This was the best and most effective speech to a joint session of Congress ever. And most entertaining, too.
Nearly four months to the day since he became the second president in American history to
earn non-consecutive terms in last November’s election, and over five years since presenting his last State of the Union Address (of his first White House tenure), Donald Trump very slowly made his way to the Speaker’s podium (about 17 minutes late in beginning) in the House chamber to resounding chants of “U.S.A.” Tuesday night to deliver what promised to be a speech to a joint session of Congress (technically not a SOTU) for the ages.
Trump did not disappoint. “To my fellow citizens, America is BACK!”, Trump proclaimed at the outset of his talk.
My only complaint was that the listing of Trump’s impressive roster of accomplishments and ambitions took the program well past many bed times in the eastern time zone. The oration went on and on… and on. Who knows, maybe Trump felt as though he had five years’ worth of things to say?
With roughly one half of the onlookers (at least those who didn’t boycott him) positioned on the floor of the chamber greeting him enthusiastically and the other half standing by or sitting stone-faced and, for lack of a better way to put it, visibly antagonistic, it’s safe to say the differences in the two parties’ demeanor was the embodiment of a House divided. Only this time, Trump returned to Capitol Hill buoyed with unprecedented – for him – popularity and the enthusiastic backing of not only his fellow Republicans, but also a majority of the American people.
Recall how Trump, in February of 2020, was just coming off his being acquitted of the absurd impeachment charges engineered by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s vindictive Democrats. Primed to make a strong reelection bid back then, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP or Wuhan, if you prefer) virus just a scare on the horizon, Trump seemed optimistic and strong all those years in the past. It seems like a political lifetime ago now, doesn’t it?
2025 just felt different – and better -- from half a decade ago with Trump again delivering arguably the most important public audience of the era. Needless to say, Speaker Mike Johnson was in his usual seat behind the president, and this time he didn’t need to shake his head, grimace and roll his eyes as the man in front of him spoke. Johnson did offer plenty of humorous expressions, however.
Senile Joe Biden was there only a year ago, remember?
JD Vance looked strong and confident in the chair reserved for the vice president behind Trump. Attendees didn’t need to wonder this time what color cackling Kamala Harris’s suit would be. The woman’s fashion sense always left something to be desired.
As would be expected, President Trump devoted a good portion of his domestic policy discussion to two semi-prime topics: Immigration and DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency).
Most notable Trump quotes from the speech (paraphrased):
“We’ve accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplish in 4 years. Or eight years.”
“The people elected me to do a job, and I’m doing it.”
“Illegal border crossings last month were the lowest ever. Ever.”
“There is absolutely nothing I could say to the Democrats in front of me and make them happy.”
“For every one new regulation added, I have instructed that 10 must be eliminated.”
“You should be hired and promoted based on skills and merit, not race or gender.”
“It is the official federal government’s policy that there are only two genders, male and female.”
“Common sense has become a common theme, and we will never go back.”
Trump mentioned Social Security recipients living to impossible ages: “We have a healthier country than I thought, Bobby (Kennedy Jr.).”
“We’re waiting for Congress to pass tax cuts, and the people on my right (Democrats) are going to be voting for them.”
“I want to make interest on car loans tax deductible but only if the car was made in America.”
Defending tariffs: “Countless nations charge us tariffs than we charge them.”
April 2nd begins reciprocal tariffs. “Whatever they tariff us, we will tariff them.”
Talks about Laken Riley. Her family was there on Tuesday night. – “America will never forget our Laken Hope Riley.”
Talks about immigration. “All we needed to enforce the border was a new president.”
“As I promised in my inaugural address, we are achieving the great liberation of America.”
Told the story of 12-year-old Jocelyn (killed by Venezuelan illegal aliens) and signs an executive order creating a National Wildlife Refuge in her honor.
“Wokeness is trouble. And wokeness is gone.”
“My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal.”
“Europe has spent more buying Russian oil and gas than they have defending Ukraine.”
“We are going to plant the American flag on the planet Mars and beyond.”
