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Poll shows how Americans feel after watching Trump’s address to Congress

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CNN poll shows huge majority approved of Trump’s speech to Congress

A CNN poll of Americans who watched President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night show that a huge majority approved of the message.

The poll found that 69% of speech-watchers said they viewed the president’s speech as at least somewhat positive, compared to just 31 % who viewed the speech negatively.

Broken down further, 44% of viewers said they had a “very positive” reaction to the speech, in addition to 25% who had a “somewhat positive” reaction. For those who disapproved, 15% said they saw the speech as “somewhat negative,” and 16% described it as “very negative.”

Pollsters noted that speech-watchers comprise a small portion of the U.S., however, and also noted the small sample size of 431 respondents. The poll advertised a margin of error of 5.3%.

“Among the entire sample, 21% described themselves as Democrats, 44% described themselves as Republicans, and 35% described themselves as independents or members of another party,” CNN noted.

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White House releases list of key moments Democrats refused to applaud during Trump speech

“Fox & Friends” co-hosts shared their reaction to President Donald Trump’s congressional address and discussed the notable moments that Democrats refused to applaud during the historic speech Wednesday morning.

The White House released a list of top moments from Trump’s speech, including Democrats’ refusal to applaud regardless of the topic.

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Trump is bringing back the ‘golden age’ of America, top GOP rep says

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., joined Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria” on Wednesday morning to react to President Donald Trump’s joint speech to Congress.

Comer argued Trump’s speech heralded a return to a “golden age” for America.

He blasted Democrats for trying to obstruct Trump’s agenda that he noted Americans voted for in November.

“Americans saw the difference between conservatives and liberals,” Comer said of Trump’s speech. “Conservatives are upbeat, we’re positive, we’re risk-takers. We believe in the free market; we believe in a limited government, and then the other side, the liberals–they’re angry, they’re bitter, they’re negative.”

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Trump admits tariffs will be ‘little disturbance,’ aimed at ‘making America rich again’

President Donald Trump talked about tariffs during his address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, saying that while the objective is to make the nation “rich” and “great again,” though he noted that there will “be a little disturbance.”

“It won’t be much,” he said.

Trump asserted “tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs, they’re about protecting the soul of our country. Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again.”

Trump has slapped tariffs on goods from China, Canada and Mexico.

Trump emphasized in an all-caps Truth Social post on Tuesday, “IF COMPANIES MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES, THERE ARE NO TARIFFS!!!” 

GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has been warning that Americans will face higher prices as a consequence of tariffs.

“US tariffs inevitably bring Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese tariffs which means higher prices for lumber, steel, aluminum and more expensive homes and cars,” Paul asserted in a Tuesday post on X.

“Retaliatory tariffs lead to lowered US farm exports, lowered bourbon exports, and less international shipping. Tariffs are taxes and if you tax trade you’ll get less trade and less prosperity,” he added in another tweet.


This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg

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Dem Rep. Al Green, booted from Trump’s address to Congress, doubles down on impeachment

Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas doubled down on impeaching President Donald Trump following his disruption and removal from the president’s address to Congress on Tuesday night.

Green, a longtime critic of Trump, told reporters after being removed that he was working on articles of impeachment against the president and defended his outburst at the start of Trump’s speech.

“This president is unfit,” Green said. “He should not hold the office.”

Green said it was worth being removed from the joint session of Congress to make his point, which he said was to object to Trump saying he had a “mandate.”

“I was making it clear to the president that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid,” Green said, referring to the health care program used by 80 million Americans. “I have people who are very fearful. These are poor people, and they have only Medicaid in their lives when it comes to their health care.”

“But it’s worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up against this president’s desire to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security,” he said.

Green’s outburst saw the congressman wave his walking cane as he stood up and shouted at the president. Republicans drowned him out with chants of “USA! USA!”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., issued a warning for order, banging the gavel and saying, “Take your seat, sir!” When Green remained standing, Johnson ordered the Sergeants-at-Arms to restore order by removing the long-serving congressman from the chamber.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Stephen Sorace

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After Trump speech, AOC tells Democrats to organize in GOP districts against Medicaid cuts

Socialist firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is calling on Democrats to organize in GOP-heavy districts to push back against the Trump agenda and what she claims will be drastic cuts to Medicaid.

Ocasio-Cortez took to Instagram Live late Tuesday night to rebut President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session ­of Congress and told her followers that Trump spewed a lot of misinformation but, ultimately, he and Republicans are coming for Medicare to buttress the pockets of billionaires like Elon Musk, who she labeled as an “a—hole.”

She said that Trump craftily didn’t mention cuts to Medicare in his speech because that is his goal, and Democrats should host town halls and various other events in GOP districts to resist such cuts and expose local lawmakers.

“These Republicans, I’m telling you all, they are getting scared,” Ocasio-Cortez said to her 8.7 million followers on the platform in the 54-minute video. 

“Trump not mentioning Medicaid at the State of the Union is the game. He doesn’t talk about it. [It’s] what he fears and he knows it’s dynamite. The House Republicans know that it’s dynamite for them and that’s why they’re talking about not hosting town halls.”

“We need to be creatively organizing in Republican districts. And I don’t want to hear, okay, Republicans don’t listen. They are afraid of this. I’m telling you.”

Ocasio-Cortez called on Democrats to host town halls in Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ districts of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York, Rep. Mike Lawler’s district of Westchester County in New York and Rep. Jeff Van Drew’s district in New Jersey.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Michael Dorgan

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Trump’s ‘weaving’ skills on full display in made-for-TV address to Congress


President Donald Trump’s
signature “weaving” skills were on full display during his joint address to Congress. 

Throughout his record-long speech, Trump incorporated his unique communication technique he has dubbed the “weave” during recent media appearances, a lengthy aside often used to support a broader point he is trying to make, to highlight some of the biggest themes of the night. 

While touting the bold actions he has taken since being sworn into office, Trump targeted Democrats over their refusal to get on board with his agenda. 

“This is my fifth such speech to Congress, and once again, 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 or applaud, nothing I can do,” Trump said. 

“I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history, or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded,” Trump continues. “And these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won’t do it no matter what. Five- five times I’ve been up here! It’s very sad, and it just shouldn’t be this way.”

He then made a direct challenge to Democrats, telling them “For just this one night, why not join us in celebrating so many incredible wins for America? For the good of our nation. Let’s work together and let’s truly make America great again.”

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn

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‘Squad’ member delivers real-time whiteboard responses to Trump: ‘No king!’

“Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.,
used a whiteboard to deliver real-time responses to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. While other Democrats held up pre-printed signs, Tlaib scribbled several messages throughout the evening.

As President Trump delivered his 100-minute-long speech, Tlaib scribbled several messages on a mini-whiteboard, including, “No king!,” “What about the immigrants that worked for you?,” and “That’s a lie!” Tlaib’s actions seemed to be against House Democrat leadership’s wishes, as several reports say that party members were urged to not use pops and to show proper decorum.

The “Squad” member’s whiteboard and keffiyeh-like jacket garnered a slew of reactions. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Sc., called Tlaib the “poster child” of Trump derangement syndrome (TDS), a term coined online that refers to those who automatically reject anything that comes from Trump.

Additionally, Rep. Mace tweeted an apparently photoshopped image of Tlaib with a blank sign and encouraged her followers to “fill in the blank.” Unsurprisingly, this became a pattern with several social media users posting memes of Tlaib and her whiteboard with various phrases poking fun at the congresswoman and Democrats.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Rachel Wolf

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Conservatives erupt with praise after Trump’s speech to Congress: ‘Run through a wall’

Reactions from conservatives on social media poured in after President Donald Trump spoke for about two hours in his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.

After Trump’s speech lasted 1 hour and 39 minutes, conservatives took to social media to praise the president and criticize the Democratic response, including Democratic Rep. Al Green’s removal from the room for interrupting Trump’s address.

“Peak Trump,” former Trump campaign senior adviser Tim Murtaugh posted on X. “That’s what that was.”

“Who else feels like they could run through a wall for America after that,” Trump administration senior advisor for the U.S. Agency for Global Media Kari Lake posted on X. 

“The President took a victory lap tonight — and he deserves to,” Trump Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted on X. “He’s completely right that the first month of his Presidency was more consequential than most four-year Presidencies.”

“The President took a victory lap tonight — and he deserves to,” Trump Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted on X. “He’s completely right that the first month of his Presidency was more consequential than most four-year Presidencies.”

“Lost count around 90 standing ovations tonight,” GOP Rep. Nancy Mace posted on X. “The best President in American history.”

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller

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President Trump will be known as the ‘peace president’: CIA Director John Ratcliffe

CIA Director John Ratcliffe joined Fox News after President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress to detail the capture of a long-wanted terror suspect.

Ratcliffe argued Trump will be remembered as the “peace president,” saying more U.S. allies are now working alongside the Trump administration to assist in negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

Trump has aggressively pushed for a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia in recent days, and his administration is also credited with securing the ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

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Maine lawmaker praises Trump for ‘clear message’ on keeping men out of women’s sports

Maine state GOP Rep. Laurel Libby applauded President Donald Trump’s remarks on keeping biological males out of girls’ and women’s sports on Tuesday night in his speech to a joint session of Congress.

Libby was censured
in the Maine House of Representatives over a social media post that pointed out a transgender athlete had won a girls’ competition. Libby had also been vocal in her disagreement with how Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ spat with the president went down in February. 

The two clashed over the state’s decision not to alter its gender-participation policy to comply with the president’s executive order to keep biological males out of girls’ and women’s sports. Trump threatened to pull federal funding for Maine’s schools if the state did not comply.

On Tuesday night, Trump received loud cheers from his colleagues when he mentioned the executive order. He called out Payton McNabb’s story about being left severely injured when a transgender athlete spiked a ball in her face during a high school volleyball competition. She was unable to finish out her high school career on the court.

“Schools will kick men off the girls’ team, or they will lose all federal funding,” Trump said.

Libby wrote on X that Mills must be “absolutely panicking.”

“Her failures have made Maine ground zero in the fight to protect girls’ sports. President Trump is sending a clear message to her and other leaders nationwide: Our girls’ voices will be heard and their rights will be respected.”

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Ryan Gyados

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Trump claims age of Social Security recipients ranges between 100 to 360 years old

President Donald Trump said his administration is investigating what he described as “shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud” in the nation’s Social Security program, during his address to Congress on Tuesday.

Trump pointed to government databases listing millions of Social Security recipients that are over 100 years old, some of whom are reportedly “over 160 years old.” He also claimed one person who was allegedly 360 years old was listed in the database.

“We have a healthier country than I thought,” Trump quipped, nodding to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.

“Money is being paid to many of them,” he added, noting that this issue “really hurts Social Security and harms our country.”

The comments come after billionaire Elon Musk, also in attendance on Tuesday, claimed that a preliminary review of Social Security records by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) found evidence that the safety net program is paying benefits to 150-year-olds. 

Musk also posted a picture of a spreadsheet he said was from the Social Security database showing the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to false. It showed more than 17 million such records for people over the age of 100.

After DOGE, which aims to eliminate $2 trillion in wasteful government spending, gained access to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) internal systems, a Treasury Department official told Congress that the tech executive would have “read-only access” to the government’s payment system, emphasizing that the agency remains committed to safeguarding the system.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Danielle Genovese

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Bernie Sanders seethes US has become ‘oligarchic society’ following Trump speech

Democrat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said the U.S. has become an “oligarchic society” while responding to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint Congress Tuesday evening.

“The Trump administration is not hiding it,” Sanders said in a streamed response to Trump’s address Tuesday. “The Trump administration is a government of the billionaire class by the billionaire class, and for the billionaire class. Notwithstanding some of their rhetoric, this is a government that could care less about ordinary Americans and the working families of our country. My friends, we are no longer moving toward oligarchy. We are living in an oligarchic society.”

Trump’s speech late Tuesday evening marked the first time he addressed a joint session of Congress since his return to the Oval Office in January. Trump celebrated his administration’s breakneck pace of executive orders, securing the nation’s southern border, as well as his tariff plan during his speech.

“To my fellow citizens, America is back,” Trump declared at the start of his speech after thanking the members of Congress and first lady Melania Trump. 

“Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden Age of America,” he said. “From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. And we are just getting started.” 

Sanders argued in his response speech that Trump delivered a handful of “lies.”

“Trump has claimed that millions of undocumented people voted and do vote in American elections — a lie,” Sanders said. “Trump has claimed that climate change is a hoax originating in China — a lie. Trump has claimed that Ukraine started the horrific war with Russia — a lie. And tonight, just tonight, Trump claimed that millions of dead people between the ages of 100 and 360, we’re collecting Social Security checks. And that is an outrageous lie intended to lay the groundwork for cuts to Social Security and dismantling the most successful and popular government program in history.” 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Emma Colton

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GOP rep shreds Democrats over Trump address reaction: ‘Absolute disgrace’

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., blasted his Democratic colleagues for their reactions during President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night.

“This was an absolute disgrace on the Democratic Party,” Ogles said told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. “This is an example of their lack of leadership, their lack of vision and, quite frankly, a lot of the victims that were in the crowd were because of their failed policies.”

“Kudos to the president for keeping his cool. He was calm. It was an amazing speech. I enjoyed it, as did most of the country,” he added.

Polls from multiple outlets, including CNN and CBS News, show that large majorities of Americans had a favorable view of Trump’s speech.

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Trump calls out federal workers not showing up to the office, says it’s time to drain ‘the swamp’

President Donald Trump said his administration called out the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who do not show up to work, saying it was time to drain “the swamp.” 

“We have hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have not been showing up to work,” Trump said while speaking at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday night. “My administration will reclaim power from this unaccountable bureaucracy, and we will restore true democracy to America again.

“And any federal bureaucrat who resists this change will be removed from office immediately,” he added. “Because we are draining the swamp. It’s very simple. And the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over.”

The Trump administration offered buyouts for nearly two million federal employees, including those who work remotely, as part of Trump’s efforts to get employees back into the office. Originally they only had until Feb. 6 to opt in.

Under the buyout offer, employees will stop working early March and receive pay benefits through Sept. 30.

The White House confirmed to Fox News Digital that numbers had climbed to 75,000 as of Thursday morning. It previously said it expected 200,000 people to accept the offer.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Greg Wehner

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House Minority Leader Jeffries says Trump’s address to Congress was ‘most divisive’ in US history

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who encouraged his fellow Democrats to attend President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday, described the speech as “the most divisive” in American history after its conclusion.

Jeffries, D-N.Y., said the president “did not try to unite the country” nor did he address “serious economic challenges facing everyday Americans.”

“Instead, President Trump promoted the reckless Republican budget that sets up the largest cut to Medicaid in our country’s history. Democrats will continue to fight hard to make life better for the people, and together we will get through this turbulent moment,” the top House Democrat said in a statement.

Trump’s speech, which lasted about an hour and 39 minutes, addressed a range of topics, from his administration’s fight against the illegal immigrant crisis to more touching moments where the president honored special guests in the chamber.

In a post-speech interview, Jeffries accused Trump and his administration of “repeatedly” lying and making things about him and “never about the American people.”

“It’s always about him and never about the American people. This is why the economy is crashing. Things haven’t gotten better. They’re getting worse,” Jeffries said, adding that “the free world is falling apart because Donald Trump is playing footsie with Vladimir Putin.”

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Elizabeth Pritchett

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Trump vows to ‘fight, fight, fight’ to renew the American dream during historic speech

Former NBA player and human rights activist Enes Kanter Freedom joined “Fox & Friends First” to discuss his reaction to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Wednesday morning.

Trump vowed Tuesday night that his administration will, “stand up and we will fight, fight, fight for the country our citizens believe in, and for the country our people deserve.”

Kanter, who attended the speech, said the “vibes” inside the U.S. Capitol were “incredible” both during and after the president’s speech.

Multiple polls have also shown that large majorities of Americans had a favorable view of Trump’s address.

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MSNBC hosts under fire for criticizing Trump’s tribute to child fighting cancer

Fox News contributor Joe Concha joined “Fox & Friends First” to discuss his reaction to Democrats and media pundits ridiculing President Donald Trump for honoring a child fighting cancer during his joint address to Congress.

“As usual, the people who are paid seven figures to provide sober, objective analysis are completely disconnected with the American public,” Concha said Wednesday morning.

He went on to cite a CBS poll taken after Trump’s address
that showed 76% approved of Trump’s speech.

“Most viewers tuning in said it made them feel ‘hopeful,’ ‘proud,’ ‘presidential,’ ‘inspiring,’ and ‘unifying.’ A big majority also called it ‘entertaining,'” Concha added.

A CNN poll also found that 69% of viewers had a positive reaction to Trump’s address, Concha said.

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Trump says America would welcome Greenland during joint address to Congress

President Donald Trump continued pushing the idea of America acquiring Greenland on Tuesday night, devoting a small portion of his speech to the topic while delivering remarks before a joint session of Congress.

Trump declared that the U.S. would welcome the people of Greenland if they decided to join America.

“And I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland. We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” Trump declared. 

He said that the U.S. needs the island “for national security and even international security.”

Trump promised that such a union would bring both security and prosperity to Greenland.

“We will keep you safe. We will make you rich. And together we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before,” he said.

While Trump has previously advocated the idea, it was notable that he chose to wade into the issue during his address on Tuesday.

“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump declared in a December Truth Social post.

In a January post, Trump declared, “Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!” 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg

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‘Shameful’: Democratic lawmakers slammed for refusing to stand to honor victims of migrant crime

Former Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff Mark Lamb reacted to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress and Democrats refusing to stand and honor victims of migrant crime on Tuesday night.

Lamb spoked to Fox News’ early Wednesday morning, saying the U.S. has the “best border in decades” after Trump’s inauguration.

Lamb went on to blast Democrats for refusing to honor the victims of migrant crime during Trump’s speech, saying their “hatred” of Trump was “oozing out of them” during the address.

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Top 5 moments from Trump’s address to joint session of Congress

President Donald Trump addressed both chambers of Congress Tuesday evening in an expansive speech that lasted more than 90 minutes, as he took a victory lap for his accomplishments thus far and previewed his vision for the future.

The speech marked Trump’s first address before Congress since he reclaimed the Oval Office in January. Though similar to a State of the Union Speech, Trump’s address did not carry the same official title as he has not been in office a full year. Fox News Digital compiled the top five moments from Trump’s address, including Democratic protests, chants of “USA, USA, USA” and Trump revealing that a top terrorist has been apprehended.


1.  Trump sets speech record while declaring ‘America is back’ 

Trump spoke for about an hour and 40 minutes, notching the longest address a president has delivered before a joint session of Congress, according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The longest speech on record previously was held by former President Bill Clinton, when he spoke for one hour and 28 minutes during his State of the Union Address in 2000.

“To my fellow citizens, America is back,” Trump declared at the start of his Tuesday speech.

2.  Sergeant-at-Arms escorts Rep. Al Green out, Democrats protest with signs

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson ordered the sergeant-at-arms to remove Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green after he repeatedly shouted during Trump’s opening remarks.

3.  Trump honors young women killed by illegal immigrants

Trump honored the lives of Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray — girls who were brutally murdered by alleged illegal immigrants under the Biden administration — and even named an animal refuge in Texas after Nungaray.

4.  Trump reveals top terrorist behind Abbey Gate attack apprehended

Trump revealed during his speech that the top terrorist suspect behind the 2021 Abbey Gate attack in Afghanistan that killed 13 U.S. service members has been apprehended and headed towards the “swift sword of American justice.”

“Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity,” Trump revealed during his speech before a joint Congress. “And he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice.”

5.  13-year-old cancer survivor earns standing ovation as he becomes Secret Service agent

DJ Daniel, a 13-year-old boy who survived cancer, stole the show Tuesday evening when the president introduced him to the audience and officially swore him in as a member of the Secret Service.

“Joining us in the gallery tonight is a young man who truly loves our police,” Trump told the crowd. “His name is DJ Daniel is 13 years old, and he has always dreamed of becoming a police officer. But in 2018, D.J. was diagnosed with brain cancer. The doctors gave him five months at most to live. That was more than six years ago.”

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.

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‘America is back’: Lawmakers rally around Trump after ‘phenomenal’ joint address to Congress

Republican lawmakers say “America is back” after President Donald Trump’s joint speech to Congress, while Democrats labeled the address as “bizarre.”

“President Trump was phenomenal. He laid out so many things he’s done in just 6 weeks, but also what’s ahead for the American people to get our country back on track,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said after the speech.

The president delivered a joint address to Congress on Tuesday evening, which received frequent standing ovations from the GOP and saw several interruptions from members on the Democrat side of the aisle.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that it was “fantastic,” while Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, called it “outstanding.” However, Democratic Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., said that the president’s address was “bizarre.”

“I was so disappointed that my Democratic colleagues couldn’t stand and show love for some of the Americans that were recognized tonight. That was really heartbreaking to me,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital. “You have a little 13-year-old boy with brain cancer who worked diligently to overcome that. For him, when his dad lifted him up, for him to look out across that room and not to have everyone in there standing for him was heartbreaking.”

“America is back,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital. “The Democrats really embarrassed themselves. I mean they wouldn’t even stand up for DJ who survived cancer.”

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady, Julia Johnson, Elizabeth Elkind and Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.

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Trump recognizes young cancer survivor who dreams of being a police officer

A 13-year-old boy who survived cancer named DJ Daniel stole the show during President Trump’s
 address to Congress on Tuesday night when the president introduced him to the audience and officially swore him in as a member of the Secret Service. 

“Joining us in the gallery tonight is a young man who truly loves our police,” Trump told the crowd. “His name is DJ Daniel is 13 years old, and he has always dreamed of becoming a police officer. But in 2018, D.J. was diagnosed with brain cancer. The doctors gave him five months at most to live. That was more than six years ago.”

Daniel received a standing ovation from a majority of the crowd although some Democrats were seen on camera sitting at various times while Trump was speaking about the 13-year-old.

Story excerpted from Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller.

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Trump sets new record for longest joint address to congress

President Donald Trump delivered the longest joint address to congress in history on Tuesday night, speaking for nearly one hour and 40 minutes.

President Bill Clinton held the prior record for his State of the Union on Jan. 27, 2000., which was over one hour and 28 minutes.

The American Presidency Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara has tracked the length of every presidential address to a joint session of congress since President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

Trump’s joint address to congress in 2017 was one hour long. His four addresses during his first term averaged one hour and 15 minutes.

Trump set the record on Tuesday for any presidential speech to a joint session of congress, including formal State of the Union addresses. Trump’s speech was technically not a State of the Union because he just took office.

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Jeffries says Trump ‘did not try to unite the country or speak to the serious economic challenges’

Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed his disdain for President Donald Trump and his administration, saying the president “repeatedly” lies and “it’s always about him and never about the American people.

”Following Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday, Jeffries described the speech as “one of the most divisive presidential addresses in American history.”

’“He did not try to unite the country or speak to the serious economic challenges facing everyday Americans. Instead, President Trump promoted the reckless Republican budget that sets up the largest cut to Medicaid in our country’s history. Democrats will continue to fight hard to make life better for the people, and together we will get through this turbulent moment.”

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Dan Turrentine says Democrats behavior at Trump’s address was ‘a classless disgrace’

Former Democrat Advisor Dan Turrentine says Democratic Party hit a new low as members refused to applaud during President Donald Trump’s address to Congress.

“I love my Party, but tonight was a new low. I get silence on this or that policy, and the raw politics of the base’s anger. But, for not a single D to stand to applaud a boy’s brave battle with cancer, or a man’s admission to West Point, was a classless disgrace,” he said.

“And maddeningly, while overall Trump’s speech was politically good, there were political holes that could be exploited, juvenile taunts that voters hate, and comical lies. But much of that will be buried by our self-inflicted stupidity.”

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EXCLUSIVE: Butler County lawmaker ‘disappointed’ in Democrats behavior

Rep. Mark Kelly, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital he was “really disappointed” by Democrats during President Donald Trump
‘s joint address to Congress.

Kelly represents Butler County, Pa., the site of the first assassination attempt on Trump and the home of Marc Fogel, the American who was held in a Russian prison for three and half years. Kelly served as Chairman of the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump.

“I’ve had my friends texting me a lot and they’re saying, ‘What is wrong with the Democrats?'”

Kelly questioned how Democrats couldn’t clap for Corey Comperatore’s widow. Comperatore was killed by Trump’s attempted assassin in Butler County on July 13.

“When people who were there, like Corey Comperatore’s wife was there. And I know them. I mean, they couldn’t clap for that? They couldn’t clap for Laken’s parents? To me, it’s just too indicative of how divided we have become. If we can’t come together on those things. What else? I mean, what keeps us?” Kelly asked.

The Pennsylvania congressman praised Trump’s “high energy” speech and applauded the president’s success negotiating Marc Fogel’s return from Russia.

“When we were talking about people who were really there tonight, they were honoring them in front of their children who had been killed. Marc Fogel, who lives in my hometown of Butler, to have him home after four years of trying to get him out of out of Russia, he couldn’t get it done. This president gets it done in 23 days,” Kelly said.

Kelly said having Marc Fogel and the Comperatore family in the chamber hit “close to home” for the Butler County representative.

“I think it was uplifting. Marc’s mother is 95 years old. She’s staying alive, just waiting to see Marc again. I think the fact that we were able to get him out and get him home and, and we spent four years of just spinning our wheels, couldn’t get anything on the previous administration, so the fact that he’s home now, we’re excited to see that.”

Kelly told Fox News Digital that Fogel’s mother is “so thankful that people haven’t forgotten.”

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

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Working Families Party ‘prebuttal’ blasts Trump, Elon Musk for wealth: ‘Lying to Americans’

Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-Calif., delivered the Working Families Party’s “prebuttal” to President Donald Trump’s speech on Tuesday night, accusing the current administration of throwing lower-class Americans under the bus.

“I have only been in Congress for two months. But let me tell you, I’m already alarmed – I’m clearly dismayed – about what’s been happening here in Washington, D.C., where the people’s health – our health care – our education, the lives of real people, are being treated as numbers,” Simon said in her speech. “Every family, every child, every senior, every worker, every veteran has a life that matters. And they have people that love them.”

The congresswoman, who counts former Vice President Kamala Harris as a mentor, went on to walk out of
the Trump address itself, continued by attacking Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk for their wealth, accusing the billionaires of being out of touch with the average American.

“But let’s be real, Donald Trump and Elon Musk and others have never had to put groceries back at the grocery store,” Simon said. “They’ve never had to struggle to put food on the table or save up literally to make rent every month. They’re lying to us when they say that they want to lower costs to help Americans. They don’t care.”

“They’ve gotten rich off of cutting corners and cheating workers and squeezing our communities for their own tax breaks,” she continued. “Now they’re pulling the same scam, but on a higher level, a bigger level. They are cheating Americans out of a functioning government and injecting real chaos—real chaos in everyday people’s lives.”

Posted by Andrea Margolis Share

DOUG SCHOEN: Biggest winner and most lamentable losers from Trump’s speech

The starkest impact made by President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress was the boldness of his vision and the absolute absence of any alternative from the Democratic Party. 

Whether you voted for Trump or not last November, it was hard on Tuesday night not to see someone seeking to put his agenda into practice. The president made clear to lawmakers and indeed the world, that his overarching goal is American renewal and the reinvigoration of the American Dream.

To be sure, the challenges the president faces are no less great. It remains unclear, at the very least, whether he will succeed in bringing down inflation, getting prices under control, ending the war in Ukraine and reasserting American strength both at home and abroad. There is no reason to believe, after his speech to Congress, that he is any closer to accomplishing his goals than he was before. 

I well understand that in praising President Trump’s speech, it appears that I, a mainstream Democrat of 50 years’ experience, have somehow changed parties. Nothing is farther from the truth.

Nonetheless, anyone who cares about America has to support the president’s overarching goals on the economy, inflation, the southern border, on crime and embracing peace around the world.

Posted by Caitlin McFall Share

AOC accuses Trump of rambling in 45 minute video response

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., accused President Donald Trump
of giving one of the longest speeches in the history of the United States, while speaking live on Instagram for over 45 minutes after the president’s speech.

AOC told her followers on Instagram that she watched Trump’s speech from home, though she took the time to listen to him because he has won two elections.

“I mean, I feel like even if you’re like a big Trump fan, this speech was not his best,” AOC said. “He rambled a lot. He was reading a lot of lists. He was reading a lot of wrong information on lists.”

She then compared Trump’s speech to that of someone writing a school essay and typing things just to hit that word minimum, though AOC noted that it was the longest, or second longest joint address speech in history.

The New York representative also accused Republicans of getting scared because the president did not speak about Medicaid during his speech.

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Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., says ‘American people voted for change,’ slams Rep. Green’s behavior

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., reacted to to Democrat Rep. Al Green being removed from President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday night as “more evidence of what you see from the Democratic Party.”

“The American people voted for change, President Trump’s making changes, and they see which party is standing in the way, which party that was protecting federal bureacracies, which party that was letting all these illegal aliens invade our country,” Collins told Fox News Digital. “And they’re also seeing which party is standing up for the American people, and standing up for our sovereignty, and standing up for the American taxpayer.”

Green was removed at the beginning of Trump’s speech after he stood up and began shouting at the president and waving his cane at him. House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered the sergeant at arms to remove Green from the chamber shortly after.

Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contribtued to this report.

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Trump predicted Democratic discontent ahead of walkouts: ‘Nothing I can do’

Shortly before Democratic lawmakers walked out of his address to a joint session of Congress, President Donald Trump predicted the left-leaning side of the crowd would be tough to please.

“This is my fifth such speech to Congress, and once again, 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 or applaud,” Trump said to the bipartisan audience. “Nothing I can do.”

“I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations, or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history, or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded,” the president added.

“And these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won’t do it no matter what.”

Posted by Andrea Margolis Share

Trump tells high school senior of West Point acceptance during joint address to Congress

President Donald Trump made a high school senior’s dream come true during his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening.

In a speech that focused on how hot topics across the country have impacted Americans personally, Trump began talking about Jason Hartley, whose dream is to “carry on the family legacy of service” by joining the U.S. military.

His dream was to be accepted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and, as a high school senior, Hartley had already applied for the prestigious school.

“That’s a hard one to get into, but I am pleased to inform you that your application has been accepted,” Trump said, surprising Hartley and his mother.

Trump bragged on Hartley during the speech, mentioning his accolades as a six-letter varsity athlete and a “brilliant student” with a 4.46 grade point average. Both feats were met with lots of applause from the chamber.

Posted by Caitlin McFall Share

Republicans threaten to censure Democratic Rep. Al Green for disruption, removal during Trump speech

Top House Republicans threatened to censure Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, Tuesday night after he was removed from the House chamber for heckling President Donald Trump
during his speech to members of Congress.

Green, an outspoken Trump critic who previously led calls for his impeachment, was removed from the chamber just moments after Trump began his speech— which Green stood to interrupt, shaking his cane into the aisle and prompting a raucous response from his colleagues. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson twice banged his gavel in an attempt to quiet the chamber, before ordering a defiant Green be removed.

Asked about Green’s actions Tuesday night, and whether the Democrat should be punished, Johnson told Fox News, “We’re gonna have to do something.” 

Asked about the possibility of censure, Johnson responded, “I’m sure someone will” bring that up. 

That sentiment was echoed by other Republicans in the chamber.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., described the disruption as a “shameful display” by Green, saying that in his view, there should “1000%” be repercussions for Democrats who interrupted  Trump’s speech

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., also told Fox News of the censure possibility, “We’re going to be looking at that, and a display like that was disgraceful.”

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Bernie Sanders says US has become ‘oligarchic society’ following Trump speech

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said the U.S. has become an “oligarchic society” while responding to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint Congress on Tuesday evening. 

“The Trump administration is not hiding it. The Trump administration is a government of the billionaire class by the billionaire class, and for the billionaire class. Notwithstanding some of their rhetoric, this is a government that could care less about ordinary Americans and the working families of our country. My friends, we are no longer moving toward oligarchy. We are living in an oligarchic society,” Sanders said in a streamed response to Trump’s address on Tuesday. 

The Vermont senator also railed against the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is led by Elon Musk, and its work going through various federal agencies to stamp out overspending, fraud and mismanagement. 


