Donald Trump declares 'we're just getting started' as congressman evicted, others walk out — as it happened

Thank you for following along with our live blog today.

We will end our coverage here.

If you're just catching up, here are some of the day's major updates.

• Protesters gathered in almost every state ahead of the address
• Donald Trump kicked off his speech by declaring: "America is back" 
• Democratic congressman Al Green was evicted from the chamber for heckling
  
• It was revealed Ukrainian's Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent Trump an "important letter" 
• Democratic senator Elissa Slotkin delivered her party's response

It may have been a lengthy speech, but Jared Mondschein from the US Studies Centre says he doesn't believe we learned much about Donald Trump's vision for America.

"In many ways, he played his greatest hits," Mondschein told ABC News.

"He just elaborated further on a number of topics where we already knew where he stood."

You can hear more of Mondschein's thoughts on today's address below.

More than 70 per cent of the European Union's imports enter with no tariffs. 

While the US is the EU's largest trade partner, there's no dedicated free trade agreement.

Negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which would have solidified and promoted trade relations between the US and EU, were shut down by Donald Trump in 2016 without conclusion.

At the moment, both impose tariffs on car imports from the other.

The EU currently imposes a 10 per cent tariff on US vehicle imports. That's four times the US' tariff on European passenger cars.

However, the US also imposes a 25 per cent tariff on utes.

At one point during Donald Trump's address, the president repeated a claim that millions of people, who were supposedly born more than 150 years ago, have been improperly receiving social security payments.

That claim emerged out of Elon Musk's government efficiency department, which has been digging into federal agencies to root out fraud, waste and abuse.

Musk has described it as "the biggest fraud ever".

But experts say the seemingly high number of centenarians isn't fraud, and the claim is largely borne out of a misunderstanding of basic coding by Musk and his department.

Social Security's software system is based on the COBOL programming language, which means entries of payment recipients that are missing or have incomplete birth dates will default to May 20, 1875.

If you do the math, that works out to be roughly 150 years ago, hence the confusion.

If you made it through Donald Trump's entire address to Congress, props to you!

According to the American Presidency Project, the speech clocked in at a total 1 hour, 39 minutes and 32 seconds, beating his previous longest by more than 7 minutes.

It also takes the title of longest annual address to Congress in history.

Bill Clinton's 1995 speech was the previous record holder. It was 1 hour, 24 minutes and 58 seconds long.

While the opposition is never enthusiastic about a president's address to Congress, Global Affairs Editor John Lyons says this was a "particularly bitter" affair.

He takes a look back on the night here.

It was a late night for lawmakers in Washington DC. The clock had just ticked past 11pm when Trump made his exit.

So it's no surprise the chamber cleared out rather quickly.

Here are some of the post-speech scenes.

Slotkin closes her speech by urging "engaged citizens" to take action to prevent the demise of democracy.

"Doom-scrolling doesn't count," she says, and suggests concerned Americans choose an issue they're passionate about and get involved in activism.

"We all know our country is going through something right now.

"We're not sure what the next day is going to hold, let alone the next decade, but this isn't the first time we've experienced significant and tumultuous change as a country.

"I'm a student of history, and we've gone through periods of political instability before, and ultimately we've chosen to keep changing this country for the better

 "But every single time, we've only gotten through those moments because of two things: engaged citizens and principled leaders."

Slotkin says the president and vice-president's clash with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week "wasn't just a bad episode of reality TV".

"It summed up Trump's whole approach to the world.

"He believes in cosying up to dictators like Vladimir Putin and kicking our friends like the Canadians in the teeth.

"He sees American leadership as merely a series of real estate transactions.

"As a Cold War kid, I'm thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in the 1980s. Trump would have lost us the Cold War."

Slotkin suggests that Trump could be walking the US into a recession, and warns he could "very well" come for Americans' social security benefits and retirees' health insurance.

"The president claims he won't, but Elon Musk just called Social Security 'the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time'," Slotkin says, referring to a comment Musk made on Joe Rogan's podcast last week.

"While we're on the subject of Elon Musk, is there anyone in America who is comfortable with him and his gang of 20-year-olds using their own computer servers to poke through your tax returns, your health information and your bank accounts?

"No oversight, no protections against cyber attack, no guardrails on what they do with your private data.

"We need a more efficient government. You want to cut waste, I'll help you do it. But change doesn't need to be chaotic or make us less safe.

"The mindless firing of people who work to protect our nuclear weapons, keep our planes from crashing and conduct the research that finds the cure for cancer, only to rehire them two days later, no CEO in America could do that without being summarily fired."

