If President Donald Trump was under any political pressure to extend an olive branch to Democrats during his first speech to Congress since returning to the Oval Office, they quickly showed they would not take it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had to intervene when Rep. Al Green (D-TX) disrupted the proceedings. The Texas lawmaker, who has already introduced articles of impeachment against Trump, shook his cane and shouted at the president.
Johnson instructed the House sergeant of arms to remove Green from the chamber as Republicans sang, “Hey, hey, hey, goodbye.”
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Trump said there was nothing he could say in his speech that would make congressional Democrats cheer, applaud or smile, not even announcing the cure to a deadly disease.
“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,” Trump said.
Trump gave as good as he got. He repeatedly called out former President Joe Biden, labeling his successor turned predecessor “the worst president in American history.” He pointed to Democrats in the Capitol as he riffed on “the criminals, killers, traffickers, and child predators who were 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.”
Trump also directly challenged the Democrats on taxes. “I’m sure that the people on my right, I don’t mean the Republican Right, but my right right here, I’m sure you’re going to vote for those tax cuts,” he said, pointing to lawmakers in the audience. “Because otherwise, I don’t believe the people will ever vote you into office, so I believe I am doing you a big favor by telling you that.”
If Trump is worried about a backlash against the Department of Government Efficiency, it didn’t show. He highlighted DOGE’s work at length, called attention to Elon Musk by name, and described him as the head of the government-cutting task force. “He didn’t need this,” Trump said of Musk.
“Just listen to some of the appalling waste we have already identified,” Trump said. “$22 billion from HHS to provide free housing and cars for illegal aliens. $45 million for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion scholarships in Burma…. $8 million for making mice transgender. This is real.” He added there were “far worse” examples but he “didn’t think it was appropriate to talk about them, they’re so bad.”
Trump said once again Tuesday night that Biden had “weaponized” the federal government against him, persecuting and prosecuting a political opponent. “How did that work out?” Trump asked as Vice President JD Vance laughed and clapped behind him. “Not too good.”
When Trump introduced Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and said he would help tackle the problem of cancer in children, he chided Democrats for not applauding. “With the name Kennedy, you would have thought everybody over here would have been cheering,” he said. “How quickly they forget.”
Trump even called Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “Pocahontas” in an aside while talking about how much lawmakers had spent on Ukraine aid.
Most Democrats were not as vocal or disruptive as Green, who briefly triggered more yelling than Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) of “You lie!” fame under former President Barack Obama. They held up signs saying “false” or “lies” as they sat stonefaced through Trump’s remarks. Many skipped the address entirely. Others walked out while he was speaking. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) had urged members of his conference to use their own judgment about whether to show up but to be dignified in their protests if they did.
At Trump’s last speech to Congress, the 2020 State of the Union address, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) tore up the prepared text behind him. On Tuesday, Pelosi was in the gallery, clad in pink, watching Trump as a rank-and-file member.
The partisan tenor of both Trump’s speech and the Democratic response from inside the Capitol is strategically risky. Trump enjoys strong support from his base but is entering a period of his presidency that will test the commitment of swing voters who helped him become only the second GOP presidential candidate to win the popular vote since 1988. Republicans will also be defending a razor-thin House majority in next year’s midterm elections.
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Democrats will be trying to win back voters they lost to Trump, particularly in the battleground states. The party is currently shut out of power in Washington and has no clear leaders nationally or in their fight against Trump. Freshman Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who won her seat while Trump was carrying her state last year, delivered the Democratic response.
Trump has had success in a polarized political climate and is constitutionally ineligible to seek a second term in 2028.