For the past several weeks, he and his good friend Elon Musk, who was up there in the audience tonight, have been throwing hundreds of thousands of federal employees off their jobs. Now, I know some of you are saying, ‘well, that’s too bad, you know, but that’s the federal government,'” Sanders said. 

“But I want you to think about this. Think about it for a moment. If Musk and his friends can arbitrarily throw federal workers out on the street today, what do you think that Musk and his fellow billionaires will be doing tomorrow, when artificial intelligence and robotics explode in this country? Do you think they’ll give a damn about you and your families? No, they will treat you exactly the way they’re treating federal employees today,” he added. 

Posted by Emma Colton Share

California congresswoman mentored by Kamala Harris walks out of Trump’s speech: ‘No truth’

Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-Calif., issued a statement explaining why she walked out of President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday night.

“I attended the Joint Session because I felt it was my duty to uphold Congress’ power of checks and balances and be a witness to truth,” Simon’s statement began. “There was no truth to be found.”

The junior congresswoman, who is also a longtime friend and mentee of former Vice President Kamala Harris, went on to say that Trump’s “lies about Social Security and his celebration of firing dedicated federal workers” led her to walk out.

“Over 60 million Americans rely on Social Security. As someone who previously relied on Social Security Disability Income Benefits and waited for hours in a local Social Security office to file survivor benefits after my husband, Kevin, died of cancer – I know firsthand how devastating the Administration’s cuts to Social Security will be,” Simon’s statement read.

“I don’t need to listen to more of the President’s lies or blatant celebration of racism and transphobia – and I’m focused on the real work for our communities in California’s 12th Congressional District,” she continued.

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Democrats stay glued to chairs during Trump speech

President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress featured several ovations from the president’s Republican colleagues, but little appreciation from lawmakers across the aisle.

Trump received several standing ovations during his remarks from Republicans Tuesday as he highlighted the achievements of his administration and laid out his vision for the next four years, but most Democrats in attendance opted to stay seated throughout the president’s remarks.

While there were a handful of Democrats who stood up and applauded Trump at various points throughout his remarks, many more stood up only to leave the House floor before the president had finished speaking.

“In just half an hour, he spewed ignorance on everything from diversity, immigration and trans kids to DOGE cuts and the cost of eggs. I heard enough, so I left. His words do nothing to help the people in my district—there’s real work to be done,” Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., one of several Democrats who walked out on Trump’s speech, said in a release Tuesday.

Posted by Michael Lee Share

Trump promises ‘this will be our greatest era’ in joint address to Congress

President Donald Trump vowed in his Tuesday speech to Congress and the U.S. that his administration would work to take “America’s destiny into our own hands” and promised that “this will be our greatest era” where he would fight to forge the most free civilization.Trump’s remarks came as he delivered an address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday in a speech similar to the annual State of the Union, where he declared that “America is back” and that the “American dream is surging.”

 Trump unveiled in his speech that Ukraine is prepared to sign off on a rare-earth minerals deal and continue peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, and that his administration has caught the terrorist behind an attack in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of 13 U.S. troops.

He also promised he would drive down inflation costs and would “wage a war” on drug cartels as he bragged about his administration’s accomplishments in driving down illegal immigration crossings. 

Trump said that he’s sent Congress a detailed funding request laying out how to eliminate threats and carry out the “largest deportation operation in American history,” urging House and Senate leaders to take urgent action on.

Trump also defended his administration’s new tariffs, amid fears of retaliatory measures and price hikes.

“Among my very highest priorities is to rescue our economy and get dramatic and immediate relief to working families,” Trump said. “As president, I am fighting every day to reverse this damage and make America affordable again.”  

POLITICSTrump promises ‘this will be our greatest era’ in joint address to CongressPresident Donald Trump addressed his administration’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine, bolster the economy, and crack down on illegal immigration on Tuesday.

Original post by Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy.

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Dem senator says she ‘hit a nerve’ with Trump over support for Ukraine

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told Fox News Digital she “hit a nerve” by applauding “United States” support for “Ukrainian patriots” during President Donald Trump‘s joint address to Congress.

“Senator Warren, what did you think of President Trump calling you out by name?” Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson asked Warren.

“I actually hit a nerve when I applauded the United States’ support of Ukrainian patriots. If that hits a nerve for Trump, then it’s worth sitting through the rest of that speech.”

“Millions of Ukrainians and Russians have been needlessly killed or wounded in this horrific and brutal conflict, with no end in sight. The United States has sent hundreds of billions of dollars to support Ukraine’s defense with no security,” Trump said to loud applause in the chamber.

In response to the applause for Ukraine, Trump addressed Warren as “Pocahontas,” a nickname used by Trump to mock Warren for claiming Native American heritage.

“Do you want to keep it going for another five years? Yeah, yeah, you would say Pocahontas says yes,” Trump said as the chamber laughed.

Warren was one of several Democrats who slammed Trump after the contentious meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Friday.

“Donald Trump is treating the destruction of a democracy as a political show — throwing Ukraine to the wolves and doing a favor for Putin. It’s shameful and dangerous. I’ve been to Ukraine, as have many Senate Republicans. I hope they speak up. Millions of lives are at stake,” Warren said on X.

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Trump touts $5 million ‘gold card’ as new path to citizenship

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said a $5 million “gold card” would go on sale “very, very soon” and would serve as a new path towards becoming a U.S. citizen. 

“Its like the green card, but better and more sophisticated,” Trump said. “And these people will have to pay tax in our country.”

Trump said the newest path to citizenship “will allow the most successful job creating people from all over the world to buy a path to U.S. citizenship.”

The “gold card” visa will also enable wealthier students to obtain permanent residency in the U.S.

Trump has previously touted his plan before to attract the world’s wealthiest to become U.S. citizens, though it comes at a time when he is both clamping down on illegal migration and as universities are increasingly in the spotlight amid soaring school costs and crippling student loans. 

Trump announced last week that he expected the newest visa option would go on sale in the coming weeks.

Posted by Caitlin McFall Share

Who is Andrew Lennox, the veteran appearing beside Slotkin during the Democratic rebuttal?

Who is Andrew Lennox, the veteran appearing beside Slotkin during the Democratic rebuttal? Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and the Department of Veterans Affairs sign. Photos by Getty Images.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., will be accompanied during her rebuttal speech to Trump’s address to Congress Tuesday night by Andrew Lennox, a Marine Corps veteran and former Veterans Affairs employee who was among the many probationary employees whose jobs were abruptly terminated in February by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Lennox, a U.S. Marine mortarman veteran with deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, according to Mother Jones, started his role at the Department of Veterans Affairs Office in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in December 2024 — roughly two months before DOGE began its firing of probationary employees across the federal government. 

Lennox said he was notified about his firing in a Feb. 13 email, which he later realized was identical to the emails received by other VA colleagues ousted by DOGE. He found out later that he was among roughly 1,000 employees DOGE abruptly fired at the VA. 

That news was noted by DOGE in a press release the following day.

While DOGE claims the personnel cuts will save the department more than $98 million annually, Lennox has taken issue with the manner in which the VA employees were notified — as well as prospects for continued care and services for veterans. 

“There were people that were on probationary periods because they were recently promoted for outstanding performance,” he said. “That’s what really angered me, everybody else that had been there for a long time.”

POLITICSWho is Andrew Lennox, the veteran appearing beside Slotkin during Democrat rebuttal?Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., will be accompanied Tuesday night during her rebuttal speech to President Donald Trump’s address to Congress by Andrew Lennox, a Marine Corps veteran and former Veterans Affairs employee who was among the many probationary employees whose jobs were abruptly terminated by the Department of Government Efficiency.

Story excerpted from Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch.

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Trump vows to implement reciprocal tariffs beginning on April 2

President Donald Trump said the U.S. will implement reciprocal tariffs beginning April 2, saying other countries charge tariffs that are up to four times higher than what the U.S. will charge.

“On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada, have you heard of them? And countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them,” Trump said while addressing members of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. “It’s very unfair. China’s average tariff on our products is twice what we charge them, and South Korea’s average tariff is four times higher. Think of that: Four times higher.”

He continued, saying under the Trump administration, foreign countries will pay a tariff.

Trump said whatever other countries tax the U.S, the U.S. will tax them.

“We have been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on earth, and we will not let that happen any longer,” Trump added.

Posted by Greg Wehner Share

‘Not much’: Bernie Sanders tells Fox News Digital what he thought of Trump’s speech

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told Fox News Digital that he didn’t think “much” of President Donald Trump‘s address to a joint session of Congress.

“What did you think of Trump’s speech?” Fox New Digital’s Julia Johnson asked Sanders on his way out of the chamber.

“Not much. My speech is going to be better. I’m going to give it in a few minutes,” Sanders replied.

Earlier today, Sanders announced he would deliver a speech in response to Trump’s.

“Late tonight, I will deliver a response to President Trump’s Congressional Address. NO to Oligarchy. NO to Authoritarianism. YES to Democracy and an economy that works for all. I hope you’ll join us,” he said.

Posted by Deirdre Heavey Share

Democrats walking out of Trump’s speech ‘in droves’

Several Democrats have begun walking out of President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress.

“Democrats now walking out in droves. Huffman, Omar, Jayapal, Raskin, Lofgren all just walked out,” bestselling author Jake Sherman observed on X during Trump’s speech.

Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., also walked out of the speech, arguing that Trump “doesn’t need a special night to lie to the American public.”

“In just half an hour, he spewed ignorance on everything from diversity, immigration and trans kids to DOGE cuts and the cost of eggs. I heard enough, so I left. His words do nothing to help the people in my district—there’s real work to be done,” McIver said in a release.

Posted by Michael Lee Share

Trump reveals top terrorist behind Abbey Gate attack apprehended

President Donald Trump revealed on Tuesday that the top terrorist behind the Abbey Gate attack in Afghanistan during the U.S.’ withdrawal from the nation has been apprehended.

“Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity. And he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice,” Trump said.

13 U.S. service members who were killed during the terrorist attack at Abbey Gate outside Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, 2021.

The terrorist’s name is Muhammed Sharifullah.

Democratic lawmakers remained seated for the announcement of his capture.

Fox News’ Peter Doocy contributed to this update.

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Trump Secret Service director appoints 13-year-old cancer survivor as honorary officer

President Donald Trump
shared an emotional moment with lawmakers Tuesday after he used his remarks to ask his new U.S. Secret Service director, Sean Curran, to appoint as an honorary officer a 13-year-old with brain cancer.

“Joining us in the gallery tonight is a young man who truly loves our police,” Trump said.

Trump then paused his speech to introduce  “D.J.” Daniel, a 13-year-old with a lifelong dream of joining the police force.

Daniels, he said, was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018 and given just five months to live, Trump noted. That was more than six years ago. 

“Since that time, DJ and his dad have been on a quest to make his dream come true, and D.J. has been sworn in as an honorary law enforcement officer, actually, a number of times. The police love him,” Trump said.

“Tonight, D.J., we’re doing you the biggest honor of them all,” he added.

“I am asking our new Secret Service Director. Sean Curran, to officially make you an agent of the United States,” Trump said, smiling broadly.

The news was met with a standing ovation from the audience, and deafening chants of “D.J., D.J., D.J.”

Some Democrats apparently did not join in the applause, though it was not immediately clear which lawmakers did not participate.

Still, their inaction sparked the attention of some viewers on social media, including former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.

“If the Ds can’t clap for a beautiful 13-year old boy who wants to become a cop, there’s something really wrong with them,” he wrote in a post on X.

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Flashback: Pelosi shreds Trump’s speech during his last address to Congress

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi notably tore up President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech in 2020 – his last before leaving office in his first term.

In a stunning scene, Pelosi tore up Trump’s 2020 address shortly after the president had wrapped up his speech as she stood behind him.

When asked about the moment by Fox News afterward, Pelosi said she had destroyed the speech “because it was the courteous thing to do considering the alternatives.”

Ahead of Trump’s first joint address of his second term, Pelosi once again gave her two cents, lending some advice to Democrats:  “Let him stew in his own juice.”

“Any demonstration of disagreement, whether it’s visual or whatever, just let him stew in his own juice,” Pelosi told the Washington Post in a Thursday interview. “Don’t be any grist for the mill to say this was inappropriate.”

The Associated Press and Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

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‘We’ve ended weaponized government’: Trump makes justice jab at Biden

The chamber erupted in applause when President Donald Trump took a jab at his predecessor former President Joe Biden for attempting to “viciously prosecute his political opponent.”

“We’ve ended weaponized government where, as an example, a sitting president is allowed to viciously prosecute his political opponent – like me. How did that work out? Not too good. Not too good.”

Vice President JD Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson both stood up in applause during Trump’s comments, as he touted the end of “weaponized government.”

Trump is the first president to be indicted and convicted of a felony. Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records on May 30, 2024. He was delivered an unconditional discharge, avoiding prison time.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump often accused Biden of leading a “political witch hunt” through the “weaponization of government.”

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Grassroots parents’ group blasts ‘Congressional Democrat women wearing pink’

Founder of the parents’ advocacy group that tracks gender-ideology in schools across the nation, Parents Defending Education, Nicki Neily, posted to X on Tuesday blasting the “Congressional Democrat women wearing pink” who were protesting “President Trump and his ‘anti-woman’ policies,” during the president’s joint congressional speech.

Neily said the lawmakers “are the same women who voted unanimously to keep boys in girls’ sports yesterday.”

On Monday, every Senate Democrat opposed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which seeks to bar biological males from competing in women’s and girls’ sports. In a procedural vote, Republicans fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, securing only 51. Independent Sens. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont sided with Democrats on the vote.

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Trump renames Texas wildlife refuge after Jocelyn Nungaray

President Donald Trump announced a new executive order during his speech Tuesday, renaming a Texas wildlife refuge in honor of Jocelyn Nungaray.

“Across Galveston Bay from where Jocelyn lived in Houston, you will find a magnificent refuge, a pristine peaceful 34,000 acre for all of God’s creatures on the edge of the Gulf of America. Alexis, moments ago I formally renamed that refuge in loving memory of your beautiful daughter Jocelyn,” Trump said as he showed the signed executive order as he addressed the mother of Jocelyn Nungaray.

Trump then touted his administration’s decision to designate some of the most dangerous drug cartels, including notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, whose members were allegedly involved in the slaying of Nungaray, as foreign terrorist organizations.

“They are now officially in the same category as ISIS, and it’s not good for them,” Trump said.

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Social media erupts after House Dem interrupted Trump’s address to Congress

POLITICSSocial media erupts after House Dem interrupted Trump’s address to Congress: ‘Embarrassing themselves’Reactions poured in as Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, was removed from the House chamber for protesting in the middle of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night.

Reactions poured in as Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, was removed from the House chamber for protesting in the middle of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night. 

However, Green and other Democrats protesting were drowned out with chants of “USA” at the start of the president’s remarks. 

On social media, several conservatives slammed Green and the Democrats, saying their behavior was “out of control.”

“The Democrats are out of control. They are embarrassing themselves. Heckling the President, especially in a forum like this, is not how they will win,” former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer posted on X.

“Al Green is a disgrace,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., tweeted. “[Trump] won the election. #47.”

He was far from the only one making a statement on Tuesday night, as many of the Democratic women in the chamber wore pink in uniform, and Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., briefly held up a sign behind the president stating “This is not normal.” The sign was quickly taken away by Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas. 

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Who is Rep. Al Green?

Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green was escorted out of President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress for causing a disruption minutes into the speech.

The Democratic congressman announced that he would file articles of impeachment against Trump after the president said he would “take over the Gaza Strip” during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in January.

Green attempted to impeach Trump three times during the president’s first term for firing FBI Director James Comey and for “racist” comments.

Green has represented Texas’ ninth congressional district in Houston since 2005. He is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, where he serves on subcommittees for Diversity and Inclusion, Housing and Community Development.

The congressman is a self-described “veteran civil rights advocate” and has served as president of the Houston Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for almost 10 years.

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Karoline Leavitt’s prediction about Dems’ disruptions comes true: ‘Told you!’

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt brushed off politically-charged disruptions during President Donald Trump’s
address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.

In an X post, Leavitt highlighted her previous comment to Fox News Digital about Democrats “behaving like children [being] the least surprising news of the night.”

