to stream out of the chamber in disgust with Trump’s constant blaming of former President Joe Biden for all that came before. Toward the end, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts clapped in defiance when Trump singled her out as “Pocahantas.” All the while, Republicans stood and cheered on command, including one of the biggest eruptions for Musk. With very few exceptions, Trump’s party has allowed him to ditch career professionals that run the mundane, day-to-day cogs of government. Few objected when he remade maps and sought naked retribution against any who refused to call it The Gulf of America. Even as the stock market took a pounding as Trump’s trade war rippled from Wall Street to Main Street to farm fields, none dared to confront Trump over his ill-informed plan to levy tariffs on some of America’s most reliable and deep-pocketed economic partners. The answer, per guidance from GOP House Leadership, was just to stop holding town halls where lawmakers could face a grilling from rightly angry constituents who were promised a more orderly Trump 2.0. Trump rightly expected no serious threat to his hold over Washington. While senior GOP Senators had deep reservations bordering on hostility toward some of Trump’s Cabinet picks, he ultimately lost only one. (That was disgraced former House Rep. Matt Gaetz, who withdrew before his paperwork was even sent to the Senate.) Trump barrelled his way into his first Cabinet meeting—complete with Musk in a baseball cap and T-shirt—on Feb. 26 and then into the House Chamber a week later. (On Tuesday, Musk wore a suit.) As one very smart insider observed to me last week, a whole lot of bad choices made by many Americans with varying degrees of real or imagined power led to this moment. Once a power is abdicated, it seldom comes back easily or with as much strength as before. For Republican lawmakers, the atrophy has been as severe as it has been rapid. So as Trump arrived at the Capitol, his GOP friends had little choice but to fall in line in a speech that was more rallying cry than policy proposals. When he called “Joe Biden the worst President in American history,” his party went along with it. When he devoted time in his first joint address to this Congress to boast about his electoral win last year, he got plenty of cover from his base in the room. The cheers continued for his denigrating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that he ended. And when he complained he wasn’t getting sufficiently praised, there were sympathetic cheers. “These people, sitting right here, will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won’t do it, no matter what,” Trump said. Everyone knew the script even if no one bothered to read it. That’s not to say there aren’t reasons for Trump’s circle to be worried. The trade war is objectively bad politics; in the last two days, the tariff tiff erased the entire gains Wall Street posted since Trump won in November. The undefined goals of the tit-for-tat escalation with some of the United States’ most important partners has left markets reeling and businesses baffled as to how this ends. It was, put plainly, a huge risk with really poor odds for an American win. It drew the most tepid reaction from Republicans of the evening, even if Trump was not taking the hint. “Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it’s happening, and it will happen rather quickly. There may be a little disturbance, but we’re OK with that. It won’t be much,” Trump promised, downplaying the risk that has investors freaking out. All the while, the deep cuts to government are starting to become more clear to voters. His feud with Ukrainian leaders was out of step with the hawks in the GOP, and huge portions of the American public. The culture-war spat over transgender rights, “wokeness,” and English as a national language does zero to offset the economic devastation of his unpredictable trade efforts. And there is a sense that his grievance-driven agenda is starting to feel like the grind of a reality show that goes a few seasons too long. None of this seemed to rattle Trump, who treated the evening as an opportunity to rewrite the history to his liking, one in which he alone has power in Washington. "We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplish in 4 years or 8 years. And we are just getting started,” Trump said. He may well be correct. More than 400 executive actions are on the books and he is closing in on 100 executive orders. But much of it may not track with what Trump is selling. The details are not the point. The chaotic flurry of activity is. And Trump is completely aware that he is Washington’s pacecar.

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has ordered 12 officially sanctioned clubs for women and ethnic or racial groups to shut down immediately, in a drive to comply with the Trump administration’s directives on diversity, equity and inclusion, the academy said on Wednesday. In a memo dated Tuesday, the academy’s deputy commandant, Chad R. Foster, said that the clubs were being disbanded “in accordance with recent presidential executive orders, department of defense guidance and department of the Army guidance.” The dozen clubs that are being disbanded right away include the Corbin Forum, a group to promote female leaders, founded in 1976 when women were first admitted to West Point; the Latin Cultural Club; the National Society of Black Engineers Club; the Vietnamese-American Cadet Association; Spectrum, for L.G.B.T.Q. cadets; and the Society of Women Engineers Club. The academy is