President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, as Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson listen.Julia Demaree Nikhinson/The Associated Press
Donald Trump set an ambitious goal for his speech before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. The day before his remarks, he said on his social media platform, “TOMORROW NIGHT WILL BE BIG. I WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS!”
Democrats and his critics will argue that the President’s prediction was yet another Trump half-truth. But there was no question that his appearance on Capitol Hill was “BIG.” Indeed, it was one of the most remarkable, combative and divisive appearances any president had ever made from the rostrum of the House of Representatives.
America’s stark divides were evident from the first sentence
“America is back,” he said. Republicans cheered. Democrats did not. Many Americans who did not vote for him – and some who did, and who are now harbouring grave doubts about the direction of the country – believe the United States is going back to a past when the drive for increased rights was a struggle, not an assumption. Indeed, slightly more than half of Americans, according to the Marist Poll, believe Mr. Trump has been rushing to make changes without considering the implications.
A deeply partisan speech
Mr. Trump talked about his own party in a way that American presidents never do in formal, set-piece addresses. His partisanship was matched by disruptions from Democrats, who had previously criticized Republicans when they hectored Barack Obama.
Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., holds a protest sign with fellow Democrats as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025.Win McNamee/The Associated Press
He referred to Democrats as “these people,” and described Joe Biden as “the worst president in American history” – the sort of unbridled criticism of a predecessor that no president, even Franklin Delano Roosevelt in regard to Herbert Hoover, whom he blamed for the Great Depression – engaged in. He said his appointees had inherited what he called “a total mess from the previous administration.”
He’s still a tariff man
He spoke only glancingly of Canada, though he repeated his suggestions that countries such as Canada had taken advantage of the United States for years. “It’s our turn,” he said. But tellingly, a reference to the American tariffs aimed at Canada won only tepid applause – a dramatic contrast to the fervent clapping many of his other remarks provoked.
And a boastful one
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025.Win McNamee/The Associated Press
He said he had conducted the most successful presidential start in history – historians may look at the Hundred Days of FDR with more favour – and compared himself to George Washington, who was elected essentially unopposed in each of his two terms.
Plenty of red meat for supporters
He asserted there are “only two genders – male and female.” He attacked “they” and “them” pronouns. He reminded listeners he had declared English the official language of the United States; moved to expand production of energy (“Drill, baby, drill”); withdrawn the country from various international organizations; and undertaken an aggressive battle against diversity, equity and inclusion – much of which he described as “the common-sense revolution” he was leading. He was especially aggressive in his attacks on transgender people. He repeated that he had taken steps to ban them from playing in women’s sports.
Plenty of time spent talking about himself
U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson attend a joint session of Congress, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S.Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
The performance had many elements of a campaign stump speech. Toward the end of his remarks, Mr. Trump referred to the assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., saying, “I was saved by God to make America great again.” As he moved to conclude his remarks, his supporters chanted, “Trump, Trump, Trump.”
And plentiful exaggerations
He said he had a “mandate like has not been seen in many decades,” when in fact he won a slender victory over Kamala Harris. In Mr. Trump’s own lifetime, Lyndon B. Johnson (1964), Richard Nixon (1972) and Ronald Reagan (1984) had far bigger victories and could plausibly proclaim they had mandates. He also said he would balance the budget, an achievement almost no respected student of federal spending and taxation believes is plausible, especially with the tax cuts Mr. Trump is trying to win on Capitol Hill.
Optimism for peace in Ukraine
“Lots of good things are happening,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “It’s time to stop this madness, it’s time to halt the killings.” He took aim at his critics, who charge that he is tilting toward Russia in that conflict. Mr. Trump said it is imperative to talk to both sides. There were looks of skepticism from the Democratic section of the chamber.
Very few references to Congress
The country’s founders created a system of divided powers, but in the second Trump administration, the power and prerogatives of the legislative branch have been in eclipse as the power of the executive branch has grown. Ordinarily presidents in remarks such as these deliver a to-do list for Congress.
President Donald Trump delivers an address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.HAIYUN JIANG/The New York Times News Service
Aside from a new crime bill, a tax cut and a death penalty for those who kill police officers, Mr. Trump’s speech emphasized what he had done more than what he wants Congress to do. On immigration, he taunted the Democrats for insisting that legislation was required to secure the southern border. “All we really needed,” he said, “was a new president.”