“Told you!” Leavitt’s post read.

Democratic lawmakers disrupted the address several times, including Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who was removed from the chamber after standing up as Trump began to speak.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., held up a sign reading “This is not normal,” as Trump greeted people nearby before he took the podium.

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Conservative influencers call for Congress to ‘expel’ Democrat Al Green for disrupting Trump

Conservative influencers on X began calling for Congress to “expel” Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, after he disrupted President Donald Trump’s speech and was removed from the House chamber.

“There should be a vote first thing tomorrow morning to expel Al Green from Congress,” conservative comedian Tim Young posted to X.

The Republican National Committee’s chief elections attorney, Mike Davis, also posted to X saying, “The House must vote to expel Al Green.”

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‘Start by paying your taxes’: Rep. Tlaib goes viral for whiteboard

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., went viral Tuesday evening for her use of a whiteboard to protest President Donald Trump’s remarks in real time— an approach that allowed her to interject at times while also avoiding being escorted by the chamber.

Tlaib, an outspoken foe of the president, stayed quiet during Trump’s speech. But she could be seen at times holding up a whiteboard to silently protest the president’s remarks.

The whiteboard included handwritten phrases from Rep. Tlaib such as, “Start by paying your taxes,” which she held up during Trump’s vows to cut taxes on U.S. production and manufacturing.

A screen-grab of the whiteboard quickly went viral on social media.

Trump’s speech saw other protests from Democrats, including several who walked out at various points during the speech.

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Here’s what Al Green said as he was thrown out of the chamber

Texas Democrat Rep. Al Green told reporters after he was escorted out of the House Chamber on Tuesday that he was removed after he yelled at President Donald Trump over Medicaid.

Concern has mounted that Trump would make cuts to Medicaid and Green wasted no time in yelling at him while standing and interrupting the president at the beginning of his address.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told Green to adhere to House decorum rules.

Green continued to yell, at which point he was escorted out of the House Chamber.

Green told reporters that Trump “has no mandate” to cut Medicaid and other programs, that Trump listed off Tuesday night. 


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Trump vows to fire bureaucrats who don’t show up to work

President Donald Trump told lawmakers that any federal workers who refuse to show up to work will be terminated.

“Meanwhile, we have hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have not been showing up to work,” Trump said Tuesday during his joint address to Congress
. “My administration will reclaim power from this unaccountable bureaucracy, and we will restore true democracy to America again.”

He added that “any federal bureaucrat who resists this change will be removed from office immediately,” citing that his administration is “draining the swamp.”

“It’s very simple, and the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over,” he said.

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Trump jokes with RFK Jr: ‘We have a healthier country than I thought, Bobby’

President Donald Trump said that Americans over 150 years old are receiving Social Security checks, joking with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert R. Kennedy Jr. that the country may be healthier than he expected. 

“Over 130,000 people according to the social security databases are aged over 160 years old,” Trump said Tuesday before a joint address to Congress in a speech similar to the State of the Union. “We have a healthier country than I thought, Bobby.”

But Lee Dudek, the acting Social Security Administration commissioner, said in February that those listed in the Social Security system over the age of 100 are not “necessarily” receiving such benefits. 

“The reported data are people in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record,” Dudek said in a statement. “These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits.”

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Egg prices take spotlight in Trump’s speech to Congress

President Donald Trump
used his speech to Congress Tuesday to highlight the priority his administration is placing on lowering egg prices for U.S. consumers— even as he sought to blame the problem primarily on his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.

“Among my very highest priorities is to rescue our economy and get dramatic and immediate relief to working families,” Trump told lawmakers, he said, before zeroing in more specifically on the cost of eggs.

EGG PRICES HIT RECORD HIGH

Egg prices “are out of control, and we’re working hard to get [them] back down,” Trump said, adding that in his view, “Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control.”

The remarks come as the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a $1 billion plan to combat bird flu, one of the primary drivers in higher egg prices. 

U.S. egg prices rose to a record-high this year, with the average costs for a Dozen grade-A eggs soaring to $4.95 in January, a 53% jump from the same month last year.

The uptick in prices accounted for roughly two-thirds of the total jump in U.S. food costs in January, according to government data.

The primary reason for the jump has been the bird flu outbreak, which has prompted the slaughtering of some 160 million birds overall since the outbreak began.


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Trump talks creation of DOGE headed by Elon Musk: ‘He didn’t need this’

President Donald Trump spoke about the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is headed by billionaire Elon Musk, who Trump said, “didn’t need this.”

“Thank you, Elon,” Trump said to the SpaceX CEO. “He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need this. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Everybody here, even this side, appreciates it, I believe. They just don’t want to admit that.”

Trump then touted some of the waste that Musk and his team were able to expose, including $45 million put toward diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma, $40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants, and $8 million to promote LGBTQI+ in Africa.

Trump also said DOGE exposed $20 million for the Arab Sesame Street in the Middle East, $42 million for social and behavior change in Uganda, and more programs that the U.S. is funding.

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Trump touts DEI, Critical Race Theory and officially designating only two genders

President Donald Trump laid out his perceived accomplishments in the first six  weeks since he took up the top job, which includes his push to eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the  government.

“We believe that  whether you are a doctor, an accountant, a lawyer or an air traffic controller, you should be hired and promoted based on skill and competence, not race or gender,” Trump said in his address to Congress. 

Trump said the “poison” of Critical Race Theory had been removed from public schools “and I signed an order making it the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”

WHAT IS CRITICAL RACE THEORY?

Trump acknowledged Payton McNabb
, who he said was an All-Star high school volleyball athlete, but who’s athletic career was reportedly cut short after she was injured by a transwoman player after the match had been “invaded by a man.”

“He smashed the ball so hard in Payton’s face, causing traumatic brain injury,” Trump added.  

Trump received immense opposition from Democrats in the room.

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Trump blasts ‘government censorship,’ notes Mount McKinley renaming in speech

President Donald Trump slammed “government censorship” and touted his geographical renamings as part of his administration’s successes so far, including reverting the name of North Alaska’s Denali, North America’s tallest mountain, back to Mount McKinley.

“Denali” is a native Alaskan term that means “the high one” or “the great one.”

“And I have stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America. It’s back. And two days ago I signed an order making English the official language of The United States of America,” Trump said. I renamed the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America. And likewise. I renamed, for a great president — William McKinley — Mount McKinley again.”

Trump vowed after being sworn in in January that he would “restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs.”

In 2015, former President Barack Obama renamed the Alaskan mountain Denali to honor the traditions of Alaska Natives, as the federal government moved to rename places deemed disrespectful to native peoples.

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Trump declares ‘America is back’ in speech before Congress

POLITICSTrump declares ‘America is back’ in speech before CongressPresident Donald Trump traveled to Capitol Hill Tuesday evening to deliver his first address before a joint session of Congress since his return to the Oval Office in January.

President Donald Trump kicked off his address before a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening. 

“To my fellow citizens, America is back,” Trump declared after thanking the members of Congress and first lady Melania Trump. 

“Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden Age of America,” he said. “From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. And we are just getting started.” 

The audience was heard chanting “USA, USA, USA” amid the president’s opening remarks. 

Trump arrived to the podium shortly after 9:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Tuesday, where he was greeted by cheers from conservative lawmakers, while Democrats overwhelmingly remained seated. 

The speech marks Trump’s first before Congress since his return to the Oval Office in January. The address, though similar to the State of the Union, does not carry the same official title as Trump has not been in office for the past year.

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Who is Senator Elissa Slotkin?

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., will deliver the Democrat Party’s official response to President Donald Trump‘s address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. 

While Trump won battleground Michigan, Slotkin managed to win the U.S. Senate seat for Democrats in 2024, defeating her Republican contender Mike Rogers by less than a percentage point. 

The freshman senator served several terms as a member of the House of Representatives before deciding to run to replace former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

She has a background in national security, having served three tours in Iraq as a CIA analyst alongside the U.S. military. Slotkin held positions at the Pentagon and the White House under two different presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. She was nominated by President Obama to serve at the Pentagon as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.

Slotkin received a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a master’s degree from Columbia University.

“BIG: I’m announcing @SenatorSlotkin will deliver our Democratic response to Trump’s Joint Address. Nothing short of a rising star in our party – she’s dedicated her life to our country. She will layout the fight to tackle the deep challenges we face and chart a path forward,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced on X. 

“I’m looking forward to speaking directly to the American people next week. The public expects leaders to level with them on what’s actually happening in our country,” Slotkin said last week.

Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report.

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White House shares video of Trump’s guests sending heartfelt message ahead of speech

The White House released a video ahead of President Donald Trump’s speech in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, with many of his guests thanking him for his accomplishments.

“President Trump’s address guests share a heartfelt message with him ahead of his speech,” the White House wrote in a post on X.

The guests included D.J. Daniel, a 13-year-old with terminal brain cancer who thanked Trump, saying, “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here today.”

January Littlejohn, a Mother and Parents’ Rights advocate, thanked Trump for taking steps to protect vulnerable children like her daughter.

“On behalf of all parents, I want to thank you for giving us hope,” Littlejohn said.

The video also featured Leon Topalian, the CEO of Nucor Steel.

“Thank you for putting America first and doing the things that you promised to continue to ensure the manufacturing vibrancy of the steel industry,” he said.

Posted by Greg Wehner Share

Trump declares ‘America is back’ in speech before Congress

President Donald Trump kicked off his address before a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening.

“To my fellow citizens, America is back,” Trump declared after thanking the members of Congress and first lady Melania Trump. 

“Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden Age of America,” he said. “From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. And we are just getting started.” 

The audience was heard chanting “USA, USA, USA” amid the president’s opening remarks. 

The speech marks Trump’s first before Congress since his return to the Oval Office in January. The address, though similar to the State of the Union, does not carry the same official title as Trump has not been in office for the past year. 

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Speaker directs Sergeant at Arms to remove Dem member disrupting Trump’s speech

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson had Rep. Al Green of Texas removed from President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday after he refused to stop shouting or sit down.

“Our members are directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House, and to cease any further disruptions – that’s your warning. Members are engaging in willful and continuing breach of decorum, and the chair is prepared to direct the Sergeant at Arms to restore order to The joint session,” Johnson said.

“Mr. Green, take your seat. Take your seat, sir,” he added.

Green was removed and escorted from the speech by Sergeant at Arms.

Trump had only just begun his speech when shouting broke out.

“To my fellow citizens, America is back,” Trump declared after thanking the members of Congress and first lady Melania Trump. 

“Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden Age of America,” he said. “From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. And we are just getting started.” 

The audience was heard chanting “USA, USA, USA” amid the president’s opening remarks. 

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Republicans chanted USA after Democrats booed during President Trump’s speech on Capitol Hill

After several Democrats started booing President Donald Trump during the start of his joint Congressional speech at the U.S. Capitol, Republican lawmakers responded by chanting “USA.”

“The American dream is unstoppable and our country is on the verge of a comeback, the likes of which the world has never witnessed and perhaps will never witness again,” Trump said before the flurry of reactions from lawmakers. “It’s never been anything like it. The presidential election of November 5th was a mandate like has not been seen in many decades.”

“We won all seven swing states, giving us an electoral college victory of 312 votes. We won the popular vote by big numbers and won counties in our country,” Trump said, before Democrat lawmakers booed and Republicans countered it with “USA” chanting.

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Democratic congresswoman holds up ‘This is not normal’ sign in protest of Trump

Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., silently protested President Donald Trump as he walked to the podium ahead of his address on Tuesday night.

Stansbury, the top Democrat on House DOGE subcommittee, held up a sign reading “This is not normal,” as Trump greeted people nearby.

Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, appeared to grab the paper from Stansbury and threw it. He stood across the aisle from her, along with fellow Republicans.


Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this update.

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Kid Rock tells Dems to ‘shut up, sit there and learn something’ at Trump address

Music legend Kid Rock talks politics on “Jesse Watters Primetime,” arguing that Democrats shouldn’t stage anything dramatic during President Donald Trump’s speech.

“Shut up, sit there and learn something,” the rock legend said of Democrats. “How’d that work when Nancy did her tore up her little thing? Ilhan Omar is going to walk out? I mean come on, just collect your things from your office, put a basket on your head and walk back to where you came from.”

The music star also argued that Democrats should use the night to have respect for the office of the president, though he doubted they would be able to do so.

“They’re obviously still butt sore because their message was so horrible… for the last four years,” he said.

Kid Rock also expressed admiration for Trump’s cabinet selections.

“Just to hear common sense… I have never been more excited about the group of people that are surrounding the president, that he’s put into office. I have been fortunate to know a lot of them personally,” he said. “It feels like America, we’re celebrating America, all the things that are great about our country.”

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‘America’s momentum is back’: Trump speech to highlight early wins on immigration, economy, and more

President Donald Trump will use his speech to the joint session of Congress Tuesday night to highlight his administration’s early wins on immigration and economic issues for millions of Americans— playing up what he will describe as the “dawn of the Golden Age of America.”

Trump will highlight his administration’s immigration policies, which have sent illegal border crossings plummeting to a record-low, according to an excerpt of his remarks shared with Fox News Digital.

He will also tout early early victories on lowering prices and recovering from what he will describe as the worst inflation in more than four decades.

“Over the past 6 weeks, I have signed nearly 100 Executive Orders and taken more than 400 executive actions to restore COMMON SENSE, safety, optimism, and wealth all across our wonderful land,” Trump will say.

“The people elected me to do the job, and I am doing it. In fact, it has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency is the most successful in the history of our nation.”

“The American Dream is UNSTOPPABLE, and our country is on the verge of a comeback the likes of which the world has never witnessed, and perhaps will never witness again.”

Trump took the stage shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday night, to cheers of “USA, USA!” from attendees in the audience.

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VA Secretary Doug Collins is Trump’s designated survivor

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins will be the designated survivor President Donald Trump’s Joint Address to Congress on Tuesday night.

Collins will be in a location away from the Capitol in the unlikely event that a major tragedy would impact the entire presidential line of succession, including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Although Tuesday’s address is not technically a State of the Union, the entirety of Trump’s cabinet is expected to be in attendance. Each party in both chambers of Congress also choose their own designated survivors to preserve continuity of government.

The secretary took office last month, and he previously served as a congressman representing Georgia. During his short time in office, he’s been as advocate for making cuts supported by the Department of Government Efficiency.

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New polls reveal which White House term showed stronger polling numbers for Trump

President Donald Trump is expected to showcase the avalanche of activity during his first six weeks in the White House when he heads to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to deliver a primetime address to Congress and the nation.

“Best Opening Month of any President in history,” Trump wrote in a social media post last week, as he touted his accomplishments – many of them controversial – since his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Trump, on the eve of his first major speech to Congress during his second presidential administration, vowed that “TOMORROW NIGHT WILL BE BIG. I WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS!”

However, the latest polls indicate Americans are divided on the job he’s done so far in the White House.

Trump stands at 45% approval and 49% disapproval in one of the latest polls, a Marist College for PBS News and NPR. Additionally, a CNN survey, also conducted last week, put the president’s approval rating at 48%, with 52% disapproving. 

Meanwhile, Trump’s approval ratings were slightly above water in other new polls, including one for CBS News that was also in the field in recent days and released over the weekend.

Read more from Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser.

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Sen. Mike Lee calls out Dems’ reported pro-women attire at Trump speech

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, called out Democratic lawmakers who are planning to wear pink in protest of President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday, just one day after Senate Democrats voted unanimously against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.

“When you see Democrats wearing pink for the TV cameras tonight, remember that 45 of them voted for men to invade women’s sports just yesterday,” Lee said in a post on X. “It’s all an act.”

The bill failed to clear the key procedural hurdle by a vote of 51-45, along party lines. All Democratic senators voted against the motion to proceed, with the exceptions of Sens. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Peter Welch, D-V.t., who were absent.

So the bill was filibustered and is presumed dead, unless it is re-introduced at a later date. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., told Time on Tuesday that dozens of her Democrat colleagues will show up to Capitol Hill to wear pink for Trump’s speech to “signal our protest of Trump’s policies which are negatively impacting women and families.”

“Pink is a color of power and protest,” Fernández told the outlet. “It’s time to rev up the opposition and come at Trump loud and clear.”

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News’ Jackson Thompson.