also reviewing other groups on campus, the memo said. All of the clubs named in the memo were ordered to “unpublish, deactivate, archive or otherwise remove all public-facing content.” On Wednesday, the National Society of Black Engineers Club home page had an error message on it saying “Oops!” in large letters. Drew Fitzsimmons, a West Point alumnus who founded the organization Spectrum while on campus in 2012, said he was “frustrated and disappointed with the decision.” Mr. Fitzsimmons said the group held weekly meetings that built a camaraderie among the cadets and prepared them for leadership. “Affinity groups like this provide a safe space for people of similar backgrounds,” said Mr. Fitzsimmons, who is currently the executive director of a nonprofit organization called Knights Out, which provides support for L.G.B.T.Q. service members and their families. The memo said the directive canceled all trips, meetings, events and other activities associated with the clubs, which were no longer authorized to conduct informal activities using government time, resources or facilities. The U.S. Military Academy Communications Office confirmed the closings in a statement released on Wednesday. “In accordance with recent guidance, the U.S. Military Academy is reviewing programs and activities affiliated with our former office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” the statement said. “The clubs disbanded yesterday were sponsored by that office.” On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government and supported by federal funds, promising to “forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.” Since then, federal agencies have put dozens of officials associated with D.E.I. programs on leave, including some who appeared to be distantly connected to diversity initiatives. The order also called for the U.S. attorney general and the education department to issue guidance for institutions to comply with the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision ending race-based admissions in colleges and universities. That decision did not apply to West Point and the other military academies, which are now the focus of separate lawsuits challenging their use of affirmative action.

President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, his first such speech of his second term. He faced hecklers and Democratic protests as he discussed his agenda, touted his accomplishments, defended his foreign policy dealings, and demeaned his opponents. The following transcript was prepared and provided to TIME by Rev, using AI-powered software, and it was reviewed and edited for accuracy by TIME staff. Speaker Johnson, Vice President Vance, the First Lady of the United States, members of the United States Congress—thank you very much. And to my fellow citizens: America is back. [Republicans chant: USA! USA!] 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 to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years—or eight years, and we are just getting started. Thank you. I return to this chamber tonight to report that America’s momentum is back. Our spirit is back, our pride is back, our confidence is back, and the American dream is surging bigger and better than ever before. The American dream is unstoppable, and our country is on the verge of a comeback, the likes of which the world has never witnessed, and perhaps will never witness again. There’s never been anything like it. The presidential election of November 5th was a mandate, like has not been seen in many decades. We won all seven swing states, giving us an electoral college victory of 312 votes. We won the popular vote by big numbers and won counties in our country— —and won counties in our country, 2,700 to 525, on a map that reads almost completely red for Republican. Now 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. Likewise, small business optimism saw its single largest one month gain ever recorded: a 41-point jump. [House Speaker Mike Johnson interjects to call out Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who has repeatedly interrupted Trump’s speech. Green is escorted out afterwards.] Over the past six weeks, I have signed nearly 100 Executive Orders and taken more than 400 executive actions—a record to restore common sense, safety, optimism and wealth all across our wonderful land. The people elected me to do the job, and I’m doing it. In fact, it has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency—it’s our presidency—is the most successful in the history of our nation. By many. And what makes it even more impressive is that, do you know who number two is? George Washington. How about that? How about it? I don’t know about that list, but we’ll take it. Within hours of taking the oath of office, 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. And what a job they’ve done. As a result, illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded—ever. They heard my words and they chose not to come. Much easier that way, in comparison under Joe Biden, the worst President in American history, there were hundreds of thousands of illegal crossings a month. And virtually all of them, including murderers, drug dealers, gang members and people from mental institutions and insane asylums, were released into our country. Who would want to do that? This is my fifth such speech to Congress, and once again, I look at the Democrats in front of me and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud, nothing I can do. I could find a cure to the most devastating disease—a disease that would