Democratic disruptions, a focus on Elon Musk, and other key takeaways from Trump’s speech to Congress

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump drew a wave of adoration from Republicans and a series of protests from Democrats as he touted the bold first 44 days of his presidency, doubled down on his promise of imposing tariffs, and repeatedly hit culture-war topics that have long galvanized his most faithful base.

It was clear from the start that this was a House chamber sharply divided for the first address to a joint session of Congress during Trump’s second term. Trump’s speech — which appeared to be the longest delivered in this format in history — struck few unifying chords and was peppered with personal insults for Democrats.

And Democrats attempted to show their disapproval. One Democratic representative was thrown out; others held up signs. Republicans lamented that some special invited guests were not met with applause by stone-faced Democrats in the audience.

“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,” Trump said early on in his speech Tuesday.

» READ MORE: Fact focus: A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump during his address to Congress

U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Philadelphia Democrat, called Trump’s address “the angriest, most divisive speech I have ever heard from a president of the United States.”

Trump’s tone was often combative during the marathon speech — roughly an hour and 40 minutes — but there were also more solemn moments. His guests included several Western Pennsylvanians: the family of firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was killed at Trump’s Butler rally last year, and Marc Fogel, a history teacher from Butler, who was freed from a Russian prison last month.

Here are some key takeaways from Trump’s address.

The Democratic rebuke of Trump’s address was palpable throughout the evening as members, including Pennsylvania’s U.S. Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon and Madeline Dean, held up black placards with the word “FALSE” whenever Trump said something they determined to be a lie.

Other placards read “SAVE MEDICAID,” “PROTECT VETERANS,” and “MUSK STEALS,” a nod to Elon Musk’s work leading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which has gutted federal agencies.

When Trump said “the days of being ruled by unelected bureaucrats are over,” Scanlon stood and pointed at Musk, who sat in the upper balcony of the House chambers Tuesday, as several Democrats joined her.

The most vocal opposition came from U.S. Rep Al Green (D., Texas), who was escorted out of the chamber after repeatedly standing and yelling, “You have no mandate,” as Trump began his remarks.

It is extremely rare for a member to be kicked out of the chamber, even in joint session addresses, which can get characteristically heated, but the moment exemplified the political divisiveness of the evening.

Republicans booed Green, and U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) and Nancy Mace (R., S.C.) leaped to their feet demanding he be removed.

And as he was led away, several Republicans sang “Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, hey, goodbye.”

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, a freshman Pennsylvania Republican, called Democrats’ behavior “shameful” after the address and criticized them for not applauding Trump’s invited guests throughout the speech.

“I was very surprised that the Democrats wouldn’t even stand and applaud a child who has cancer, or a student who just got admitted to West Point, or the capture of a terrorist who killed Americans in Afghanistan. They sat on their hands in a really shameful display.”

Even some Democrats thought the strategy backfired, including U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s senior senator, who has been more open to working with Trump than many in his party.

“A sad cavalcade of self owns and unhinged petulance. It only makes Trump look more presidential and restrained,” Fetterman said on X the day after the speech. “We’re becoming the metaphorical car alarms that nobody pays attention to — and it may not be the winning message.

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, said after the address that there were “moments of disrespect that I think were unfortunate, but frankly, there were also some alarming misrepresentations.”

He stressed what will likely become a talking point for Democrats over the next few days: that Trump spent little time on economic issues.

“I was struck that President Trump spent as much, if not more, time on distractions like Greenland, the Panama Canal, the Gulf of America, and going to Mars as he did talking concretely about how to reduce prices for average Americans.”

Republicans in the chamber reacted in lockstep to Trump’s speech Tuesday — as they have throughout the first weeks of his second presidency — with nearly every member rising for nearly each ovation and commending it afterward.

“I thought he outlined in great detail the accomplishments over six weeks, which were very much in line with what he promised on the campaign,” said U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, a freshman Pennsylvania Republican who often joined Trump on the campaign trail last year.

U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a longtime Trump ally from York, Pa., and former chair of the House Freedom Caucus, sat on the aisle and led several standing ovations.

But more moderate members also showed their approval. U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, the Bucks County Republican who cochairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, rose, sometimes reluctantly, for each ovation, including for Trump’s vow to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports, his call to protect law enforcement, and his promise to increase border security.

After the address, Pennsylvania’s newest members largely offered praise. U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R., Pa.) called the address, the first such he has attended as a freshman congressman, “very well done.”

“I was glad that he was able to call attention to law and order and promoting police officers, having safe communities.”

Bresnahan, before the speech, commended Trump’s work to curb the flow of fentanyl into the country through amped-up border controls. But the freshman, who is on the Agriculture Committee, also said he has heard constituent concerns about how tariffs might affect them.

“There’s a lot of different, you know, concerns about how this could impact the actual agriculture industry, but it also incentivizes people to create products and manufacture here in the United States.”

Earlier in the day U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican who represents parts of Western Pennsylvania, commended Trump for fulfilling campaign promises.

“People think it’s moving too fast because they’re used to the way things move around here, which is very slow.”

Butler, Pa., played an outsize role in Trump’s speech Tuesday night. The president celebrated Marc Fogel, a teacher and Butler native who returned to the U.S. in early February after years in Russian captivity, and memorialized Corey Comperatore, who died shielding his family during the shooting at Trump’s rally in the Western Pennsylvania town last July.

Before the Butler Farm Show grounds became known for deadly gunfire, Trump said, it was the place where he met Fogel’s mother, 95-year-old Malphine Fogel, and “would not forget what she said about her son.”

Not long after Trump met Malphine Fogel, gunfire erupted at the rally.

“My life was saved by a fraction of an inch, but some were not so lucky,” Trump said during his address to Congress. “Corey Comperatore was a firefighter, a veteran, a Christian, a husband, a devoted father, and, above all, a protector.”

He consoled Comperatore’s daughters and his wife, who were seated in the upper deck of the chambers, and said that “Corey is looking down on his beautiful ladies right now, and he is cheering you on.”

While Musk was a frequent point of contention for Democrats, Trump and Republicans widely commended him and DOGE.

The president singled out Musk, the richest man in the world, and his work leading the commission, which has been carrying out an overhaul of federal government operations and spending.

“He didn’t need this. He didn’t need this. Thank you very much. We appreciate it,” Trump said Tuesday to a standing ovation for Musk, who is also the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla — both of which receive government contracts.

Trump rattled off a list of entities or projects that DOGE has identified as “waste.” Democrats held their “FALSE” placards up as he did.

He also took the opportunity to make digs at countries receiving aid — “$8 million to promote LGBTQ+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of,” Trump said as he read a lengthy list of spending he opposed.

DOGE’s cuts have resulted in mass layoffs of government workers and the termination of a lease for a federal workplace in Philadelphia and the region.

The president said Tuesday night that if federal workers fail to return to the office, they will be “removed from their job.”

The widespread DOGE cuts have led to pushback even in some Republican-leaning districts, putting some GOP members in a tight spot.

Mackenzie, after the address, praised Trump’s executive orders related to immigration on the border but pointed to DOGE as an area where he expects some reductions will be walked back.

“I think we all want to get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse,” Mackenzie said. “But to do it in a legislative process, I think you should slow down, and you should take more time to really consider those things.”