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Where does Trump stand with Americans hours before his primetime speech to Congress?

President Donald Trump
 vows to “TELL IT LIKE IT IS” during his primetime address Tuesday to a joint session of Congress.

“TOMORROW NIGHT WILL BE BIG,” the president touted in a social media post on the eve of his first major speech to Congress during his second presidential administration.

Trump is expected to use the address — which Fox News was first to report will be themed, “The Renewal of the American Dream” — to showcase his avalanche of activity during his first six weeks in the White House.

“Best Opening Month of any President in history,” Trump wrote in a social media post last week, as he touted his accomplishments — some of them controversial — since his Jan. 20 inauguration.

However, the latest polls indicate Americans are divided on the job he has done so far.

Trump stands at 45% approval and 49% disapproval in one of those polls, according to a Marist College poll for PBS News and NPR. Additionally, a CNN survey, also conducted last week, put the president’s approval rating at 48%, with 52% disapproving. 

However, Trump’s approval ratings were above water in other new polls, including one for CBS News that was also in the field in recent days and released over the weekend.

Read more from Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser here.

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Rep Massie brings pardoned Ross Ulbricht, founder of darknet drug market, as plus one to address

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie said Tuesday night he was taking Ross Ulbricht, founder of darknet illegal drug market Silk Road, as his plus one to President Donald Trump’s address to Congress.

“Thank you President Trump for freeing Ross Ulbricht. He’s my guest at the State of the Union,” he said  in a post on X. “I was honored to give him a debt badge at dinner tonight!”

In January, Trump pardoned Ulbricht after he was arrested in 2013 for his role in developing an illegal online marketplace that connected people selling drugs, money laundering and other illegal acts.  

He was sentenced to life without parole, but some felt he had been given an overly harsh sentence.

Trump pledged from the campaign trail to have Ulbricht released, arguing he was unfairly convicted.

Ulbricht took to X to thank the president and said he looked forward to “re-engaging with the free world” in the near future. 

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Trump to make ‘full-throated’ case during primetime speech: former presidential speechwriters

President Donald Trump, six weeks into his second tour of duty in the White House, vows to “TELL IT LIKE IT IS!” when he heads to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to deliver a primetime address to Congress and the nation.

The president will tout his domestic and international accomplishments, spotlight what the Trump administration has done for the economy, make a renewed push for Congress to pass additional border security funding and detail his plans for peace around the globe, according to details from the White House that were shared first with Fox News.

A former presidential speechwriter calls Trump’s first major speech to Congress during his second presidential administration “a big deal” and “a great platform… for a president.”

“It’s a dramatic setting,” Bill McGurn, a former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush, said of the speech, which is on equal footing with a State of the Union address in terms of importance.

McGurn said the first address to Congress by a president following their inauguration is “a great opportunity to broadcast their message far and wide.”

“He’s going to make his case,” McGurn predicted.

Read more from Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Andrew Murray here.

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Trump, First Lady Melania headed to Capitol Hill

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are in the motorcade to the United States Capitol ahead of his address to a Joint Session of Congress around 8:30 p.m.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Communications Director Steven Cheung and Elon Musk were also seen in the motorcade.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could become a topic in the president’s address on Tuesday night, as it has made waves for cuts across the federal government.

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Why Trump’s address won’t be called a ‘State of the Union’

President Donald Trump‘s first joint address to Congress in his second term will not be called a “State of the Union” address.

Traditionally, a State of the Union address is meant to look back on the previous year and, despite this being Trump’s second term, he has only been in office for a little over a month.

As such, newly inaugurated presidents seek to use their congressional addresses to set the tone for their next four years in office.

Fox News Digital learned Monday that Trump’s first address theme would be the “Renewal of the American Dream.”

“President Trump has accomplished more in one month than any president in four years, and the renewal of the American Dream is well underway,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “In his joint address to Congress, President Trump will celebrate his extraordinarily successful first month in office while outlining his bold, ambitious and commonsense vision for the future.” 

The Associated Press and Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

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Trump to dump 443 federal buildings, including DOJ, FBI properties

The General Services Administration said Tuesday that it will begin selling off hundreds of federal buildings
, including the D.C.-based headquarters of the U.S. Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Labor— describing the iconic buildings as “functionally obsolete” and unfit for core government operations. 

The GSA said in a statement that its Public Buildings Service had identified a list of more than 400 federally owned properties that it has deemed “non-core assets” — or assets not integral to daily government functioning— that it has targeted for sale or divestment. 

The list of buildings is primarily federal office space, GSA said, and totals nearly 80 million in combined square feet.

In a statement, GSA described the effort as one to rid taxpayers of the burdensome cost of building maintenance and upkeep, which they said was the result of “decades of funding deficiencies.”

Among the buildings targeted for sale or “disposal,” per the website’s language, are some of the nation’s most recognizable federal buildings and agency headquarters, whose hallowed halls have witnessed decades of U.S. history. 

In addition to the Justice Department, FBI, and Labor Department headquarters, the list of properties targeted for sale in the D.C.area includes the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, which houses the HHS, and the G.H. Fallon Federal Building, which houses the GSA itself.

Should GSA move forward with its plans to sell all buildings it deems non-essential, it will shed the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia metro area, known colloquially as the DMV, of a combined 152 federal buildings.

It is unclear where the thousands of federal employees who work in those buildings would be housed, and the announcement comes as the Trump administration and DOGE have pressured federal agencies to end their telework programs for nearly all government employees, requiring most to return to the office full-time.

Others buildings listed for possible sale or divestiture are San Francisco-based office building named after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Atlanta-based Sam Nunn federal center, which houses some 5,000 federal government employees, and many more.

It is unclear what, if any, time frame the GSA is targeting for the shedding of hundreds of federal buildings— or what options it is considering as alternative workspaces for government personnel. 

Reporting by Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch.

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Who is invited to attend the address?

As is customary, the vice president, JD Vance, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will join President Donald Trump at the annual address and sit behind him on the dais. 

All lawmakers in the House and Senate are typically invited, as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Supreme Court Justices and former members of Congress, according to the Congressional Research Service. 

Most Cabinet members are also invited. However, the Constitution requires that one Cabinet member, dubbed “the designated survivor,” remain absent from the address in order “to maintain the line of succession in case of an emergency,” according to the U.S. Senate. 

In 2024, former President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, did not attend the address. 

Since President Ronald Reagan
in the early 1980s, presidents have invited special and distinguished guests to join for the annual address, who are known as “Lenny Skutniks” after Reagan’s inaugural guest, according to the Congressional Research Service.  

In 1982, Reagan invited Lenny Skutnik, a government employee who rescued a woman involved in that year’s Air Florida Flight 90 crash, which took place after the aircraft took off from Washington National Airport and crashed into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., over the Potomac River.

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Are any members of Congress expected to boycott the president’s address, and if so, who?

While Democrat leadership urges lawmakers to defy President Donald Trump by bringing guests to his joint address to Congress who have been negatively affected by his policies, some Democrats are opting to skip the address entirely.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a vocal DOGE critic, announced on Sunday that he would not attend. Instead, he said he will host a virtual town hall for Oregon residents.

“For folks asking if I’m going to attend Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday: no,” said Wyden. “Instead, I’m choosing to hear directly from Oregonians.”

According to Axios, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-CT, is also leaning against attending the address, telling the outlet: “When Trump does it, it’s not a serious event.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., signaled she is undecided, saying in a Bluesky post: “If you were in Congress, what would you do for the State of the Union? What do you think Dems should do?”


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Jesse Watters says Democrat base ‘is used to lighting Trump on fire,’ need new tactics

Fox News host Jesse Watters says Democrats are playing a losing game by pre-planning antics for President Donald Trump’s address to Congress.

“If the Democrats want to do something, they need to either get along with Donald Trump or they need to come up with a better idea—that’s what politicians do,” Watters said in an Instagram reel ahead of Trump’s speech to Congress.

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What are the seating arrangements at this year’s speech?

Lawmakers and attendees of President Donald Trump’s upcoming joint address to Congress on Tuesday will be seated throughout the chamber of the House in the U.S. Capitol building.

It is a long-held tradition for senators and members of the House of Representatives to sit with their respective political parties during formal addresses delivered in the Capitol. From the president’s perspective facing the room, Republicans sit on the left side, while Democrats traditionally appear on the right side of the House floor. 

Senators are usually placed in the first rows closest to the podium, seated near the Supreme Court justices that attend, while Congress members sit first come, first served in the rows behind.

Trump will stand at the dais at the front of the room, with Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., seated behind him.

There will also be invited guests in attendance, seated in the gallery surrounding the room.

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Johnson says he hopes Dems do not disrupt Trump during speech, as Americans applaud accomplishments

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he hopes Democratic lawmakers do not try to disrupt President Donald Trump’s
speech tonight, as he expects the American people to be at home applauding the president’s accomplishments.

Johnson was a guest on FOX Business on Tuesday, where he spoke to host Larry Kudlow in the hours before Trump was expected to address Congress in the U.S. Capitol.

“This joint address to Congress, Larry, is historic,” the house speaker said. “I mean, normally you would have a State of the Union, the president would come in really about on or about the end of the first year of his term. But I invited him this early because there is so much to report.

“President Trump is having an historic second term, and he’s done so much in the last less than 45 days that it would take him three hours to just go through all of the wins and all the victories and the things that he’s achieved so far,” Johnson added. “So, I hope the Democrats don’t try to disrupt that, because the American people back home here are applauding it, and we are here as well, in the House Republican Conference.”

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Democrats are ‘still too cowardly’ to stand up for women, says Sen. Katie Britt

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., criticizes the Democratic Party’s pushback against the Trump administration’s agenda on “The Ingraham Angle.”

“At the end of the day, Donald Trump won in a landslide victory. America wants his vision, they want it enacted,” Britt said.

The Alabama senator went on to took aim at Democrats for their resistance to some of President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees.

“They’re totally gaslighting. All of the things they’re accusing these people of… this is what you’ve been doing for the last four years. You’ve weaponized the justice system, you have literally taken a backseat to what is good for America. And the truth is is that these men and women who are filling these cabinet positions, they understand Donald Trump’s plan, his vision, and they are ready to execute,” Britt said.

Britt also touched on the critics of Trump’s tariff’s.

“China has undercut American workers time after time… we have not had a leader that’s been willing to stand up,” Britt said. “We have to secure our critical supply chain.”

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Trump’s communications team chows down supersized order of McDonald’s ahead of speech

The White House communications team prepared for President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday night by chowing down on a supersized order of McDonald’s.

Kaelan Dorr, the deputy assistant to the President and White House deputy communications director, posted an image on X, showing about 20 McDoubles, 60 Chicken McNuggets and 17 large fries.

“White House Comms is pre-gaming the Joint Session the MAGA way,” Dorr wrote. “Buckle up for Must See TV!”

It is no secret that Trump is a fan of McDonald’s.

After winning another term in the Oval Office, Trump and members of his inner circle shared a McDonald’s meal aboard his private jet in November as they traveled to New York City to attend UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden.

Then in October, Trump took on a new role while on the campaign trail, cooking and serving french fries to customers at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s.

“I’ve really wanted to do this all my life. And now I’m going to do it because she didn’t do it,” Trump said, referring to former Vice President Kamala Harris, who claimed she worked at the fast food chain.

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What topics are typically covered during the speech?

State of the Union speeches and addresses to joint sessions of Congress are opportunities for presidents to touch on a wide variety of topics ranging from national security to immigration to domestic spending programs.

In President Joe Biden’s final address to Congress in 2024, he spoke about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Medicare, and inflation while looking back on the ways he believes he improved the nation during his term.

President Donald Trump is expected to highlight the work he has already done in his second term with a flurry of executive orders on issues like DEI and slashing regulations with DOGE while also previewing his agenda priorities in the upcoming months and years.

It has also become common for presidents and members of Congress to invite guests to the speech who are pointed out to highlight various policy achievements. 

Fox News Digital reported that Fox News Channel, Fox News Digital and Fox News Go will have live coverage of the event Tuesday evening.

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Ahead of big speech, Trump again reportedly avoids formal speech prep

President Donald Trump will address members of Congress in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night, and with the big speech ahead, he is reportedly not participating in any type of preparation.

Fox News’ White House correspondent Peter Doocy said he is being told Trump is not participating in any kind of formal speech prep, where advisors suggest ways for him to say things or gesticulate.

Instead, the president has been involved in the editing process.

It is not uncommon for Trump to refrain from formal preparation ahead of major events.

When Trump prepared to debate former Vice President Kamala Harris in September, he avoided traditional debate preparation. Instead, he employed Tulsi Gabbard to help him refine his skills. Gabbard had her own famous moment on the debate stage, when in 2020, she attacked Harris for her record as a California prosecutor.

Trump debated former President Joe Biden in June, and took the opportunity on the campaign trail to attack the former president’s preparation ahead of the big event.

“Well, this is really the best strategy right here. We have all these people out here and they are screaming questions. I look forward to the debate,” Trump said at the time.

Posted by Greg Wehner Share

How can I watch President Donald Trump’s address to Congress?

President Donald Trump’s
first address to a joint session of Congress of his second term will begin at 9 p.m. ET, and can be live streamed either directly online, via the White House’s website, or on major cable and broadcast television networks. Fox News, ABC News, NBC News, and CNN will all carry live coverage of Trump’s remarks. 

Importantly, the White House live stream will cover the president’s remarks only. Networks and streaming services provide additional coverage, such as a list of individuals in attendance and the acknowledged “guests” chosen by a sitting president and often referred to by name during their remarks. They also cover the annual rebuttal speech delivered after the president’s formal remarks by the political party not in power. 

This year’s response will be delivered by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.

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What does the designated survivor do during the SOTU address?

In 1947, former President Harry Truman signed the Presidential Succession Act, which reestablished the line of succession in the event the president died in office. Shortly after, and given the rising threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, the Office of the President implemented the concept of a “designated survivor.”

The designated survivor is a member of the president’s cabinet who, during important events like inaugurations or the State of the Union address, is squirreled away to a secret and secure location for the duration of the event. The purpose of this is to ensure that, if a terror or nuclear attack wiped out most top-tiered officials, there would always be someone in the presidential line of succession who could take command.

Notably, the designated survivor does not automatically inherit the role of the president unless someone of a higher rank survives whatever incident occurred. They are usually a last resort. 

During former President George W. Bush’s presidential address to Congress following the September 11th terrorist attacks, former Vice President Dick Cheney was named the designated survivor, and during former President Joe Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address, then-Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh was the designee.

While the selection is sometimes random due to the nature of these important events, designated survivors tend to be lower on the presidential succession list, such as the Secretaries of Labor, Energy, and the Interior, etc.

“Designated Survivor,” a 2016 TV series starring Kiefer Sutherland, aired on ABC in 2016 and followed the fictional story of Thomas Kirkman, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development who, after a terror attack that wipes out most of the government, assumes the presidency.

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Former Harris 2024 advisor warns Dems in audience for Trump speech: ‘Do not do dumb sh–‘

POLITICSFormer Harris 2024 advisor sends warning to Democrats in audience for Trump speech: ‘Do not do dumb sh–‘Former Biden advisor and Kamala Harris 2024 senior advisor Ian Sams sent a warning to Democrats not to disrupt President Trump’s speech to Congress Tuesday.

A former top official for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is warning Democrats not to cause a stir at President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress. 

“Democrats: PLEASE do not do dumb sh– like this during Trump’s speech,” former Harris 2024 senior advisor Ian Sams posted on X Tuesday, hours before President Trump delivered his joint address to Congress. 

Sams was responding to an Axios report that revealed Democrats were “floating” the idea of bringing props to Trump’s speech, including anti-Trump signs, egg cartons to highlight the current costs of eggs, pocket Constitutions to protest DOGE or hand clappers.

Earlier, the White House brushed off reports that some Democrats in Congress are discussing plans to go further than ever to protest and even disrupt Trump’s speech.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital Trump is prepared for whatever the Democrats throw at him.

“Democrats behaving like children would be the least surprising news of the night,” Leavitt told Fox News Digital.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller.

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Rep. Lauren Boebert: ‘America will be stronger than ever’

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said that of all the annual addresses the president has issued to Congress since she joined the House of Representatives, she is the most excited for this one. 