wipe out entire nations—or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history, or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded. And these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won’t do it no matter what. Five—five times I’ve been up here, it’s very sad, and it just shouldn’t be this way. So Democrats sitting before me, for just this one night, why not join us in celebrating so many incredible wins for America, for the good of our nation, let’s work together and let’s truly make America great again. Every day, my administration is fighting to deliver the change America needs to bring a future that America deserves, and we’re doing it. This is a time for big dreams and bold action. Upon taking office, I imposed an immediate freeze on all federal hiring, a freeze on all new federal regulations and a freeze on all foreign aid. I terminated the ridiculous Green New Scam. I withdrew from the unfair Paris Climate Accord, which was costing us trillions of dollars that other countries were not paying. I withdrew from the corrupt World Health Organization, and I also withdrew from the anti-American U.N. Human Rights Council. We ended all of Biden’s environmental restrictions that were making our country far less safe and totally unaffordable. And importantly, we ended the last administration’s insane electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto workers and companies from economic destruction. To unshackle our economy, I have directed that for every one new regulation, 10 old regulations must be eliminated, just like I did in my very successful first day. And in that first term, we set records on ending unnecessary rules and regulations like no other President had done before. We ordered all federal workers to return to the office—they will either show up for work in person or be removed from their job. And we have ended weaponized government, where, as an example, a sitting President is allowed to viciously prosecute his political opponent—like me. How did that work out? Not too good. Not too good. And I have stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America. It’s back. And two days ago, I signed an order making English the official language of the United States of America. I renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” And likewise, I renamed—for a great President, William McKinley, Mount McKinley again. Beautiful Alaska, we love Alaska. We’ve ended the tyranny of so-called “diversity, equity and inclusion” policies all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military. And our country will be woke no longer. We believe that, whether you are a doctor, an accountant, a lawyer or an air traffic controller, you should be hired and promoted based on skill and competence—not race or gender. Very important. You should be hired based on merit, and the Supreme Court, in a brave and very powerful decision, has allowed us to do so. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. We have removed the poison of critical race theory from our public schools. And I signed an order making it the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female. I also signed an Executive Order to ban men from playing in women’s sports. Three years ago, Payton McNabb was an all-star high school athlete, one of the best, preparing for a future in college sports. But when her girls volleyball match was invaded by a male, he smashed the ball so hard in Payton’s face, causing traumatic brain injury, partially paralyzing her right side and ending her athletic career. It was a shot like she’s never seen before. She’s never seen anything like it. Payton is here tonight in the gallery, and Payton, from now on, schools will kick the men off the girls team, or they will lose all federal funding. And if you really want to see numbers, just take a look at what happened in the woman’s boxing, weight lifting, track and field, swimming or cycling, where a male recently finished a long distance race five hours and 14 minutes ahead of a woman for a new record. By five hours. Broke the record by five hours. It’s demeaning for women, and it’s very bad for our country. We’re not going to put up with it any longer. What I have just described is only a small fraction of the common sense revolution that is now—because of us—sweeping the entire world. Common sense has become a common theme, and we will never go back. Never, ever going to let that happen. Among my very highest priorities is to rescue our economy and get dramatic and immediate relief to working families. As you know, we inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare. Their policies drove up energy prices, pushed up grocery costs, and drove the necessities of life out of reach for millions and millions of Americans. They’ve—never had anything like it. We suffered the worst inflation in 48 years, but perhaps even in the history of our country, they’re not sure. As President, I’m fighting every day to reverse this damage and make America affordable again. Joe Biden, especially, let the price of eggs get out of control—the egg prices, out of control. And we’re working hard to get it back down. Secretary, do a good job on that. You inherited a total mess from the previous Administration. Do a good job. A major focus of our fight to defeat inflation is rapidly reducing the cost of energy. The previous administration cut the number of new oil and gas leases by 95%, slowed pipeline construction to a halt, and closed more than 100 power plants. We are opening up many of those power plants right now. And