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