President Donald Trump is slated to address a joint session of Congress Tuesday in a speech similar to the annual State of the Union. 

“I can tell you, that this one is the one that I have been waiting for,” Boebert said in a video posted to X on Tuesday. “For President Trump to tell the world all of the amazing things that he is doing, through his policies. How he is charging us to help codify his amazing executive orders, brag on the amazing cabinet choices that he has selected, and cast vision for a great America.”

“America will be stronger than ever and we already are with President Trump’s leadership and his strength is already bringing peace throughout the world,” Boebert said. 

Boebert previously heckled former President Joe Biden in 2022 during his State of the Union speech when he referenced troops who developed cancer associated with exposure to burn pits. 

“You put them in, 13 of them!” Boebert shouted in the middle of the speech. The comment appeared to reference 13 troops who died in Afghanistan in August 2021.

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Texas Democrat Rep. Veasey ‘pre-bunks’ Trump’s address to Congress

Texas Democrat Rep. Marc Veasey took to X Tuesday ahead of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress to say he was making moves to “pre-bunk” the president’s “lies.”

“He may tell you that he is putting America 1st, but make no mistake, the Trump Tax aka Tariff is a TAX ON YOU,” he added in his message.

In the post the congressman can be heard taking issue with the steep tariffs that have officially gone into effect as of Tuesday, including 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports, as well as the tariffs on China that doubled to reach a 20% import tax.

“I don’t know any business that wants these tariffs,” Veasey said, explaining that ultimately they are going to hurt U.S. wallets.

Veasey argued that these tariffs will reach to every corner of the U.S. market including industries like U.S. bred and butchered cattle, because everything from feed to tractor parts is expected to impacted.

“Somebody has to pay the price for all of this,” Veasey said. “This is not funny money, its real money and real consequences.”

Posted by Caitlin McFall Share

Founder of Catholic ministry Word on Fire to attend Trump address to Congress

POLITICSFounder of Catholic ministry Word on Fire to attend Trump address to CongressBishop Robert Barron has accepted Rep. Riley Moore’s invitation to attend President Trump’s joint address to Congress.

A well-known Catholic bishop will be in the audience for President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress, Fox News Digital has learned.

Bishop Robert Barron, founder of Catholic media organization Word On Fire, is coming to the Tuesday night speech as a guest of first-term Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va.

Moore also invited Barron to participate in a Catholic Mass with lawmakers before the address.

“Through Word on Fire, Bishop Barron has helped countless souls discover, strengthen, or return to the Catholic Church by proclaiming the Gospel ‘through the culture.’ His use of contemporary media to reach people is innovative and highly effective,” Moore said in a statement first shared with Fox News Digital. 

“I am honored to host him as my guest for President Trump’s joint address to Congress, and am equally thrilled to have him celebrate the Mass for my colleagues and me prior to the speech.”

Barron called himself a “student of history” in his own statement shared with Fox News Digital accepting the invitation.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Liz Elkind.

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5 things to watch in Trump’s primetime address to Congress

POLITICS5 things to watch in Trump’s primetime address to Congress
Five things to watch as President Donald Trump gives his first major primetime address to Congress and the nation since returning to power in the White House six weeks ago.

President Donald Trump, the consummate showman, is hyping his primetime address Tuesday to a joint session of Congress.

“TOMORROW NIGHT WILL BE BIG. I WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS!” the president touted in a social media post on the eve of his first major speech to Congress since the start of his second presidential administration six weeks ago.

Trump has been moving at warp speed since returning to the White House on Jan. 20, and he is expected to use the closely watched address to tout his many accomplishments — some of which have been very controversial.

During his first six weeks back in office, Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders and actions — 82 as of Tuesday, according to a Fox News count. His moves not only fulfilled some of his major campaign trail promises, but also allowed the returning president to flex his executive muscles, quickly putting his stamp on the federal government and making major cuts to the federal workforce, dramatically altering U.S. foreign policy, implementing steep tariffs on the nation’s top trading partners and also settling some long-standing grievances.

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When is the SOTU address typically delivered?

The president traditionally delivers a State of the Union Address in the second, third, and fourth years of their term.

When the president delivers a speech to a Joint Session of Congress in the first year of their term, it’s not given that title.

The reasoning is because the State of the Union is traditionally a forum for the nation’s leader to deliver an update on their stewardship of the country over the past year.

President Donald Trump would not be able to give such a speech this year because he only took office in late January. But his address to Congress Tuesday will not look much different, with the pomp and circumstance of both events being virtually the same.

Trump is still expected to deliver remarks to a chamber full of lawmakers, Cabinet secretaries, Supreme Court justices and other invited guests. It will be his first address to a joint session since taking office for his second term.

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House Democrat leader to bring New Yorkers, including Ukrainian refugee, to Trump’s joint address

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., announced on Tuesday that he will bring three New York residents to attend President Donald Trump’s joint address with him.

The women are Pamela Lockley, Gretchen Jefferson and Kate Myron. The Democratic leader also noted that he invited family members of the October 7 terrorist attack victims, but it is unclear if any accepted the invite.

In a press release, Jeffries said that Lockley “has two adult daughters who are disabled and rely on Medicaid to access the care they need.”

“Ms. Lockley receives 75% of her monthly income through Social Security benefits and is one of the thousands of New Yorkers who count on SNAP to put healthy food on the table,” the statement read. “Without these crucial benefits, she wouldn’t be able to support herself or her family. Ms. Lockley and the millions of seniors like her deserve better than the Republican scheme to cut Social Security, destroy Medicaid and slash nutritional assistance.”

Jefferson, on the other hand, is reliant on Medicare and is a colon cancer survivor, according to Jeffries’ release.

“Without Medicaid, she wouldn’t have been able to afford the health care that saved her life. Republican cuts to this essential program would be devastating for Gretchen and so many others,” the Democrat said.

His third guest, Myron, is a refugee of the Russia-Ukraine war who was forced to flee when Russia invaded her country in 2022. She moved to the U.S. in 2023, and Jeffries said that she is “one of the millions of people whose lives have been upended by Putin’s war of aggression.”

“Her presence reminds us that despite the insistence by some that we should abandon our partners, we must continue to stand with the Ukrainian people until victory is won,” Jeffries’ statement added.

Fox News’ Kelly Phares contributed to this report.

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House Democrats pick their own designated survivor ahead of Trump’s speech: report

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., will be the designated survivor for the House Democrats on Tuesday night ahead of the Joint Session of Congress, ABC7 reported.

He was picked by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies for the role, which serves as a safeguard in the event of a major incident that would result in mass fatalities of lawmakers and leaders. Thompson has served in the role multiple times before, according to the Press Democrat in 2023.

It’s unclear who the other designated survivors will be, including from the Trump administration. The designated survivor for the president is a member of the cabinet, as both President Donald Trump
and Vice President JD Vance will be side-by-side each other. The White House’s designated survivor pick in the line of succession would ascend to the presidency in the event everyone else ahead of them died.

In Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address, former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt served in the role to isolate away from the widely watched remarks, in which dignitaries are packed into the House of Representatives. The most recent presidential designated survivor is former Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who had the duty during President Joe Biden’s last State of the Union last year.

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Conservatives flip script on Senate Dems pushing identical talking points against Trump

Conservatives on social media slammed Senate Democrats for posting videos with identical scripts ahead of President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress Tuesday night.

Mashups of the identical videos, which included Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., leading the “Sh– That Ain’t True” social media campaign, have gone viral on social media. Many conservatives on social media, including Elon Musk, are asking, “Who is writing the words that the puppets speak? That’s the real question.”

Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., led the charge with their matching social media videos this morning. About two dozen Senate Democrats have since followed with their own identical posts. 

The video begins with a clip of Trump vowing to “bring prices down starting on day one” followed by a cut-in of the Senate Democrats saying: “Sh– That Ain’t True? That’s what you just heard.”

“Since Day One of Donald Trump’s presidency, prices are up, not down. Inflation is getting worse, not better. Prices of groceries, gas, housing, rent, eggs – they’re all getting more expensive. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has done nothing to lower costs for you,” the Democrats said in near-perfect unison.

POLITICSConservatives flip script on Senate Dems pushing identical talking points against Trump: ‘Like robots’
Conservatives on social media criticized Senate Democrats for posting videos with identical scripts ahead of President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress Tuesday night.

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Lawmakers reveal top issues they want Trump to hammer home during joint address to Congress

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill who spoke to Fox News Digital revealed the issues they would like President Donald Trump to discuss during his address to Congress on Tuesday night.

Trump is scheduled to deliver a speech at 9 p.m. Tuesday to a joint session of Congress, meaning both members of the House and the Senate will convene at the U.S. Capitol to hear the president speak.

Democrat lawmakers said the president should focus on costs during the speech, and they hope he “keeps it short.”

“The economy, how we’re going to lower the cost of groceries,” Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., told Fox News Digital when asked what Trump should focus on.

“Actually doing something that is going to help lower the cost of living for the American people, something he promised to do, but since he’s become president, the cost of living has gone up for people,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. “I hope he keeps it short, because he tends to keep it long-winded.”

“Actually doing something that is going to help lower the cost of living for the American people, something he promised to do, but since he’s become president, the cost of living has gone up for people,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. “I hope he keeps it short, because he tends to keep it long-winded.”

“I’ve heard the speech. It’s going to be incredible. It’s going to be epic. It’s going to be historic,” Mace told Fox. “You will laugh. You will cry. And you’ll question what the hell has been going on the last four years under the Joe Biden administration. The Democrats have lost their effing minds.”

Find out what other lawmakers want out of Trump’s speech on Tuesday.

This is an excerpt from a story by Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady.

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Democratic lawmakers plan to disrupt Trump’s address to Congress: report

Some Democratic lawmakers are reportedly planning to disrupt President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday evening.

Six politicians, whose names were not released, confirmed the plans to Axios. The report hinted that the plans may include using noisemakers, walking out, bringing protest signs or even using egg cartons to illustrate inflated egg prices.

“The part that we all agree on is that this is not business as usual and we would like to find a way — productively — to express our outrage,” one lawmaker told Axios.

“There are definitely a lot of constituents that really want Democrats to disrupt and there are constituents who feel like that just plays into his hands,” a different lawmaker said.

Later on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital that Trump is prepared for whatever reactions that the Democrats bring.

“Democrats behaving like children would be the least surprising news of the night,” Leavitt told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

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The president is driving the agenda, says former Trump 2024 campaign co-chair manager

Former Trump 2024 campaign co-chair manager Chris LaCivita previews President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on “Special Report.”

“Here we are, less than 100 days in, and the president driving the agenda. He’s driving the agenda on taxes, he’s driving the agenda on development and and job creation… and it’s so much to process. News cycles used to last two days, we’re lucky if they last two minutes, just the volume of things,” LaCivita said in his first TV interview since Trump’s successful campaign. “It’s hard to keep up with for a lot of people. For those of us that know the president, he doesn’t sleep. He’s a tireless worker, he’s a tireless advocate, and he’s going to stop at nothing.”

LaCivita also touched on Trump’s economic policies, arguing that it is important the president stay focused on issues such as inflation.

“We have oil right now at the lowest price its been in two years… that’s going to have a cascading impact on inflation,” he said.

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GOP lawmaker from Ohio to hand out American flags to Republican senators for Trump’s speech

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, will be handing out U.S. flags to Republican senators ahead of President Donald Trump’s joint Congressional speech, the senator told Fox News in an interview.

“We have enough for every Republican senator,” he said of the flags. “The idea is very simple. Look, I came to this country from somewhere else. I became a naturalized citizen. I stood in front of a really angry Marine who put his finger in my face and said, ‘You better remember that you only bow to one flag.’ And I think the idea that we have Democrats that bring the flags of other countries into the chamber is a disgrace.”

“So they’re going to do that, and they take a moment to try to make a show about why we should care more about some foreign land that most Ohioans don’t know where it is,” he continued. “Then it’s going to be an opportunity for Republicans to remind the country that we stand with America.”

Moreno said they are “little flags” that can fit into lawmakers’ jacket pockets, adding the “idea is to show patriotism.”

“I think American politicians should only honor and respect the American flag and no other flag,” he said.

Fox News’ producer Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

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GOP rebels fire warning shot in shutdown showdown: No DOGE, no deal

A group of conservative lawmakers in the House and Senate is warning Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., against agreeing to restrict the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a spending bill as the government shutdown deadline of March 14 draws near.

The sometimes-resistant batch of Republicans is also committing to backing a clean stopgap bill for the rest of the fiscal year to avoid a shutdown, which they’ve opposed in the past. 

“[W]e are deeply concerned about recent reports of Democrats’ demands for a government funding agreement that would perpetuate the unsustainable status quo of wasteful spending,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., joined by several others, wrote to the congressional leaders. 

The group of signers included several fiscal hawks in the House and Senate, many of whom have opposed stopgap spending bills on principle, preferring full-year appropriations bills. 

“Any attempt to use government funding legislation to dilute the president’s constitutional authority to save taxpayer dollars must be rejected outright,” the lawmakers wrote.

In this circumstance, the group of congressional conservatives said they’re willing to back a “clean” continuing resolution, or short-term spending bill, that lasts the rest of the year, for the sake of avoiding a government shutdown. 

But they also made it very clear to Johnson and Thune: Don’t let Democrats restrict DOGE in the spending bill. 

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News’ Julia Johnson and Elizabeth Elkind.

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Lawmakers reveal top issues they want Trump to hammer home during joint address to Congress

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill who spoke to Fox News Digital revealed the issues they would like President Donald Trump to discuss during his address to Congress on Tuesday night.

“The economy, how we’re going to lower the cost of groceries,” Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., told Fox News Digital when asked what Trump should focus on.

“Actually doing something that is going to help lower the cost of living for the American people, something he promised to do, but since he’s become president, the cost of living has gone up for people,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.

“I hope he keeps it short, because he tends to keep it long-winded.”Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital that she had already heard the speech and that it is going to be “historic.”

“I’ve heard the speech. It’s going to be incredible. It’s going to be epic. It’s going to be historic,” Mace told Fox. “You will laugh. You will cry. And you’ll question what the hell has been going on the last four years under the Joe Biden administration. The Democrats have lost their effing minds.”

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., said the president should focus on farmers, while Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., said the president should highlight “his vision for the country.”

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., thinks the president should focus on the “promises made” and “promises kept” during his first month in the White House. 

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said Democrats are “not working with us at all” but that Trump has “got a great track record to celebrate” during his speech.  

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News’ Aubrie Spady.

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Karoline Leavitt sends message to Dems who may disrupt Trump’s address to Congress

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reacted on “Fox & Friends” to the news that Democrats are reportedly planning protests and disruptions to President Donald Trump‘s primetime address to Congress Tuesday night.

Asked about the protests, Leavitt said that Democrats should be rethinking their response to the speech, and the ideas Trump is reportedly slated to highlight to the American people Tuesday night.

“I think, frankly, the Democrats should think about if they should stand up in applause for some of the things President Trump will be talking about,” Leavitt said, arguing that Trump is “bringing common sense back to this country.”

Her remarks come as some Democrats have pushed for major disruptions to Trump’s speech to Congress, the first of his second presidential term.

Some have suggested major disruptions to Trump’s address, ranging from outright walkouts to using noisemakers in an effort to drown out Trump’s speech, Axios reported.

Some of the more moderate ideas floated reportedly include carrying egg cartons to highlight costs, carrying protest signs, and coordinating outfits.

Protests during the president’s annual speech to Congress are not uncommon. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up Trump’s speech to the joint session of lawmakers in 2020, and one protester was arrested for disrupting President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in 2024.

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‘She’s really this dumb’: House Dem ripped after calling Trump ‘enemy of the United States’

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D–Mo., was ripped by conservatives on social media this week after claiming President Donald Trump is “occupying the White House” and is an “enemy to the United States.”

“Unfortunately, we have someone that is occupying the White House, and as far as I’m concerned, he is an enemy to the United States,” Crockett said on MSNBC on Sunday. “I don’t know what it’s going to take to get people to wake up.”

Conservatives on social media quickly pushed back against Crockett.

“Almost sounds like this ‘defender of democracy’ would support an insurrection,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham posted on X. 

“When are we going to hold members of Congress accountable for their words and actions?” retired professor Carol Swain posted on X. 