frankly, we have never seen anything like it. That’s why, on my first day in office, I declared a National Energy emergency. As you’ve heard me say many times, we have more liquid gold under our feet than any nation on earth, and by far. And now I fully authorize the most talented team ever assembled to go and get it. It’s called “Drill, Baby, Drill.” My administration is also working on a gigantic natural gas pipeline in Alaska, among the largest in the world, where Japan, South Korea and other nations want to be our partner, with investments of trillions of dollars each. There’s never been anything like that one. It will be truly spectacular. It’s all set to go. The permitting is gotten, and later this week, I will also take historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in the USA. To further combat inflation, we will not only be reducing the cost of energy, but we’ll be ending the flagrant waste of taxpayer dollars. And to that end, I have created the brand new Department of Government Efficiency—DOGE. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, perhaps. Which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight. Thank you, Elon. He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need this. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Everybody here, even this side [pointing to Democrats in the chamber], appreciates it, I believe. They just don’t want to admit that. Just listen to some of the appalling waste we have already identified: $22 billion from HHS to provide free housing and cars for illegal aliens. $45 million for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma. $40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. $8 million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of, $60 million for indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America. $60 million. $8 million for making mice transgender. This is real. $32 million for a left-wing propaganda operation in Moldova. $10 million for male circumcision in Mozambique. $20 million for the Arab Sesame Street in the Middle East. It’s a program. $20 million for a program. $1.9 billion to recently-created decarbonization of homes committee headed up, and we know she’s involved, just at the last moment, the money was passed over by a woman named Stacey Abrams. Have you ever heard of her? A $3.5 million consulting contract for lavish fish monitoring. $1.5 billion for voter confidence in Liberia, $14 million for social cohesion in Mali, $59 million for illegal alien hotel rooms in New York City. He’s a real estate developer. He’s done very well. $250,000 to increase vegan local climate action innovation in Zambia, $42 million for social and behavior change in Uganda, $14 million for improving public procurement in Serbia, $47 million for improving learning outcomes in Asia. Asia is doing very well with learning. You know what we’re doing? We should use it ourselves. And $101 million for DEI contracts at the Department of Education, the most ever paid, nothing even like it. Under the Trump Administration, all of these scams—and there are far worse, but I didn’t think it was appropriate to talk about them, they’re so bad—many more have been found out and exposed and swiftly terminated by a group of very intelligent, mostly young people, headed up by Elon. We appreciate it. We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud. And we’ve taken back the money and reduced our debt to fight inflation and other things. Taken back a lot of that money, we got it just in time. This is just the beginning. The Government Accountability Office, a federal government office, has estimated annual fraud of over $500 billion in our nation, and we are working very hard to stop it. We’re going to. We’re also identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors, and that our seniors and people that we love rely on. Believe it or not, government databases list 4.7 million Social Security members from people aged 100 to 109 years old. It lists 3.6 million people from ages 110 to 119. I don’t know any of them—I know some people that are rather elderly, but not quite that elderly. 3.47 million people from ages 120 to 129. 3.9 million people from ages 130 to 139. 3.5 million people from ages 140 to 149. And money is being paid to many of them, and we’re searching right now. In fact, Pam [Bondi], good luck, good luck. You’re going to find it. But a lot of money is paid out to people because it just keeps getting paid and paid, and nobody does. And it really hurts Social Security and hurts our country. 1.3 million people from ages 150 to 159. And over 130,000 people, according to the Social Security databases, are aged over 160 years old. We have a healthier country than I thought, Bobby [Kennedy Jr.]