And…
“Every day we will FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT for the country that the people deserve.”
“The Golden age of America has just begun.”
Observations:
Trump didn’t indicate so in his speech, but it seems evident that his domestic policy proposals and implementation are clearly what animates him the most. Or floats his boat, to put it another way. Trump entered politics ten years ago vowing to address the illegal immigration crisis head on, and it’s still plaguing the country no matter what he’s done to this point.
The president wants to leave a legacy of ensuring that Americans see him as the one who not only brought attention to the problem through blunt and direct language, but who moved the political class to respond to the people’s wishes.
The 47th president also understands that domestic issues are truly what voters care about the most. Tariffs and Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s lack of negotiation skills and Ukraine’s fate may be the topics people are talking about right now – primarily because Democrats see it as a potential vulnerability for Trump as distractions from DOGE and immigration – but at the end of the day, very, very few Americans base their votes on foreign policy.
Yes, there are attention-grabbing wars taking place across the oceans. But it’s my belief that Americans place more emphasis on safety in their communities, the ability to find a good paying job and/or how responsive their government is to the so-called “kitchen table” issues.
As a friend recently remarked to me, “Trump didn’t campaign as a government cutter”. No, he did not. But nonetheless, seeing the ways in which government has ripped off and lied to them over the decades has made a big impact on citizens’ view of bureaucracy and “civil service”.
Therefore, listening to Trump talk about the multitude of successes he’s achieved from his illegal immigration crackdown and the manner that DOGE has uprooted waste and corruption on Tuesday night – this is where he sees his biggest potential for real change. And quickly.
Democrats put on a good show of making fools of themselves in the first stages of the presentation. Particularly notable was Rep. Al Green, who shouted something as Trump was speaking. Green was finally ordered removed by Speaker Mike Johnson who instructed the Sergeant at arms to remove the disruptor.
It seemed to me that the administration’s actions involving the immigration sweeps, Guantanamo Bay and sending criminal aliens out of the country caused the Democrats to redouble their efforts to show disfavor on the closer-to-home policies.
And, as the federal workforce’s political frontmen and best pals, Democrats didn’t even want to hear about savings from sniffing out wasteful and corrupt expenditures at the executive agencies. Everyone says they’re against fraud and waste (who wouldn’t be?), but the anger stops at lip service for Democrats. They’d much rather dig at Trump than compliment him for the groundbreaking progress his people have accomplished.
In fact, it was difficult to see any areas where Democrats, as a group, were willing to work with the hated Republican president. Having the camera pan to Democrat elder statesman looking bored and beaten doesn’t mean there’re many who are willing to be “bipartisan”. They certainly didn’t come off as cooperative during Trump’s uplifting and blunt talk.
But as it always is, it was fun seeing Democrats twist and turn and struggle with how confident Trump was before what was certain to be an unprecedented level of TV viewership. Four-plus years on the political outside has put a new focus into Trump’s brain.
A renewed sense of purpose? You decide.
Within the span of two hours (or so), Democrats demonstrated alternatively through silence and sarcastic applause that they’re the party of massive bureaucracy, waste, fraud, abuse, weaponizing the system and suppressing free speech and the expression of liberty-centric, pro-American ideas. And illegal aliens. As always, Trump did his share of self-promotion when announcing the success of his various policies, statements that drew favor and numerous standing ovations from Republicans and disapproving and awkward stillness from Democrats.
They were rude, too. Democrats didn’t even stand for the numerous Americans Trump highlighted in his speech. Shameful.
If you didn’t recognize it before, now you know what “opposition” looks like. Like past years, there was a big bloc of Democrat women wearing all pink (pinkos?) or offering some other discernible visible protest – including little signs that read “FALSE” -- but it was also clear the liberal party members couldn’t agree on a unifying form of obvious unhappiness to effectively portray their surly mood.
Regardless of what ultimately stems from Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, reality suggests the man has the better part of four more years to Make America Great Again. This must scare Democrats and Trump haters to near-death.
But it warms the hearts of those who truly love America.
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