President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s address to Congress Tuesday showed that the divide in American politics goes deep.
“America is back,” he said at the outset. “We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years, and we are just getting started. … Our country is on the verge of a comeback the likes of which the world has never witnessed.”
Republicans roared out in cheers throughout the night, chanting “USA! USA!” and “Trump!” as Democrats – derided by the president as “radical left lunatics” – heckled, shouting demands for him to “stop spreading lies.”
The speech, six weeks into his second term, came as Americans are divided over the flurry of changes Trump has wrought.
He touched on the expected topics over the course of a 100-minute speech and revisited some of his favorite narratives, complaining about the economy left to him by former President Joe Biden and calling his predecessor “the worst president in American history.”
At roughly this point in his first term, Trump’s approval rating hovered around 44% in an average of polls – a record low for a new president, according to FiveThirtyEight. This time four years ago, Biden averaged 54%.
Trump’s current rating averages 48%. That’s down slightly from when he took office and now, nearly as many Americans disapprove of his presidency, a dramatic shift in six weeks.
“This will be our greatest era,” Trump said. “With God’s help over the next four years, we are going to create the highest quality of life.”
Key takeaways from a raucous evening at the Capitol:
Tariffs and a shaky market cast long shadows over Trump’s big night
Trump vowed “to deliver the greatest economy in history,” and called on Congress “to pass tax cuts for everybody” to ensure that happens.
Delivering “dramatic and immediate relief to working families” is a top priority, he said, but hard to do because “we inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare.”
The trade war Trump launched has also proven to be a drag. The 25% tariffs on almost all imports from Canada and Mexico that took effect Tuesday rattled markets.
The Dow Jones sank by 670 points and the S&P 500 fell 1.2%. The drops of the past few days have wiped out gains since Trump’s election in November, representing huge chunks of retirement savings.
Economists expect the tariffs to drive up prices for groceries, electronics, new home construction and more – adding to inflation and undermining growth.
Trump downplayed the impact of tariffs, asserting that any short-term pain will be worth it because they will bring back U.S. manufacturing jobs.
“There’ll be a little disturbance. We’re OK with that. It won’t be much,” he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced retaliatory tariffs of 25% on some U.S. imports, to be expanded to many more products in three weeks. He accused Trump of reneging on a three-way North American trade deal he renegotiated during his first term and expressed some exasperation at Trump’s demands.
Less than 1% of fentanyl intercepted at U.S. borders comes from Canada, he noted, yet Trump has justified the tariffs as a way to pressure his country to do even more to fight smuggling.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum plans to unveil a list of U.S. products facing tariffs Sunday at a public event in Mexico City’s Central Plaza.
Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs, which include 10% to 15% tariffs on many agricultural goods, will go into effect on Monday.
Trump defended his hardball tactics with the nation’s neighbors and top trading partners.
Mexico and Canada “allowed fentanyl to come into our country at levels never seen before, killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens,” he said.
Trump used the speech to double down on his embrace of tariffs, vowing to match any reciprocal tariffs imposed on U.S. exports.
Consumer sentiment dropped 9% in February, according to a University of Michigan survey.
Ukraine’s future is in Trump’s hands
Trump paused military aid to Ukraine on Monday, three days after a tense Oval Office exchange with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
European leaders convened an emergency weekend summit to strategize ways to maintain Trump’s support for Ukraine. No country has given more to Ukraine than the United States since Russia invaded three years ago – over $163 billion.
Most Democrats in the House clapped when Trump mentioned that – the first and for many, only time they applauded during his speech.
“You want to keep it going for another five years?” Trump shot back, pressing the point that the war has dragged on too long for his liking. “Yeah, you would say yes. Pocahontas says yes.”
That was a jab at Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, who kept clapping after he dusted off that taunt. Other Democrats gasped and shook their heads in disapproval at Trump’s name-calling.
Trump reiterated his annoyance at the spending. He read from a letter Zelenskyy wrote earlier Tuesday stating that Ukraine is ready to follow his lead on a peace deal and sign over mineral rights to the U.S. as he demanded. Trump was obviously more pleased than during their meeting Friday.