. Including—to finish—1039 people between the ages of 220 and 229. One person between the age of 240 and 249 and one person is listed at 360 years of age—more than 100 years, more than 100 years older than our country. But we’re going to find out where that money is going, and it’s not going to be pretty. By slashing all of the fraud, waste and theft we can find, 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. And today, interest rates took a beautiful drop. Big, beautiful drop. It’s about time. And in the near future, I want to do what has not been done in 24 years: balance the federal budget. We’re going to balance it. With that goal in mind, we have developed in great detail what we are calling the “gold card” which goes on sale very, very soon. For $5 million, we will allow the most successful job-creating people from all over the world to buy a path to U.S. citizenship. It’s like the green card, but better and more sophisticated. And these people will have to pay tax in our country. They won’t have to pay tax from where they came. The money that they’ve made. You wouldn’t want to do that. But they have to pay tax, create jobs. They’ll also be taking people out of colleges and paying for them so that we can keep them in our country, instead of having them be—being forced out. Number one at the top school as an example, being forced out and not being allowed to stay and create tremendous numbers of jobs in great success for a company out there. So while we take out the criminals, killers, traffickers and child predators who are allowed to enter our country under the open-border policy of these people, the Democrats, the Biden Administration, the open border, insane policies that you’ve allowed to destroy our country, we will now bring in brilliant, hardworking, job-creating people. They’re going to pay a lot of money, and we’re going to reduce our debt with that money. Americans have given us a mandate for bold and profound change. For nearly 100 years, the federal bureaucracy has grown until it has crushed our freedoms, ballooned our deficits and held back America’s potential in every possible way. The nation founded by pioneers and risktakers now drowns under millions and millions of pages of regulations and debt. Approvals that should take 10 days to get instead, take 10 years, 15 years and even 20 years before you reject it. Meanwhile, we have hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have not been showing up to work. My administration will reclaim power from this unaccountable bureaucracy, and we will restore true democracy to America again. And any federal bureaucrat who resists this change will be removed from office immediately, because we are draining the swamp. It’s very simple. And the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over. And the next phase of our plan to deliver the greatest economy in history is for this Congress to pass tax cuts for everybody. They’re in there. They’re waiting for you to vote. And I’m sure that the people on my right, I don’t mean the Republican right, but my right, right here [points to Democrats], I’m sure you’re going to vote for those tax cuts. Because otherwise, I don’t believe the people will ever vote you into office. So I’m doing a big favor by telling you that. But I know this group is going to be voting for the tax. Thank you. It’s a very, very big part of our plan. We had tremendous success in our first term with it. A very big part of our plan. 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 on overtime, and no tax on Social Security benefits for our great seniors. And I also want to make interest payments on car loans tax-deductible, but only if the car is made in America. And by the way, we’re gonna have growth in the auto industry like nobody’s ever seen. Plants are opening up all over the place. Deals are being made, never seen. That’s a combination of the election win and tariffs. It’s a beautiful word, isn’t it? That along with our other policies will allow our auto industry to absolutely boom. It’s gonna boom. Spoke to the majors today, all three, the top people and they’re so excited. In fact, already, numerous car companies have announced that they will be building massive automobile plants in America with Honda just announcing a new plant in Indiana, one of the largest anywhere in the world. And this has taken place since our great victory on November 5th, a date which will hopefully go down as one of the most important in the history of our country. In addition, as part of our tax cuts, we want to cut taxes on domestic production and all manufacturing. And just as we did before, we will provide 100% expensing. It will be retroactive to January 20th, 2025. And it was one of the main reasons why our tax cuts were so successful in our first term, giving us the most successful economy in the history of our country. First term. We had a great first term. If you don’t make your product in America, however, under the Trump Administration, you’ll 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 to start using them against those other countries. On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico, and Canada—have you heard of them?—and countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them. It’s very unfair. India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100%. China’s average tariff on our products is twice what we charge them. And South Korea’s average tariff is four times higher. Think of that: four times higher. And we give so much help militarily and in so many other ways to South Korea. But that’s what happens. This is happening by friend and foe. This system is not fair to the United States and never was. And so on April 2nd—I wanted to make it April 1st, but I didn’t want to be accused of April Fool’s Day. That’s what that’s not. Just one day was… Cost us a lot of money, but we’re going to do it in April. I’m a very superstitious person. April 2nd, reciprocal tariffs kick in and whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them. That’s reciprocal—back and forth. Whatever they tax us, we will tax them. If they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we will do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market. There’s a lot of that too. They don’t even allow us in their market. We will take in trillions and trillions of dollars and create jobs like we have never seen before. I did it with China and I did it with others and the Biden Administration couldn’t do anything about it because it was so much money. They couldn’t do anything about it. We have been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on earth. And we will not let that happen any longer. Much has been said over the last three months about Mexico and Canada, but we have very large deficits with both of them. But even more importantly, they’ve allowed fentanyl to come into our country at levels never seen before, killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens and many very young, beautiful people, destroying families. