Sen. Elissa Slotkin delivered the Democratic response to Trump's address.
President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, six weeks into his historic return to the White House.
During the speech, Trump said "America is back" and defended the tariffs on key U.S. trading partners. He touched on immigration and the mineral deal with Ukraine, but neglected to go into detail on his economic plan. The speech was also met with protests and disruptions from Democrats.
In listing off the accomplishments of his second presidency, Trump took credit for ending weaponized government.
“And we've ended weaponized government where, as an example, a sitting president is allowed to viciously prosecute his political opponent. Like me,” he said.
“How did that work out?” he asked, receiving standing applause in return.
Trump boasted ending DEI programs in the federal government vowing that "our country will be woke no longer."
He also got cheers from Republicans in the chamber when he championed his executive order that recognized only two genders and banning transgender athletes in school sports.
As Trump lists the executive orders he's signed, many of which focused on culture war issues that defined the 2024 election, Democrats remain seated while Republicans routinely stand for applause.
Fighting through the protests of Democrats, Trump tried to say the country believes it is on the right track for the first time in modern history.
“Now, for the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction,” he said.
That’s cherry picking two poll results out of 18.
According to an archive of “right track/wrong track” polling maintained by RealClearPolitics, two polls since Trump took office have found more respondents saying the country was on the right track than on the wrong track. One of those polls, by Rasmussen Reports, found a 1-point edge for “right track,” while one by Emerson College found a 4-point edge.
However, all 17 other polls since Trump took office show “wrong track” leading “right track,” some by double-digit margins. RealClearPolitics’ average is “wrong track” leading by just shy of 9 points.
— Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact
