WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – President Donald Trump gave his first address of his second term to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. Reactions split across party lines.
The speech comes as Trump has issued more than 100 executive orders in his first 44 days , including empowering federal agencies to fire thousands of workers and made major changes to border policy since taking office Jan. 20. He’s also supporting proposals that could potentially threaten the well-being of marginalized communities, which includes legislation that could potentially cut Medicaid.
It’s a shift over seven weeks that’s divided lawmakers.
Republicans cheered throughout Trump’s speech, chanting “U.S.A.” at times. Those sounds, however, were overpowered by Democrats. Some Democratic lawmakers were holding signs expressing their disapproval.
The most vocal protest, however, came from Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green. He was forcibly removed from the chamber after shouting about potential Medicaid cuts.
“We’ve got to protect Medicare. These are the safety net programs that people in my congressional district care about,” Green said after leaving the House chamber.
Republicans’ reactions differed from Green. Missouri GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt congratulated the president for his work.
“Identifying some of the early successes at the border, some of the investment that’s already happened in the country, getting back to a common-sense agenda, and also I think it was, quite disturbing honestly, the way the Democrats behaved,” Schmitt said after the speech.
President Trump touted the work he and his administration has done since taking office for a second time. He also said he plans to make good on some of his promises he campaigned on including eliminating taxes on tips and addressing rising inflation, which may be a challenge as he instituted another round of tariffs on Canada and Mexico Tuesday.
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