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. They are in effect receiving subsidies of hundreds of billions of dollars. We pay subsidies to Canada and to Mexico of hundreds of billions of dollars. And the United States will not be doing that any longer. We’re not gonna do it any longer. Thanks to our “America First” policies we’re putting into place. We have had $1.7 trillion of new investment in America in just the past few weeks. The combination of the election, and our economic policies—that people of SoftBank, one of the most brilliant anywhere in the world, announced a $200-billion investment. OpenAI and Oracle Larry Ellison announced $500 billion investment, which they wouldn’t have done if Kamala [Harris] had won. Apple announced $500-billion investment. Tim Cook called me, he said I cannot spend it fast enough. It’s gonna be much higher than that I believe. They’ll be building their plants here instead of in China. And just yesterday, Taiwan Semiconductor—the biggest in the world, most powerful in the world, has a tremendous amount, 97% of the market—announced a $165-billion investment to build the most powerful chips on Earth right here in the USA. And we’re not giving them any money. [To Democrats] Your CHIPS Act is a horrible, horrible thing. We give hundreds of billions of dollars and it doesn’t mean a thing. They take our money and they don’t spend it. All that meant to them—we’re giving them no money. All that was important to them was they didn’t want to pay the tariffs. So they came and they’re building and many other companies are coming. We don’t have to give them money. We just wanna protect our businesses and our people and they will come because they won’t have to pay tariffs if they build in America. So it’s very amazing. You should get rid of the CHIP Act and whatever’s left over, Mr. Speaker, you should use it to reduce debt or any other reason you want to. Our new trade policy will also be great for the American farmer. I love the farmer, who will now be selling into our home market, the USA, because nobody is gonna be able to compete with you. Because there’s goods that come in from other company—countries and companies. They’re un—really, really in a bad position in so many different ways. They’re uninspected. They may be very dirty and disgusting and they come in and they pour in and they hurt our American farmers. The tariffs will go on agricultural product coming into America and our, our farmers starting on April 2nd—it may be a little bit of an adjustment period. We had that before when I made the deal with China. $50 billion of purchases. And I said, “Just bear with me.” And they did. They did. Probably have to bear with me again and this will be even better. That was great. The problem with it was that Biden didn’t enforce it. He didn’t enforce it. $50 billion of purchases. And we were doing great, but Biden did not enforce it. And it hurt our farmers. But our farmers are gonna have a field day right now. So to our farmers, have a lot of fun. I love you too. I love you too. It’s all gonna happen. And I have also imposed a 25% tariff on foreign aluminum, copper, lumber, and steel. Because if we don’t have, as an example, steel, and lots of other things, we don’t have a military and frankly won’t have—we just won’t have a country very long. Here today is a proud American steel worker, fantastic person from Decatur, Alabama. Jeff Denard has been working at the same steel plant for 27 years in a job that has allowed him to serve as the captain of his local volunteer fire department, raised seven children with his beautiful wife, Nicole, and over the years provide a loving home for more than 40 foster children. So great Jeff. Thank you Jeff. Thank you Jeff. Stories like Jeff’s remind us that tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs, they’re about protecting the soul of our country. Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it’s happening and it will happen rather quickly. There’ll be a little disturbance, but we are okay with that. It won’t be much. [To Democrats responding in audience] No, you’re not. Oh. And look—and look where Biden took us. Very low, the lowest we’ve ever been. Jeff, I want to thank you very much. And I also wanna recognize another person who has devoted herself to foster care community. She worked so hard on it. A very loving person, our magnificent First Lady of the United States. Melania’s work has yielded incredible results, helping prepare our nation’s future leaders as they enter the workforce. Our First Lady is joined by two impressive young women, very impressive. Haley Ferguson, who benefited from the First Lady’s Fostering the Future initiative and is poised to complete her education and become a teacher. And Elliston Berry, who became a victim of an illicit deep fake image produced by a peer. With Elliston’s help, the Senate just passed the Take It Down Act. And this is so