WASHINGTON — House and Senate Democrats silently protested President Donald Trump during his first speech to Congress of his second term — refusing to applaud, holding up signs calling him “king” and “liar,” and, for some, walking out of the address altogether.
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, didn’t get the memo.
After Trump told lawmakers he had won a mandate, the progressive rabble-rouser rose, began waving his cane at Trump and yelled out repeatedly: “You have no mandate!”
“Sit down!” retorted Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo. And two Trump loyalists, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., stood up, pointed at and jeered the Democrat.
The sergeant at arms promptly removed Green from the chamber — a first during modern-day presidential addresses to Congress.
It was not what Democratic leaders had wanted. They had warned their rank-and-file members before the joint address not to bring props and to stay on message — the focus should stay on the federal workers fired by Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, and the everyday Americans harmed by their policies and cuts.
But it’s hard to keep every congressional Democrat in line. From the moment Trump walked onto the House floor, it was clear this would not be the usual speech to Congress. New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury, the top Democrat on the new DOGE subcommittee, silently held a sign behind Trump reading: “This is NOT normal.”
After greeting Trump, Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, then reached across the aisle, ripped the sign away from Stansbury, then tossed it in the air — all on live TV.
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, stood when Trump walked down the center aisle but did not applaud.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., brought an erasable white board in the chamber and scribbled various messages to Trump throughout the night: “NO KING”;“THAT’S A LIE”; and “You’re cutting Medicaid,” for instance.
More than 20 other House Democrats also protested silently, holding up black and white signs during Trump’s speech that said, “Save Medicaid,” “Lies” and “Musk Steals, ”surely seen by the tech billionaire who was seated in the gallery above the chamber.
Since arriving in Washington in January, Musk has been trying to upend the federal government, gutting agencies and carrying out mass firings of workers. Upon entering the chamber Tuesday, the world’s richest man broke rules of the House as he began taking video of the floor with his smartphone. Someone told him to stop recording. Minutes later, Musk violated a second House rule when he began drinking bottled water, as food and drinks are prohibited in the chamber.
Still, Musk got two shout-outs from Trump — and two standing ovations from Republicans who have rooted him on as he’s worked to slash federal spending by any means necessary.
And while Democrats were seething throughout Trump’s speech, Republicans — now running all of Washington — seemed in jubilant mood, cheering many of his lines and laughing as the president cracked jokes and mocked Democrats.
The split reactions to Trump’s address underscored how one of the nation’s most polarizing political figures has become even more divisive upon his return to the White House. It was the first time he had set foot in the House since his supporters, four years ago, had stormed the Capitol and tried to take control of that hallowed chamber on Jan. 6 to keep him in power after his election defeat.
Some of the silent protests were colorful. In 2019, Trump faced a sea of suffragette white as Democratic women celebrated the record number of women elected to Congress — a milestone Trump acknowledged during his speech. But on Tuesday, Democratic women, including Trump’s longtime foe, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, donned pink, what they called a “color of protest,” “women’s power, and persistence.”
“We’re sending a message to Donald Trump that we’re not going to let him run over our women’s access to health care, to the care that is necessary for our families,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., sporting a pink blazer and pants. “As a breast cancer survivor, I want him to understand that not making sure that IVF is covered by insurance … is unacceptable.”
In addition to the smattering of pink, Congressional Black Caucus members wore black, while others including Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., wore blue and yellow, in solidarity with Ukraine after Trump’s blow up with that country’s president.
The trio of House Democratic leaders — Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar — sat quietly the entire speech stone-faced, with their hands in their laps.
Others could not sit still. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., walked out in the middle of Trump’s address, as did Stansbury, Reps. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, and Lateefa Simon, D-Calif.
“I could not in good conscience sit through this speech and give an audience to someone who operates with lawless disregard for Congress and the people of this nation,” Pressley said in a statement after walking off the floor. “Donald Trump has used his bully pulpit to spread lies, demonize vulnerable communities, and double down on the hurt, hate, and harm in his first 43 days in office.”