“It’s time to stop this madness. It’s time to halt the killing. It’s time to end the senseless war. If you want to end wars, you have to talk to both sides,” Trump said.
The president reiterated his interest in absorbing Greenland and reclaiming the Panama Canal, and dropped strong hints that he’s prepared to use force.
“I have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland,” he said. “If you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America. We need Greenland for national security and even international security … and I think we’re going to get it one way or the other.”
Both sides came prepared with theatrics
Other than waving signs that read “false,” Democrats sat on their hands as Republicans rose in ovation after ovation.
“I look at the Democrats in front of me, and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud,” Trump said at one point.
On the backside of the Democrats’ pingpong paddle-sized signs were an assortment of messages: “SAVE MEDICAID,” “PROTECT VETERANS,” and “MUSK STEALS.” Some brought small white boards on which to scribble fresh messages of disapproval.
Five minutes into the speech, Rep. Al Green, a Houston Democrat, stood and began shouting: “You don’t have the mandate to cut Medicaid.”
After three warnings, Speaker Mike Johnson ordered him removed from the chamber.
Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and first-term Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Phoenix left halfway through the speech and many other Democrats also left early, leaving their side relatively empty by the end of the 100-minute marathon.
Trump had theatrics of his own.
He informed a young man whose dream was to study at West Point that his application had been accepted.
He introduced a 13-year-old named DJ Daniel as “a young man who truly loves our police” and has been sworn in repeatedly as an honorary law enforcement officer.
Six years ago, DJ was diagnosed with brain cancer. “The doctors gave him five months at most to live,” Trump said. “Tonight, DJ, “we’re going to do you the biggest honor of them all. I am asking our new Secret Service Director Sean Curran to officially make you an agent of the United States Secret Service.”
DJ showed off his new ID and then hugged Curran.
DOGE and Elon Musk also cast a long shadow
The layoffs and intimidation of federal workers led by billionaire Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency has been a large point of contention.
“The days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over,” Trump said as Musk stood and clapped and basked in the applause of Republicans.
Trump outlined some of the cuts Musk has achieved.
“Everybody here, even this side” – referring to the Democrats – “appreciates it,” he said.
But Democrats booed. They have bristled at the deep cuts to the federal workforce. Many brought recently fired civil servants to the speech. Gallego brought Kyle Rahn, a disabled Army veteran from Phoenix who was fired two weeks ago from a cybersecurity job at the Department of Homeland Security.
DOGE says it has saved $105 billion already, though independent analyses show those claims are overblown.
Democrats note that Republicans recently adopted a budget that calls for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts that far outpace any savings.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is among the many Democrats who have denounced DOGE.
“These reckless firings of Arizonans and arbitrary cuts to critical federal services are outrageous, unacceptable and deeply infuriating,” she said in a statement ahead of the speech.
Immigration promises delight Republicans and silence Democrats
Trump’s campaign promise of mass deportations haven’t yet been seen. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stepped up the pace of raids and Trump has sent some migrants to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the U.S. began holding terror suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
On Saturday, Trump announced that monthly illegal border crossings in February – his first full month in office – had fallen to an all-time low.
“The Invasion of our Country is OVER,” he announced on his Truth Social platform.
He reiterated the boast Tuesday night.
“We are getting them out and we are getting them out fast,” Trump said over the cheers.
This was one claim that didn’t prompt Democrats to wave signs accusing him of lying, not that they’re happy about his policies.
“Since Donald Trump has taken office there have been relentless, cruel and un-American attacks on immigrant families,” Ansari said Tuesday at a virtual news conference ahead of the speech.
Her guest for the speech was Yadira Garcia, a high school math teacher who has benefited from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program begun by Democratic President Barack Obama. DACA protects people brought into the country illegally as children from deportation.
Garcia said Trump’s policies have filled her school with anxiety and sadness. She hoped her presence at the speech would provoke empathy and help antagonistic politicians “put a face to a name.”
“It’s easy to talk to the masses and point fingers, it’s different when you meet someone that is personally affected.” Garcia said. “We are just missing a nine digit number” – a Social Security number. But she said, “we are people that have lives. I contribute to this country every day.”