important. Thank you very much, John. John Thune. Thank you. Stand up John. Thank you John. Thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you to John Thune and the Senate. Great job to criminalize the publication of such images online. It’s terrible… terrible thing. And once it passes the House, I look forward to signing that bill into law. Thank you. And I’m gonna use that bill for myself too, if you don’t mind. ‘Cause nobody gets treated worse than I do online—nobody. That’s great. Thank you very much to the Senate. Thank you. But if we truly care about protecting Americans’ children, no step is more crucial than securing America’s borders. Over the past four years, 21 million people poured into the United States. Many of them were murderers, human traffickers, gang members, and other criminals from the streets of dangerous cities all throughout the world ’cause of Joe Biden’s insane and very dangerous open border policies. They’re now strongly embedded in our country, but we are getting them out and getting them out fast. And I wanna thank Tom Homan and Kristi [Noem], I wanna thank you and Paul [Perez] of Border Patrol. I want to thank you. What a job they’ve all done. Everybody. Border Patrol, ICE, law enforcement in general is incredible. We have to take care of our law enforcement. Have to. Last year, a brilliant 22-year-old nursing student named Laken Riley, the best in her class, admired by everybody, went out for a jog on the campus of the University of Georgia. That morning, Laken was viciously attacked, assaulted, beaten, brutalized, and horrifically murdered. Laken was stolen from us by a savage, illegal alien gang member who was arrested while trespassing across Biden’s open southern border and then set loose into the United States under the heartless policies of that failed administration. It was indeed a failed administration. He had then been arrested and released in a Democrat-run sanctuary city, a disaster, before ending the life of this beautiful young angel. With us this evening, our Laken’s beloved mother Allyson and her sister Lauren. Last year, I told Laken’s grieving parents that we would ensure their daughter would not have died in vain. That’s why the very first bill I signed into law as your 47th President, mandates the detention of all dangerous criminal aliens who threaten public safety. It’s a very strong, powerful act. It’s called the Laken Riley Act. So Allyson and Lauren, America will never ever forget our beautiful Laken Hope Riley. Thank you very much. Since taking office, my administration has launched the most sweeping border and immigration crackdown in American history. And we quickly achieved the lowest numbers of illegal border crosses ever recorded. Thank you. 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. Thank you. Joe Biden didn’t just open our borders—he flew illegal aliens over them to overwhelm our schools, hospitals and communities throughout the country. Entire towns like Aurora, Colorado, and Springfield, Ohio buckled under the weight of the migrant occupation and corruption like nobody’s ever seen before. Beautiful towns destroyed. Now just as I promised in my inaugural address, we are achieving the great liberation of America. But there still is much work to be done. Here tonight is a woman I have gotten to know: Alexis Nungaray from Houston. Wonderful woman. Last June, Alexis’s 12-year-old daughter, her precious Jocelyn, walked to a nearby convenience store. She was kidnapped, tied up, assaulted for two hours under a bridge and horrifically murdered. Arrested, and charged with this heinous crime are two illegal alien monsters from Venezuela released into America by the last administration through their ridiculous open border. The death of this beautiful 12-year-old girl and the agony of her mother and family touched our entire nation greatly. Alexis, I promised that we would always remember your daughter, your magnificent daughter. And earlier tonight I signed an order keeping my word to you. One thing I have learned about Jocelyn is that she loved animals so much. She loved nature. Across Galveston Bay, from where Jocelyn lived in Houston, you’ll find a magnificent national wildlife refuge, a pristine, peaceful 34,000-acre sanctuary for all of God’s creatures on the edge of the “Gulf of America.” Alexis, moments ago, I formally renamed that refuge in loving memory of your beautiful daughter Jocelyn. So Mr. Vice President, if you would, may I have the order. [shows the Executive Order to Congress.] Thank you very much. All three savages charged with Jocelyn and Laken’s murders were members of the Venezuelan prison gang, the toughest gang, they say, in the world known as Tren de Aragua. Two weeks ago I officially designated this gang along with MS-13 and the blood-thirsty Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. They are now officially in the same category as ISIS and that’s not good for them. Countless thousands of these terrorists were welcomed into the U.S. by the Biden Administration, but now every last one will be rounded up and forcibly removed from our country. Or if they’re too dangerous, put in jails standing trial in this country—’cause we don’t want them to come back ever. With us this evening is a warrior on the frontlines of that battle: Border Patrol agent Roberto Ortiz. Great guy. In January, Roberto and another agent were patrolling by the Rio Grande near an area known as Cartel Island. Doesn’t sound too nice to me. When heavily armed gunmen started shooting at them, Roberto saw that his partner was totally