From cheers to protests, here’s a look inside the chamber during Trump’s speech

President Trump arrives to address a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol.
President Trump arrives to address a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol. (Win McNamee | Getty Images)

President Trump delivered an address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday that drew Republican applause and silence and protest from Democrats as he outlined key actions taken during his first six weeks in office.

In the speech — Trump’s first address to Congress in his second term — the president touted his 2024 election win before ticking through a laundry list of actions he’s taken since his inauguration, including ending foreign aid, banning trans athletes from participating in school sports and enacting sweeping cuts to the size of the federal government through the “DOGE” initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk.

President Trump arrives to address a joint session of Congress at the Capitol.
President Trump arrives to address a joint session of Congress at the Capitol. (Win McNamee | AP via POOL Getty Images)
First Lady Melania Trump (center) waves as she attends US President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the Capitol.
First Lady Melania Trump (center) waves as she attends US President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the Capitol. (Allison Robbert | AFP via Getty Images)

Trump opened by telling lawmakers that “America is back,” and closed by saying that “the Golden Age of America has only just begun.”

Partisan divisions were on display as Republican lawmakers gave Trump frequent standing ovations, while Democrats sat stone faced, held signs and walked out of the chamber in protest. That mirrors divisions among the U.S. population, which is split on the direction Trump’s changes and controversial agenda are moving the country, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, left, shouts as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol.
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, left, shouts as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol. (Win McNamee | AP via POOL Getty Images)
Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) listens as US President Donald Trump speaks during an address to a joint session of Congress.
Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) listens as US President Donald Trump speaks during an address to a joint session of Congress. (Jim Watson | AFP via Getty Images)

Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green was removed from the House chamber after heckling Trump early in the speech, standing and yelling that Trump did not have a mandate. Green first received a warning from House Speaker Mike Johnson, and when he did not stop he was escorted out by what appeared to be Sergeant at Arms staff.

Other lawmakers protested more quietly: Dozens of Democratic congresswomen wore pink to the speech as part of a coordinated response. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., who chairs the Democratic Women’s Caucus, told TIME Magazine that the “signal our protest of Trump’s policies which are negatively impacting women and families.”

“Pink is a color of power and protest,” Leger Fernández told TIME. “It’s time to rev up the opposition and come at Trump loud and clear.”

Democratic members of Congress listen as President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol.
Democratic members of Congress listen as President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol. (Ben Curtis | AP)
Representative Maxwell Frost, Democrat from Florida, wears a shirt reading 'No kings live here' as he walks out of the House Chamber while US President Donald Trump speaks during an address to a joint session of Congress.
Representative Maxwell Frost, Democrat from Florida, wears a shirt reading “No kings live here” as he walks out of the House Chamber while US President Donald Trump speaks during an address to a joint session of Congress. (Saul Loeb | AFP via Getty Images)

Several Democrats walked out of the speech, turning their back on Trump wearing shirts that read “Resist” and “No kings live here.” Others held up signs reading “False,” “Protect Medicaid,” and “Musk Steals,” throughout Trump’s remarks.

Republican lawmakers, who have coalesced behind Trump’s agenda in his second term, were consistently supportive of his speech, which leaned heavily into themes about immigration and crime.

President Trump holds a signed executive order that renames a wildlife sanctuary in honor of late Jocelyn Nungaray during a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol.
President Trump holds a signed executive order that renames a wildlife sanctuary in honor of late Jocelyn Nungaray during a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol. (Al Drago | Bloomberg via Getty Images)
13-year-old cancer survivor Devarjaye 'DJ' Daniel is lifted up by his father Theodis Daniel after President Trump made him an honorary member of the US Secret Service during his address to a joint session of Congress.
13-year-old cancer survivor Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel is lifted up by his father Theodis Daniel after President Trump made him an honorary member of the US Secret Service during his address to a joint session of Congress. (Saul Loeb | AFP via Getty Images)

Trump also recognized some of the White House’s guests in attendance, including the mother and sister of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was killed last year by a man who was in the country illegally; and 13-year-old DJ Daniel, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018 and has been sworn in as an honorary law enforcement officer. During his speech, Trump asked his Secret Service Director to make Daniel an honorary secret service agent.

Border patrol agent Roberto Ortiz, from left, looks on as Lauren Phillips and Allyson Phillips, family members of the late Laken Riley, watch as President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress.
Border patrol agent Roberto Ortiz, from left, looks on as Lauren Phillips and Allyson Phillips, family members of the late Laken Riley, watch as President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress. (Alex Brandon | AP)
President Trump arrives for a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the Capitol.
President Trump arrives for a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the Capitol. (Al Drago | Bloomberg via Getty Images)

 

Supreme Court allows Trump to resume mass federal layoffs for now

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was appointed to the court by President Biden, dissented.

Graphics: Where the Texas floods happened and how high the waters rose

One Guadalupe River gauge near Kerrville and Camp Mystic recorded a rise of more than 25 feet in two hours.

Haiti’s iconic Hotel Oloffson, long a cultural beacon, destroyed by gang violence

The Hotel Oloffson in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, long a haven for artists and writers, poets and presidents, a symbol of Haiti's troubled politics and its storied past, has been destroyed by gangs.

New books this week focus on Caitlin Clark, King Tut, and how ‘Democrats Lost America’

Plus: a new novel from Gary Shteyngart, a true story of a shipwreck, and a memoir from a wrongly incarcerated inmate who was exonerated after 28 years behind bars.

Shoes off at the airport? TSA appears to be giving the pesky rule the boot

For nearly twenty years, most air travelers in the U.S. have been required to remove their shoes when going through security. That requirement seems to be ending.

Texas flood recovery efforts face tough conditions as local officials face hard questions

Emergency responders kept hope alive as they combed through fallen trees and other debris that littered the hard-hit central Texas communities on the fifth day after devastating floods killed more than 100.

More Front Page Coverage