President Donald Trump promoted his newly imposed tariffs and reveled in Republican applause for his administration’s swift early actions, while provoking a wave of protests from Democrats as he delivered his detailed State of the Nation address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
Leaning into culture wars, Trump lashed out at transgender rights, gender pronouns “they/them,” and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. He celebrated his crackdown on migration. He repeatedly mocked his predecessor, Joe Biden, saying the former president imposed “insane and very dangerous open-border policies” and offered little in the way of olive branches to Democrats, instead touting his 2024 victory as a mandate to reshape the nation.
“Conscience is bad,” Trump said. “It’s over.”
Democratic lawmakers in the chamber booed and interrupted Trump, shouting at him not to cut Medicaid, waving an eclectic mix of signs to protest against him, and periodically heckling him in an antagonistic manner.
Below are six key takeaways from the speech and how it sets the stage for the rest of Trump’s 2025 campaign.
1. Trump defends his tariffs
Trump defended the 25% tariffs he imposed on Tuesday on products from Canada and Mexico, saying, “Now it’s our turn” after other countries have imposed them on the United States.
“It’s very unfair,” Trump said as dozens of Republicans stood to applaud his tariffs, which he said “aim to protect the soul of our country.”
It’s a sign of how Trump has transformed the traditionally free-trade Republican Party, though there is some unease within the party about the effects of tariffs on prices and the overall economy.
“There will be a little disturbance,” Trump added. “But we’re fine with that. It won’t be much.”
The tariffs caused stocks to drop on Tuesday, and some Democrats shouted, “Stock market!” as Trump spoke.
Trump also promised an economic revival and blamed Biden for current issues like inflation and egg prices.
2. Trump outlines his policy agenda
Trump spent much of his speech on issues ranging from transgender athletes to the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk. But the most pressing matter Congress could tackle this year is a massive tax and spending bill, and Trump laid out his priorities.
Trump reiterated his calls to cut taxes and include several campaign tax promises in a bill later this year, specifically eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay. Congressional Republicans are grappling with the feasibility of those proposals as they seek to pass a major partisan bill to advance the cornerstones of Trump’s agenda. They are still trying to find room for the trillions of dollars in tax exemptions Trump has requested.
Trump also called for the repeal of the CHIPS and Science Act, a bipartisan law passed by the Senate 64-33 and signed by Biden in 2022.
“We should get rid of the Chip Act,” Trump said, referring to the law that invests in domestic semiconductor research and manufacturing.
3. Democrats interrupted and mocked Trump
Within minutes of Trump beginning his speech, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, interrupted and heckled him, shouting, “You don’t have a mandate to cut Medicaid.” He was escorted out after refusing to stop shouting. There were other unintelligible shouts from Democrats during the speech. At another point, several Democratic members walked out in protest.
A group of House Democrats waved signs reading “MUSK STEALS,” “SAVE MEDICAID,” and “PROTECT VETERANS.” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., brought a whiteboard and wrote different messages on it during Trump’s speech, including “NO KING” and “LIES.”
Some Democrats laughed out loud when Trump said the era of “unelected bureaucrats” was over, pointing to Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who was watching from the gallery.
Other Democrats skipped the speech entirely, including Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who wants to lead his party’s strategy, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., vice chair of the Appropriations Committee and former Senate president pro tempore.
The three top Democratic leaders from each chamber attended. Like most others in the party, they sat quietly and listened without interrupting Trump’s remarks, as Democrats work through their defeat last year and the best way to advance their agenda and oppose Trump’s in 2025 and beyond.
4. Trump soaks up Republican adulation
Months have passed since Trump appeared before the public at one of his signature political rallies. He received a hero’s welcome and a standing ovation from Republicans in the Capitol, who regularly rose to applaud him.
As Trump said he is waging the “broadest crackdown on the border and immigration in U.S. history” and touted the measures he has taken, the Republican side of the chamber erupted in chants of “Trump! DonalTrump! Trump!”
Trump offered no olive branch to his opponents; instead, he taunted Democrats early in his speech, saying there was nothing he could say that would make them applaud or smile, and then lashed out at the “radical left lunatics” he called weak on crime. In response, some Democrats shouted, “January 6!”—referring to Trump’s pardons for rioters who stormed the Capitol, some of whom attacked police officers.
During his first address to Congress, Biden offered to work as a team to achieve “bipartisan” goals (a word he used several times in 2021), such as infrastructure, cancer research, and education access.
Trump, by contrast, rebuked Democrats early in his speech for not giving him enough. He set the tone by calling Biden “the worst president in American history” and seized on a long-standing presidential tradition: blaming his predecessor for the country’s problems.
“Everyone here, even on this side, I appreciate you,” Trump joked, drawing laughter from the Republican side of the aisle.
5. What was missing from Trump’s speech
There were some thorny issues that were not fully or mostly addressed in the speech, reflecting the overall goal of uniting Republicans and filling Trump’s address with applause.
The return of Israeli and American hostages held by Hamas in Gaza was mentioned, but Trump did not delve much further into the broader issues facing Israel, its current ceasefire agreement with Hamas, or the reconstruction of Gaza, which he has repeatedly posted about on social media.
As the Republican Party’s budget and spending plans take shape, Medicaid (a major part of the federal budget that could face changes) and healthcare in general were not mentioned, beyond a brief endorsement of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
And while Elon Musk was mentioned and Trump listed the spending the Department of Government Efficiency sought to cut, Trump did not elaborate on cuts to federal workers that have caused anxiety among some congressional Republicans and public backlash. He noted that federal workers have been ordered to return to in-person work or be fired, and in broad terms, Trump said his “administration will take back power from this irresponsible bureaucracy” of “hundreds of thousands” of federal workers who, he claimed, have not shown up.
6. Ukraine, the Panama Canal, and Greenland
Trump lamented the billions of dollars the U.S. has spent to help Ukraine defend itself from the Russian invasion, drawing ironic and prolonged applause from Democrats who support military and economic aid.
“Do you want to keep it going for another five years?” Trump asked.
“Pocahontas says yes,” he said, using a derogatory nickname for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., prompting numerous Democrats to walk out of the chamber.
Trump also reiterated his calls for the U.S. to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland.
“We didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama. We’re taking it back,” Trump said of the Panama Canal.
“We need Greenland for national security and international security,” he continued, calling it a “very, very large piece of land.”
“I think we’re going to get it. One way or another, we’re going to get it,” he said as Republicans applauded and laughed.
Image: T51
