A Rally in Congress – The New York Times

1 week ago

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Last night, President Trump gave what sounded like a campaign speech. He mocked Democrats, decried “wokeness,” bragged about his accomplishments and repeated falsehoods. Except this speech wasn’t delivered at a rally. It was in Congress, and the audience included Democrats. The mood was sour, and the parties jeered at each other. The evening showcased the chasm in our polarized politics.

Democrats repeatedly interrupted Trump. Representative Al Green of Texas waved his cane and shouted when Trump said he’d won a mandate. Green refused to sit down, and the House speaker ordered security to remove him. Democrats continued to yell throughout the speech. Many held signs saying “FALSE.”

Trump egged on the confrontation. He said Democrats wouldn’t clap or cheer at anything he said or did — even if he cured a deadly disease or eliminated crime. “They won’t do it, no matter what,” Trump said.

At one point, Trump pointed to Republicans to say, “It’s our presidency.” He called Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts “Pocahontas.” He derided Democrats for launching criminal investigations against him. “How did that work out?” he asked.

The back and forth would have been unthinkable during most of the formal, and typically stuffy, addresses that presidents have given to joint sessions of Congress for more than a century. Consider the outrage that milder displays drew in previous years: In 2005, pundits from both parties condemned Democrats for booing George W. Bush during his State of the Union speech. In 2009, a Republican congressman publicly apologized after interrupting Barack Obama’s speech by yelling, “You lie!”

Trump also embraced his role as a showman. He gave a Secret Service badge to Devarjaye Daniel, a 13-year-old with brain cancer who wants to be a cop and came to the speech wearing a police uniform. He unveiled an executive order to rename a Texas wildlife refuge for Jocelyn Nungaray, a Houston 12-year-old killed, the police say, by Venezuelan migrants. And the president surprised Jason Hartley, a high school senior whose family members served in the military, with admission to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Today’s newsletter will break down Trump’s speech, with reporting from my colleagues.

Trump’s policies

Historically, presidents address Congress to urge lawmakers to work on specific legislation. Trump did little of that last night. For much of his speech, he boasted about how much he has done without Congress. He listed his accomplishments, often making misleading statements:

Ukraine. Trump said he appreciated a conciliatory note from Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, that seemed to calm the dispute the two leaders had in the Oval Office last week. “They are ready for peace,” Trump said of Russia. “Wouldn’t that be beautiful?”
Tariffs. He acknowledged that tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China might hurt American farmers, saying that there “may be a little bit of an adjustment period.”
Immigration. He cited a drop in illegal immigration. He also claimed that his administration was conducting rapid deportations. This is misleading: At the current pace, the Trump administration would deport half as many people as the Obama administration once did in a 12-month period.
Government cuts. Trump recited a list of funding programs that Elon Musk’s DOGE team cut, including one in the African nation of Lesotho, a country he said “nobody has heard of.” He also said his administration had found “hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud,” a claim that lacks evidence.
Spending. Trump said Congress would balance the federal budget. But the proposal House Republicans advanced last week includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts that would add to the deficit.
Attacks on “wokeness.” Trump cited his efforts to eradicate D.E.I. and bar transgender athletes from women’s sports. “Wokeness is trouble, wokeness is bad, it’s gone,” he said.

Read The Times’s fact check, which assessed more than two dozen of Trump’s claims.

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