exposed, great danger, and he leapt into action returning fire and providing crucial seconds for his fellow agent to seek safety just and just barely. I have some of the prints of that event and it was not good. Agent Ortiz, we salute you for your great courage and uh, for your line of fire that you took and for the bravery that you showed, we honor you and we will always honor you. Thank you, Roberto, very much. Thank you Roberto. And I actually got to know him on my many calls to the border. He’s a great, great gentleman. The territory to the immediate south of our border is now dominated entirely by criminal cartels that murder, rape, torture, and exercise total control. They have total control over a whole nation, posing a grave threat to our national security. The cartels are waging war in America and it’s time for America to wage war on the cartels, which we’re doing. Five nights ago, Mexican authorities, because of our tariff policies being imposed on them—think of this—handed over to us 29 of the biggest cartel leaders in their country. That has never happened before. They wanna make us happy. First time ever. But we need Mexico and Canada to do much more than they’ve done. And they have to stop the fentanyl and drugs pouring into the USA, they’re gonna stop it. I have sent Congress a detailed funding request laying out exactly how we will eliminate these threats to protect our homeland and complete the largest deportation operation in American history, larger even than current record holder President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a moderate man, but someone who believed very strongly in borders. Americans expect Congress to send me this funding without delay so I can sign it into law. So Mr. Speaker, John Thune, both of you, I—I hope you’re gonna be able to do that. Mr. Speaker, thank you. Mr. Leader, thank you. Thank you very much and let’s get it to me. I’ll sign it so fast, you won’t even believe it. And as we reclaim our sovereignty, we must also bring back law and order to our cities and towns. In recent years, our justice system has been turned upside down by radical left lunatics, many jurisdictions virtually seized, enforcing the law against dangerous repeat offenders while weaponizing law enforcement against political opponents like me. My administration has acted swiftly and decisively to restore fair, equal, and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law, starting at the FBI and the DOJ. Pam, good luck. Kash [Patel], wherever you may be. Good luck. Good luck, Pam Bondi. Good luck. So important. Gonna do a great job. Kash, thank you. Thank you, Kash. They’ve already started very strong. They’re going to do a fantastic job. You’re gonna be very proud of them. We’re also, once again, giving our police officers the support, protection and respect they so dearly deserve. They have to get it. They have such a hard, dangerous job, but we’re gonna make it less dangerous. The problem is the bad guys don’t respect the law, but they’re starting to respect it and they soon will respect it. This also includes our great fire departments throughout the country. Our firemen and women are unbelievable people and I will never forget them. And besides that, they voted for me in record numbers so I have no choice. One year ago this month, 31-year-old New York police officer, Jonathan Diller, unbelievably wonderful person and a great officer, was gunned down at a traffic stop on Long Island. I went to his funeral. The vicious criminal charged with his murder, had 21 prior arrests—and they were rough arrests too. He was a real bad one—The thug in the seat next to him had 14 prior arrests and went by the name of Killer. He was “Killer.” He killed other people, they say, a lot of them. I attended Officer Diller’s service and when I met his wife and 1-year-old son Ryan, it was very inspirational actually. His widow’s name is Stephanie and she is here tonight. Stephanie, thank you very much, Stephanie. Thank you. Stephanie, we’re going to make sure that Ryan knows his dad was a true hero—New York’s finest. And we are going to get these cold-blooded killers and repeat offenders off our streets. And we’re gonna do it fast. Gotta stop it. They get out with 28 arrests, they push people into subway trains, they hit people over the head, back of the head with baseball bats. We gotta get ’em outta here. I have already signed an Executive Order requiring a mandatory death penalty for anyone who murders a police officer. And tonight I’m asking Congress to pass that policy into permanent law. I’m also asking for a new crime bill getting tough on repeat offenders while enhancing protections for America’s police officers so they can do their jobs without fear of their lives being totally destroyed. They don’t wanna be killed. We’re not gonna let ’em be killed. [Uproar in audience] Joining us in the gallery tonight is a young man who truly loves our police. His name is DJ Daniel. He is 13 years old and he has always dreamed of becoming a police officer. But in 2018, DJ was diagnosed with brain cancer. The doctors gave him five months at most to live. That was more than six years ago. Since that time, DJ and his dad have been on a quest to make his dream come true. And DJ has been sworn in as an honorary law enforcer—officer, actually a number of times. The police love him. The police departments love him. And tonight DJ, we’re going to do you the biggest honor of them all. I am asking our new Secret Service director, Sean Curran, to officially make you an agent of the United States Secret Service.