In her response, Slotkin says Trump "talked a big game on the economy", but it's "important to read the fine print".

"Do his plans actually help Americans get ahead? Not even close.

"President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends.

"He's on the hunt to find trillions of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest in America, and to do that, he's going to make you pay in every part of your life.

"And prices are going up, not down."

Elissa Slotkin, a senator from Michigan, is giving the Democratic Party's response to Donald Trump's address.

"We just went through another fraught election season," she says.

"Americans made it clear that prices are too high and that the government needs to be more responsive to their needs.

"America wants change, but there's a responsible way to make change and a reckless way, and we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country and as a democracy."

President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of renewed discussions with Ukraine regarding how to end the war.

Trump says he's ready to discuss again with Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy possibilities for ending Ukraine’s war with Russia.

His comments came during the address to Congress.

After an acrimonious meeting in the White House last week, Trump stopped military aid to Ukraine but he says the Ukrainian leader has reached out to him and he’s prepared to resume discussions.

The White House made it clear after the meeting that it believed Zelenskyy had been ungrateful for US aid since Russia's invasion three years ago and expected an apology.

In the hours leading up to President Trump's speech to Congress, Zelenskyy said he "regretted" how the White House meeting had gone.

Trump closes his speech where he began, with the promise of a new "golden age" for America.

"Americans are today a proud, free, sovereign and independent nation that will always be free, and we will fight for it till death.

"We will never let anything happen to our beloved country, because we are a country of doers, dreamers, fighters and survivors.

"...My fellow Americans, get ready for an incredible future, because the golden age of America has only just begun. It will be like nothing that has ever been seen before."

Trump says he received an "important letter" from Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier today, following their public falling out in the Oval Office last week.

"The letter reads, 'Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians.'"

Zelenskyy says he stands ready to work with Trump for a lasting peace, according to Trump's citing of the letter.

And, as he's also posted on social media, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready to sign a critical minerals deal with the US.

"I appreciate that he sent this letter," Trump says.

"Just got it a little while ago. Simultaneously, we've had serious discussions and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace. Wouldn't that be beautiful? Wouldn't that be beautiful?"

Trump says the US has "apprehended the top terrorist" behind the 2021 Kabul airport bombing that killed 13 American service members and about 170 Afghan civilians.

The attack, known as the Abbey Gate Bombing, happened during America's withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Muhammed Sharifullah, described as a senior member of a branch of Islamic State, has been arrested over the attack.

He was turned over to Pakistani authorities for extradition to the US, the Journal reports.

It appears that roughly 10 per cent of Democrats have now left the chamber. It's probably meant to illustrate their distaste for what’s being said, but it’s also a particularly long address.

A number of those left protested when President Donald Trump spoke about Ukraine. Clapping when he spoke about the support provided by the Biden Administration (even though he intended it to be derisive).

Trump restates his intention to reclaim the Panama Canal. "We've already started doing it," he says.

He goes on to deliver "a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland".

"We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America.

"We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we're working with everybody involved to try and get it, but we need it really for international world security."

"And I think we're going to get it one way or the other. We're going to get it.

"We will keep you safe. We will make you rich. And together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before."

Trump says he plans to "resurrect the American shipbuilding industry, including commercial shipbuilding and military shipbuilding".

"I am announcing tonight that we will create a new office of shipbuilding in the White House and offer special tax incentives to bring this industry home to America where it belongs.

"We used to make so many ships. We don't make them anymore very much."

American shipyards have been struggling to build submarines quickly enough to meet naval targets.

That's raised concerns about the AUKUS agreement, under which American nuclear-powered submarines are to be provided to Australia. The US can pull out of the deal if it's unable to produce enough submarines for its own needs.

In attacking "toxic ideologies" in schools, Trump cites the case of January Littlejohn, a Florida mother who claimed her child's school secretly allowed her 13-year-old to adopt they/them pronouns.

Littlejohn is a guest of Melania Trump, and her story has been cited by Republicans many times before.

But CNN reported in 2022 on an email that suggested Littlejohn actually notified a teacher that her child wanted to change pronouns.

"Shortly after taking office, I signed an executive order banning public schools from indoctrinating our children with transgender ideology.

"I also signed an order to cut off all taxpayer funding to any institution that engages in the sexual mutilation of our youth.

"And now I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalising sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body.

"This is a big lie, and our message to every child in America is that you are perfect exactly the way God made you."