“Dangerous election denier stuff here,” former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., posted on X.

“By all means, continue this leaderless, tired charade and keep losing elections,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., posted on X. 

“Jasmine Crockett labeled Trump as an enemy of America while simultaneously saying she doesn’t understand anything that’s going on,” conservative influencer account Gunther Eagleman posted on X. “She’s really this dumb.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Crockett’s office for comment but did not immediately hear back.

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Russell Brand shows support for Trump ahead of highly-anticipated congressional address

Comedian Russell Brand showed support for President Donald Trump
in a social media post on Tuesday afternoon, hours before the president’s address was scheduled to take place.

In an X post on Tuesday, Brand called the Republican president “a brilliant bulwark.”

“Even if you hate Trump, you have to acknowledge that he’s a brilliant bulwark against globalism, and that’s the real threat we face,” the British-born actor wrote.

Back in June, Brand made headlines by expressing support for Trump on his podcast  “Stay Free with Russell Brand.”

“In a straight choice between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, if you care about democracy, if you care about freedom, I don’t know how you could do anything other than vote for Donald Trump for precisely the reasons that they claim that you can’t,” he said at the time.

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The fight for Laken Riley at the 2024 SOTU foreshadowed one of Trump’s first acts in office

Laken Riley, a 22-year-old University of Georgia nursing student, was killed in February 2024 while jogging on campus by an illegal Venezuelan immigrant, Jose Ibarra.

Ibarra had been previously arrested but was never detained by ICE. He received a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole from Judge Patrick Haggard in November 2024.

During his 2024 State of the Union address, former President Joe Biden was heckled multiple times by Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to “say her name” in reference to the slain college student. Before his address, Biden was confronted by Greene and was heard telling the congresswoman, “I’ll say her name.”

When Biden spoke of Riley, he referred to Ibarra as “an illegal.” In the days following, he received backlash from Democrats for using the term, as his Department of Homeland Security had previously instructed administration staff to stop using both that term and similar language.

In March 2024, Senate Republican lawmakers introduced the Laken Riley Act, a measure requiring federal immigration authorities to arrest and detain illegal immigrants charged with local theft or burglary.

As his first legislative victory in the new administration, President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law on Jan. 29, 2025.

“This horrific atrocity should never have been allowed to happen,” Trump told reporters at the time. “And as president, I’m fighting every single day to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.”

Posted by Gabriele Regalbuto
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Former President Joe Biden delivered the latest SOTU address in history

Last year, former President Joe Biden spoke in front of a Democrat-dominated Senate at his third
State of the Union address
, which was held on March 7, 2024.

The early March date marked the latest a State of the Union address had ever been delivered by a president. In 2022, Biden delivered his first SOTU address on March 1. 

Historically, until this year, Biden was the only serving president to deliver in-person remarks to a joint session of Congress outside of January or February.

However, House Speaker Mike Johnson
invited President Donald Trump to deliver his first SOTU address of his second administration on March 4, 2025.

In 2019, Trump cited an “unprecedented economic boom” during his SOTU address.

“We have created 5.3 million new jobs and importantly added 600,000 new manufacturing jobs — something which almost everyone said was impossible to do, but the fact is, we are just getting started,” Trump said at the time.

“Wages are rising at the fastest pace in decades, and growing for blue-collar workers, who I promised to fight for, faster than anyone else,” he continued. “Nearly 5 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps. The U.S. economy is growing almost twice as fast today as when I took office, and we are considered far and away the hottest economy anywhere in the world.”

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Here’s a recap of Joe Biden’s last State of the Union speech

President Joe Biden’s final State of the Union address last March featured criticisms of President Donald Trump and harsh words for Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

“What makes our moment rare is freedom and democracy are under attack both at home and overseas at the very same time,” Biden said. “Overseas, Putin’s Russia is on the march, invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond. If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you he will not.”

He criticized those who blocked funding for Ukraine, and took several shots at “my predecessor.” 

“My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6th,” Biden told the audience near the beginning of his State of the Union speech. “I will not do that.”

He also touted the now-defunct Senate immigration bill, at which point Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shouted “Laken Riley! Say her name!”

Laken Riley,” Biden said. “An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That’s right. But how many of thousands of people are being killed by legals? To her parents, I say my heart goes out to you. Having lost children myself, I understand.”

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AOC will not attend Trump’s joint address, will host an Instagram Live afterward

“Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. announced on social media Tuesday that she will be skipping President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress and will instead be hosting an Instagram Live after the fact.

“I’m not going to the Joint Address,” the Democratic representative posted on Bluesky Tuesday. “I will be live posting and chatting with you all here instead. Then going on IG Live after.”

Fox News Digital reached out to AOC’s office for additional comment.

AOC’s decision to opt out of Trump’s speech comes on the heels of several other Democrats also announcing that they will not be in attendance.

Dems, including Sen. Chris Murphy, D-CT., have planned to boycott Trump’s address, and will hold a prebuttal of the speech instead.

“I think that State of the Union speech is going to be a farce. I think it’s going to be a MAGA pep rally, not a serious talk to the nation,” Murphy told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

Other Democrats are advocating for major disruptions during the speech, ranging from walkouts to using noisemakers to drown out Trump’s speech, according to an Axios report.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital that Trump is prepared for whatever the Democrats might throw at him.

Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

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DeSantis takes victory lap on Florida’s ‘momentous immigration legislation’ enforcing Trump agenda

POLITICSDeSantis takes victory lap on Florida’s ‘momentous immigration legislation’ enforcing Trump agendaFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis uses State of State address to tout sweeping bills passed during special legislative session to enforce President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis says that when it comes to implementing President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, Florida is “rocking and rolling.”

Florida’s two-term governor used a portion of his State of the State address on Tuesday to spotlight a sweeping package of immigration laws passed a few weeks ago during a special session of the GOP-dominated legislature.

“We are convening for the regular legislative session having already enacted groundbreaking legislation to fulfill the historic mission of delivering on President Donald Trump’s mandate to end the illegal immigration crisis once and for all,” DeSantis said in his address to lawmakers inside the state Capitol in Tallahassee.

And the governor touted that “no state has done more, and no state did it sooner than we did in Florida.”

Florida’s new measures stiffen immigration enforcement by state and local law enforcement. 

“Thanks to the recent legislation, it is now a crime to enter Florida illegally, the days of catch and release are over, and all state and local law enforcement have a duty to assist in interior immigration enforcement efforts,” the governor said.

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser.

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Democratic congresswomen to wear pink to joint address in protest

The Democratic Women’s Caucus told its members to wear pink to President Donald Trump‘s 2025 joint address in an act of protest. 

New Mexico Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, who chairs the caucus, told TIME Magazine on Monday that wearing pink is meant to “signal our protest of Trump’s policies which are negatively impacting women and families.”

Leger Fernández also explained during a caucus press conference Tuesday that some members will still wear white to the speech “to remind people about the suffragists and the importance of women’s vote.”

She continued on to say that “women are claiming pink as a color of protest, as a color of power.”

“And we are protesting what is happening right now, both with the Republicans in the House, in the Senate and and at the White House,” Fernández said. “And so that’s why you’re seeing pink as a color of protest.”

“We’re standing together in pink—the color of the Women’s March, the color of persistence—as we continue to fight for our rights. This is a movement by, for, and about women,” Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-MI, one of the Democratic Women’s Caucus vice chairs, said in a statement. 

A handful of other Democrats have voiced their support for major disruptions at the event, ranging from walkouts to using noisemakers to drown out Trump’s speech, Axios reported Tuesday.

Others have also floated reportedly carrying egg cartons to highlight costs, carrying protest signs, and coordinating outfits.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital that Trump is prepared for whatever the Democrats might throw at him.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contribued to this report.

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Zelenskyy says Ukraine ‘ready’ for peace negotiations, calls Trump meeting ‘regrettable’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called his meeting at the White House last week “regrettable” on Tuesday and said he is ready to pursue peace under President Donald Trump’s leadership.

Zelenskyy made the concession in a lengthy statement posted to social media on Tuesday, saying Ukraine “is ready to come to the negotiating table.” He added that last week’s meeting “did not go the way it was supposed to be,” and he said, “it is time to make things right.”

“My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Zelenskyy visited the White House on Friday amid negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, and was poised to sign a minerals agreement that would allow the U.S. access to Ukraine’s minerals in exchange for U.S. support in the country.

But after a tense exchange between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy over whether diplomacy was the correct avenue to secure a peace deal and whether Russian President Vladimir Putin could be trusted, Trump kicked Zelenskyy out of the White House and said the Ukrainian leader could return when he was ready for peace.

Zelenskyy’s statement on Tuesday came less than a day after Trump paused all aid to Ukraine on Monday night. A senior Trump administration official told Fox News that military aid will remain on hold until Ukrainian leaders show a commitment to good faith peace negotiations.

“This is not permanent termination of aid, it’s a pause,” the official said. “The orders are going out right now.”

Read more about a possible mineral deal between Zelenskyy and Trump.

Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

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Trump to deliver first address of his second term to joint session of Congress

POLITICSTrump to deliver first address of his second term to joint session of CongressPresident Trump to address a joint session of Congress Tuesday night for the first time in his second term and is expected to outline his plans for “The Renewal of the American Dream.”

President Donald Trump
 is set to address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night for the first time in his second term and is expected to deliver a speech to outline his plans for the nation under the theme of “The Renewal of the American Dream.” 

The president is scheduled to speak before all members of Congress on Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST. 

The speech is not officially called the “State of the Union” because Trump has not been in office for a full year, though it operates in a similar fashion. The yearly presidential address is intended to showcase the administration’s achievements and policies. 

The president has been working at a breakneck pace to align the federal government with his “Make America Great Again” policies. The president took more than 200 executive actions on his first day in office on Jan. 20 and has not slowed the pace since. 

White House officials exclusively told Fox News Digital that the speech, themed “The Renewal of the American Dream,” will feature four main sections: accomplishments from Trump’s second term thus far at home and abroad; what the Trump administration has done for the economy; the president’s renewed push for Congress to pass additional funding for border security; and the president’s plans for peace around the globe.

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News’ Brooke Singman.

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Who’s in the audience for Trump’s speech to Congress?

POLITICSRiley Gaines, DOGE, Silk Road: Who’s in the audience for Trump speech to Congress?
Fox News Digital spoke with members of Congress about who they are bringing to President Donald Trump’s joint address on Tuesday night.

Former NCAA athlete Riley Gaines, Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, and a state-level DOGE official are just some of the faces Americans will get a glimpse of inside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday night.

Members of Congress spoke with Fox News Digital about their guests for President Donald Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress for his second term.

Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, said she invited Gaines after they both attended a White House event where Trump signed an executive order aimed at limiting transgender athletes’ participation in school sports. Girls’ sports was a top issue for Miller-Meeks during her close House race in 2024.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told Fox News Digital he would be bringing Ross Ulbricht, founder of the darkweb platform Silk Road.

In another nod to the Trump administration’s work so far, Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, is attending the speech with the chair of her home state’s own DOGE task force.

This in an excerpt of an article from Elizabeth Elkind and Julia Johnson.

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What is the State of the Union address?

The State of the Union is an annual address given by the President of the United States to a joint session of Congress about the current condition of the nation. 

The speech typically takes place near the beginning of the calendar year and is considered an opportunity for the president to share the successes, policy goals, achievements and failures of their administration. Interestingly enough, this address has not emerged out of some esoteric tradition but is a literal constitutional responsibility of the Office of the President.

Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution reads, “The president must give the Congress information on the ‘State of the Union’ ‘from time to time.’” While “from time to time” allows some personal discretion, since the 1930s, the address has been given annually.

The president’s update to Congress on the state of the union hasn’t always been a speech to a joint session of Congress. Before modern U.S. history, some presidents sent a letter. But for nearly a century, presidents have opted to give a live address to Congress.

The State of the Union has been the origin of some of the most famous speeches in U.S. history. Abraham Lincoln’s 1862 speech codified the sentiment of America as the “last best hope of earth.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s
1942 speech advanced his “four freedoms” wartime goals for the U.S. while fighting the Axis powers, and in 2003, George W. Bush advanced his claim that Iran, North Korea, and Iraq formed an “Axis of Evil” who were pursuing “weapons of mass destruction.”

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What is there to know about President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress tonight?

The State of the Union takes place every year, typically within the first three calendar months. 

The speech fulfills the president’s obligations under Article II Section 3 of the Constitution which requires him or her to “give to the Congress information” about the nation’s state of affairs and give recommendations for legislative action.

From Thomas Jefferson until Woodrow Wilson, the president typically delivered his his State of the Union messaged in writing to Congress. 

The rise of radio and later television expanded the reach of the president’s address, with President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 beginning the tradition of delivering the address in prime time to reach a wider television audience. 

This year, President Donald Trump will stand at the House lectern in front of Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Trump will likely celebrate the work of his government watchdog agency DOGE led by SpaceX founder Elon Musk, the early successes of his Cabinet officials and changes in domestic and foreign policy versus the Biden administration.

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The starkest impact made by President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress was the boldness of his vision and the absolute absence of any alternative from the Democratic Party. 

Whether you voted for Trump or not last November, it was hard on Tuesday night not to see someone seeking to put his agenda into practice. The president made clear to lawmakers and indeed the world, that his overarching goal is American renewal and the reinvigoration of the American Dream.

As an American patriot who remembers JFK’s inaugural address in 1961, and remembers Ronald Reagan’s inaugural address in 1980, it’s hard not to see the president’s speech in the same terms. 

TRUMP PROMISES ‘THIS WILL BE OUR GREATEST ERA’ IN JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS

To be sure, the challenges the president faces are no less great. It remains unclear, at the very least, whether he will succeed in bringing down inflation, getting prices under control, ending the war in Ukraine and reasserting American strength both at home and abroad. There is no reason to believe, after his speech to Congress, that he is any closer to accomplishing his goals than he was before. 

Still, it is very hard for anyone who is a neutral observer to do anything other than recognize the forward-looking, expansive nature of Trump’s vision. 

At the same time, it does not appear to me that the political party that I continue to belong to, with increasing difficulty, has any answers at all. 

The use of signage in the House Chamber, such as “false,” “save Medicaid,” “protect veterans,” only underscored the absolute limits of my party’s ability to articulate differences. 

It is as if the Democrats have gone beyond even Clinton campaign strategist James Carville’s advice to stay silent and “play possum.” They have become trivial and almost irrelevant. 

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I write this with sadness. I am not certain that there are any clear answers that we have to the challenges we face, despite a clear agenda for America and a clear set of policy prescriptions that the president outlined. While I was uplifted by his rhetoric, his promises and the use of personal examples, I was depressed that what I saw did not represent the best of what our country stands for. 

That the Democrats could only fuss and sit, mute, left me cold. And it left me thinking that our adversaries saw, dramatically, how polarized and divided we remain. 

I well understand that in praising President Trump’s speech, it appears that I, a mainstream Democrat of 50 years’ experience, have somehow changed parties. 

Nothing is farther from the truth. Nonetheless, anyone who cares about America has to support the president’s overarching goals on the economy, inflation, the southern border, on crime and embracing peace around the world.

Watching Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin deliver the Democratic response to the president’s speech, I felt saddened that she had to introduce herself, by dint of her credentials, and explain who she is. That is largely a metaphor for the challenges and divisions we face. 

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We are no closer to solving our problems, as the polls have shown recently. But we did get a vision on Tuesday night. We did get a clear sense that we have a president who is a bold, transformational leader dedicated to revitalizing the American Dream. Whether he succeeds or not is still very much up to question. 

People of goodwill can and will disagree with his policy descriptions. But on this night, it was hard not to be proud of the vision he laid out for the renewal of the American Dream. 

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Lawmakers consider punishing disruptive Dem who got booted from Trump’s address

FIRST ON FOX: A resolution by Rep. Troy Nehls, R-TX, is being circulated among Republican lawmakers on Wednesday to punish the House Democrat who was thrown out of President Donald Trump’s speech for protesting.

Nehls is leading the censure resolution against Rep. Al Green, D-TX, and is expected to make it public sometime today, a source with knowledge of the document told Fox News Digital.

