‘America is back’: Donald Trump begins address to Congress for 1st time since returning to power | Watch

“To my fellow citizens, America is back,” US President Donald Trump opened his first address to Congress since taking office on January 20. His comment received a standing ovation from fellow Republicans.

“Our country is on the verge of a comeback, the likes of which the world has never witnessed and perhaps will never witness again,” the US President declared while exulting in a series of dramatic actions that have upended US foreign policy, ignited a trade war with close allies and slashed the federal workforce since he took office six weeks ago.

The primetime speech capped a second day of market turmoil after he imposed sweeping new tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China.

Watch: Donald Trump's opening remarks while addressing joint session of Congress

Donald Trump also boasted about his first month in office, calling it “the most successful” first month of any US presidency in history.

“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,” he said.

“We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years, and we are just getting started,” he added

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

“Whatever they tariff us, we tariff them. Whatever they tax us, we tax them,” Trump said. “If they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market.”

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

(With Reuters inputs)