It accuses Green of having “willfully disrupted the joint session, remained defiant,” and “brought disrepute to the United States Congress,” according to a draft text viewed by Fox News Digital.

The 77-year-old Democrat was removed from Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday night after repeatedly disrupting the beginning of the president’s speech.

‘SHE’S REALLY THIS DUMB’: HOUSE DEM RIPPED AFTER CALLING TRUMP ‘ENEMY OF THE UNITED STATES’

He shouted, “You have no mandate,” at Trump as he touted Republican victories in the House, Senate and White House.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, had Green removed by the U.S. Sergeant-At-Arms.

Green remained defiant when he stopped to speak with the White House press pool on the first floor of the U.S. Capitol after being thrown out of the second floor House chamber, where Trump was speaking.

“I’m willing to suffer whatever punishment is available to me. I didn’t say to anyone, don’t punish me. I’ve said I’ll accept the punishment,” Green said, according to the White House press pool report.

“But it’s worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up against this president’s desire to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.”

Republicans, meanwhile, responded to Green and other Democratic attempts to disrupt the speech with fury.

The House Freedom Caucus announced on Wednesday morning that it would be filing its own censure resolution against Green.

“What they’ve shown is ridiculous to the American people,” House GOP Policy Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-OK, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday night. “I can’t see how any American would think that’s right.”

Rep. Buddy Carter, R-GA, told Fox News Digital, “The Democrats’ behavior last night was disappointing. There must be consequences for Rep. Al Green’s outburst, which displayed a clear lack of decorum and respect for the Office of the Presidency.”

STATE TROOPERS, NYPD DESCEND ON AOC’S ‘RED LIGHT’ NEIGHBORHOOD TO CLAMP DOWN ON RAMPANT PROSTITUTION, CRIME

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House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-LA, told Fox News Digital that leadership would be “looking at” whether to punish Green.

Johnson signaled to reporters on Tuesday night that such a move would have his support.

Fox News Digital reached out to Green’s office for a response but did not immediately hear back.

Supreme Court makes ruling on nearly $2 billion in frozen USAID payments

The Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s request to block a lower court’s order for the administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid money, delivering a near-term reprieve to international aid groups and contractors seeking payment for previously completed projects.

In a 5-4 ruling, the justices said that the Feb. 26 deadline imposed by a lower court for the Trump administration to pay the funds had already expired, and directed the case back to the district court to clarify any additional details on payment.

“Given that the deadline in the challenged order has now passed, and in light of the ongoing preliminary injunction proceedings, the District Court should clarify what obligations the Government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines,” the Court said.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.

TRUMP TEMPORARILY THWARTED IN DOGE MISSION TO END USAID

“Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic ‘No,’ but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise,” Alito wrote. “I am stunned.”

Chief Justice John Roberts had agreed last Wednesday to temporarily pause a lower court’s decision requiring the Trump administration to pay by 11:59 p.m. all outstanding invoices to foreign aid groups, an amount totaling roughly $1.9 billion – a timeline the Justice Department had argued was “impossible” to comply with. Roberts did not give a reason for agreeing to pause the order issued by U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, a Biden appointee, though the chief justice had widely been expected to refer the matter to the full court for review. 

Importantly, the pause prevented foreign aid groups from filing a motion of civil contempt against the Trump administration— a legal maneuver that employees from the affected groups said in interviews this week could have expedited their process to claw back the unpaid debt.

At issue is how quickly the Trump administration needs to pay the nearly $2 billion owed to aid groups and contractors for completed projects funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), at a time when the administration has issued a blanket freeze on all foreign spending in the name of government “efficiency” and eliminating waste.

In a new court filing Monday, Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris said that while the plaintiffs’ claims were likely “legitimate,” the time U.S. District Judge Amir Ali gave them to pay the outstanding invoices was “not logistically or technically feasible.”

Harris also argued Monday that the order could be a violation of executive branch authorities granted by the Constitution to an elected president.

Ordering the Trump administration to make payments on a timeline of the lower court’s choosing, and “without regard to whether the requests are legitimate, or even due yet,” Harris said, “intrudes on the president’s foreign affairs powers” and executive branch oversight when it comes to distributing foreign aid.

HERE’S WHY DOZENS OF LAWSUITS SEEKING TO QUASH TRUMP’S EARLY ACTIONS AS PRESIDENT ARE FAILING

Plaintiffs, for their part, rejected that notion in full. They argued in their own Supreme Court filing that the lower court judge had ordered the Trump administration to begin making the owed foreign aid payments more than two weeks ago – a deadline they said the government simply failed to meet, or to even take steps to meet – indicating that the administration had no plans to make good on fulfilling that request.

The Trump administration “never took steps towards compliance” with Judge Ali’s order requiring the administration to unfreeze the federal funds to pay the $1.9 billion in owed project payments, attorneys for plaintiffs argued in their own Supreme Court filing. 

They also rejected the administration’s assertion in court last week that it would need “multiple weeks” to restart the payment system.

Rather, they said, the Trump administration had moved too quickly to dismantle the systems required to send payments to foreign aid groups in the first place— and to purge the many USAID staffers who could have facilitated a smoother, faster repayment process.

“All of these invoices have already been approved by the front-line managers at USAID, and it’s really these payment bottlenecks that the government has itself created” that have caused the problems with repayment, one individual with knowledge of the USAID payments and contractors affected told Fox News Digital in an interview.

LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS

The high court challenge comes as many of the foreign aid groups who sued the administration earlier this year have already been stripped of the bulk of their funding. This aligns with President Donald Trump’s stated plans to cut some 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts, and to slash an additional $60 billion in foreign aid spending.

The White House has not yet released a list of which contracts and grants were scheduled for elimination or those to be continued. But critics have argued that the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. investment and presence around the world risks economic harm, reputational damage, and new security risks, both at home and abroad.

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Scott Greytak, a director at the group U.S. Transparency International, said in a statement that cutting such a large amount of U.S. foreign aid carries significant economic and security risks. The elimination of U.S. funding for certain projects, especially in countries with higher risks for corruption, could “open the door for increased cross-border corruption, fraud, and other crimes,” he said. 

This could create new obstacles for U.S. businesses seeking to open or expand into foreign markets, said Greytak, whose group has active chapters in more than 100 countries globally, and could serve “as an invitation for U.S. competitors, especially China, to fill the vacuum created by the absence of U.S. engagement.”

Liberal hosts slam Trump for honoring 13-year-old cancer survivor in address to Congress

MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow and Nicolle Wallace criticized President Donald Trump for featuring DJ Daniel, a 13-year-old cancer survivor, during his address Tuesday evening to a joint session of Congress.

“For the record, and this is disgusting, the president made a spectacle out of praising a young man who thus far survived pediatric cancer, as if the president had something to do with that,” Maddow said Tuesday evening in response to Trump’s address

“This was in the midst of him praising [the Department of Government Efficiency],” she said. “The DOGE cuts, among other things, have cut off funding for ongoing research into pediatric cancer.”

13-YEAR-OLD CANCER SURVIVOR EARNS STANDING OVATION AS HE BECOMES SECRET SERVICE AGENT DURING TRUMP SPEECH

“But I think this was a lesson in finding one thing that you let yourself feel,” Wallace said, also responding to DJ’s viral moment during Trump’s speech. “And I let myself feel joy about DJ, and I hope he’s alive for another, you know, 95 years and I hope he lives the life he wants to live. He wants to be a cop. He knows what he wants to do, and maybe when you have childhood cancer, that crystallizes for you.”

“I hope he has a long life as a law enforcement officer,” she said. “But I hope he never has to defend the United States Capitol against Donald Trump’s supporters, and if he does, I hope he isn’t one of the six who loses his life to suicide, and I hope he isn’t one who has to testify against the people who carried out acts of seditious conspiracy and then lived to see Donald Trump pardon those people.”

TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM TRUMP’S ADDRESS TO JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS

Daniel received a standing ovation from a majority of the crowd, although some Democrats were seen on camera sitting at various times while Trump was speaking about the 13-year-old.

Trump explained that Daniel and his dad, who was in the crowd and held him up at one point during Trump’s remarks, have been on a “quest” to make his dream of becoming a police officer come true and explained that he has been made an honorary member of local police departments. 

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Black Lives Matter Plaza to get new look — and some people aren’t happy about it

Some Washingtonians are displeased after learning the days are numbered for the current look of the Black Lives Matter Plaza situated near the White House. 

Protesters were at the plaza on Tuesday night, FOX 5 DC reported, after Mayor Muriel Bowser posted about the “evolution” of the plaza to X, saying it will be a part of DC’s America 250 mural project, “where we will invite students and artists to create new murals across all eight wards.”

“The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a painful period, but now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference,” Bowser’s statement said, referencing a recently-introduced bill that calls for changing the plaza.”The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern.”

Some say the democratic mayor succumbed to pressure from both President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress.

FEDERAL JUDGE REVERSES TRUMP FIRING OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ APPEAL BOARD CHAIRWOMAN

Her move came one day after Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., introduced H.R. 1774. If passed, the bill would “withhold certain apportionment funds from the District of Columbia unless the Mayor of the District of Columbia removes the phrase Black Lives Matter from the street symbolically designated as Black Lives Matter Plaza, redesignates such street as Liberty Plaza, and removes such phrase from each website, document, and other material under the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia.”

The large yellow letters were painted, and the intersection renamed in the summer of 2020 during Trump’s first term, following days of chaotic protests at that location over police brutality following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and Breonna Taylor by Louisville police officers.  

FORMER REP LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART, BROTHER OF SITTING CONGRESSMAN, DEAD AT 70

Bowser’s approach to the protests brought her into direct conflict with Trump. The president at the time accused Bowser of losing control of her city and threatened to invoke his power to take over the Metropolitan Police Department. He didn’t follow through, but declared his own multi-agency lockdown that included helicopters flying at low altitudes.

“You never cared about Black Lives Mattering. You painting those words were performative,” Nee Nee Taylor, a founding member of the D.C. Black Lives Matter affiliate, said to Bowser on X.

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Bowser’s office did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry about when the changes to the plaza might take place. 

Trump admin investigating Social Security recipients listed between 100 and 360 years old

President Donald Trump said his administration is investigating what he described as “shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud” in the nation’s Social Security program, during his address to Congress on Tuesday.

Trump pointed to government databases listing millions of Social Security recipients that are over 100 years old, some of whom are reportedly “over 160 years old.” He also claimed one person who was allegedly 360 years old was listed in the database. 

“We have a healthier country than I thought,” Trump quipped, nodding to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. 

TREASURY DEPARTMENT SAYS DOGE WILL HAVE ‘READ ONLY’ ACCESS TO PAYMENT SYSTEMS IN LETTER TO CONGRESS

“Money is being paid to many of them,” he added, noting that this issue “really hurts Social Security and harms our country.”

The comments come after billionaire Elon Musk, also in attendance on Tuesday, claimed that a preliminary review of Social Security records by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) found evidence that the safety net program is paying benefits to 150-year-olds. 

TRUMP NAMES TREASURY SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT AS ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU

Musk also posted a picture of a spreadsheet he said was from the Social Security database showing the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to false. It showed more than 17 million such records for people over the age of 100.

After DOGE, which aims to eliminate $2 trillion in wasteful government spending, gained access to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) internal systems, a Treasury Department official told Congress that the tech executive would have “read-only access” to the government’s payment system, emphasizing that the agency remains committed to safeguarding the system.

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In 2015, the SSA and its inspector general looked into the number of people in the system with no death record who were listed as being over the age of 112. SSA found 6.5 million number holders aged 112 or older with no death information in the system, but noted that other records suggested the majority of them were deceased. 

Of those, SSA issued payments to 266 number holders — though the IG’s review indicated only 13 beneficiaries were likely age 112 or older, while in the remaining 253 cases there were discrepancies in SSA’s records that indicated the beneficiary wasn’t actually that old. 

‘Gate lice’ run-ins have flyers demanding more airlines crack down on pesky travel trend

Travelers are calling on airlines to actively stop line-cutters during the boarding process.

American Airlines has already begun prohibiting people from boarding ahead of their proper zone, otherwise known as “gate lice.”

Last year, before Thanksgiving, American rolled out a new technology used during boarding that audibly alerts gate agents when a passenger is attempting to board ahead of their designated assignment, Fox News Digital reported.

AMERICAN AIRLINES PASSENGER CLAIMS TO WITNESS ‘GATE LICE’ CRACKDOWN AHEAD OF BOARDING

Other airlines have not yet adopted this protocol and travelers appear to be noticing the negative effects of gate lice.

A flight passenger took to the Reddit sub-thread r/unitedairlines to share their frustration surrounding the travel trend and how it negatively impacts other passengers.

“Kudos to [American Airlines] for taking the lead on thwarting annoying people who are either too clueless to board with their assigned group or just being devious in a bid to board faster,” the Reddit user wrote.

The user also said that gate lice affects how people stow carry-on luggage.

“With overhead bin space at a premium, this issue really matters. There’s nothing worse than having to store your carry-on [in] rows behind your seat and then having to wait until [everyone] deplanes before you can retrieve yours. And it happens.”

‘AISLE LICE’ IS LATEST AIR TRAVEL ANNOYANCE TO SPARK SOCIAL MEDIA DEBATE

Other Reddit users jumped in on the conversation to share their feelings about gate lice.

“As a gate agent, this annoys us just as much as the rest of you,” one user wrote. “Sometimes people are sneaky and tap the QR code on their phone so we can’t see the group number, but in the past few weeks especially we’ve started enforcing it. 

“Yeah, you get the occasional stink eye from someone who is in group one but it’s not worth the hassle of having to grab bags of the plane and check them there. Same with the families with kids; since I do the announcements I’ve started saying ‘infants’ instead of kids under 3,” the same user continued. 

Another user who said he or she recently flew on an international flight said that gate agents had turned people away for not boarding in their assigned group.

“they also had a flight attendant ensuring that every person boarding was only putting a single larger/roller carry-on in the overhead bin (no backpacks, jackets, etc. They were forcing people to have these under their seats), and you could only put your larger carry-on above your seat, even if there was an empty space you were walking by you could not use it if it was not above YOUR seat,” the person wrote.

AMERICAN AIRLINES CRACKS DOWN AGAINST ‘GATE LICE’ AS AIRPORT PASSENGERS SKIP LINES AMID BOARDING PROCESS

“I absolutely loved this. Everyone was able to get their bags in the overhead, it was close to where you were sitting, and it seemed that people who were used to this airline were not bothered by boarding later since they knew there would be space for their items.”

“I wish United and other carriers would enforce this. It made the entire boarding experience easier,” the user added.

Fox News Digital reached out to United Airlines and American Airlines for comment.

United has its own boarding process that it has followed since 2023, which is all about prioritizing the seat locations.

An internal memo was sent out by the Chicago-based airline, at the time, notifying staff about its boarding policy that has “economy passengers with window seats [boarding] in Group 3 followed by passengers with middle seats in Group 4 and passengers in aisle seats in Group 5,” FOX Business reported.

The seating plan, called WILMA, which stands for window-middle-aisle, will save up to two minutes on the boarding process for each flight. The change will affect all domestic and some international flights.

California-based etiquette expert Rosalinda Randall shared insight on why new technology may become necessary.

“There have always been passengers who try to get around the general boarding process. Today, it has become more prevalent. When caught, instead of admitting to it or shrugging with a clichéd, ‘No harm in trying,’ they become belligerent, still expecting to have their demands met,” Randall said.

“Gate lice may have different reasons for jumping ahead of their assigned zone. Other than having a tight connecting flight or traveling with a disabled passenger, wait your turn,” she added.

Randall said those who board ahead of their assigned zone are being “inconsiderate” if they choose to place their luggage in the “prime bin space.”

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“What’s next, stickers on our carry-ons with our seat assignment? When we don’t follow the simple guidelines, airlines are forced to create rules. And, yes, for those of us who try to follow the rules and practice courtesy, it stinks and is frustrating,” she said.

“If only common courtesy was practiced, AA or other airlines wouldn’t need to create a new position. As our social skills and courtesy weaken, creating a boarding tech position seems to be warranted,” Randall said.

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“Gone are the days when peer pressure, aka other passengers, would firmly remind the gate lice to go back to their designated zone. Today, speaking up can quickly turn into a brawl.”

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