A speech for supporters

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Thursday the 6th of March.

This is WORLD Radio. Thanks for listening! Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Up next: more reactions to an historic address to Congress.

President Donald Trump delivered a record-breaking 100-minute speech to lawmakers on Tuesday. He covered pressing conflicts both at home and abroad, setting the tone for the years ahead.

WORLD’s Carolina Lumetta has the story.

SPEAKER: Members are directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House and to cease any further disruptions.

CAROLINA LUMETTA: President Trump’s joint address to Congress started off with a ruckus.

SPEAKER: Mr. Green take your seat. Take your seat, sir.

Congressman Al Green, a Democrat from Texas, stood and shouted over the president, prompting the sergeant at arms to remove him from the chamber.

SPEAKER: Mr. President, you may continue.

TRUMP: Thank you. Over the past 6 weeks, I have signed nearly 100 executive orders and taken more than 400 executive actions of record. To restore common sense, safety, optimism, and wealth all across our wonderful land.

Most newly sworn-in presidents address a joint session of Congress in their first few months in office. Trump used his time to contrast his policies with those of his predecessor.

TRUMP: And we quickly achieved the lowest numbers of illegal border crossers ever recorded…The media and our friends in the Democrat party kept saying we needed new legislation. We must have legislation to secure the border. But it turned out that all we really needed was a new president. [APPLAUSE]

Trump invited 15 guests to sit in the gallery with first lady Melania Trump and called on them throughout this speech. One of them, Marc Fogel, is an American history teacher who was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian penal colony.

TRUMP: The previous administration barely lifted a finger to help him. They knew he was innocent, but they had no idea where to begin. But last summer, I promised his 95 year old mother, Malphine, that we would bring her boy safely back home. After 22 days in office, I did just that and they are here tonight.

The night also featured some heartwarming moments, like when Trump held up an executive order to rename a wildlife sanctuary after a 12-year-old Texas girl who was murdered by illegal immigrants last year. He also granted a lifelong dream to D.J. Daniel, a 13-year-old boy battling brain cancer.

TRUMP: Tonight, DJ we're going to do you the biggest honor of them all. I am asking our new Secret Service director, Sean Curran, to officially make you an agent of the United States Secret Service.

Despite recent tensions with world leaders, foreign policy played a small role in the speech. Trump repeated that he would impose tariffs on Mexico, China, and Canada. He said he wanted to reclaim the Panama Canal and possibly Greenland.

MAY: I'm not sure that President Trump knows what his next steps are.

Cliff May is the founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

MAY: I think he often plays it by ear. He improvises…

He says the Panama Canal discussion shows Trump is continuing a habit of throwing out ideas to jumpstart foreign policy conversations.

MAY: And he did mention again that Black Rock had bought the ports on either end and that he was glad and he said there’s more to come. I don't know what that ‘more to come’ is. I'm not sure he does. I'm not sure Secretary of State Marco Rubio does.

May says he appreciated Trump's emphasis in his speech on border security. He says it marked a departure from the Biden administration’s adoption of open immigration policies.

MAY: There was this concept that American citizens don't own this land that our borders should be open for anybody who wants to come and they should get here and they should have housing and healthcare and a whole lot of other things kind of very nice.

Unlike in his first-term address in 2017, Trump did not call on both parties to come together on legislation. He called some Democratic lawmakers names and complained that nothing he does will satisfy them. Robert Rowland is a professor at the University of Kansas who studies presidential rhetoric.

ROWLAND: He essentially gave a rally speech that was aimed only at his core supporters, it is aimed at others, but only in the sense of creating them as a foil that he plays off against.

Members of Congress from both parties have a tradition of protesting presidents from the opposing party during a national address. Last year, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia shouted at President Biden, and other members heckled him throughout his speech.

On Tuesday night, nearly all the Democratic members walked out before the end of Trump’s remarks.

ROWLAND: I think the Democrats a little bit like President Trump were speaking almost totally to their own supporters, they were preaching to the saved. I thought the wiser Democrats were the ones who sat there and didn't react because I do think the pictures just reinforce for Trump supporters that he's fighting for them.

Rowland said Democrats did not launch an effective protest. Some booed Trump during his speech or held up small signs that read “false” or “no kings” or “Lies.” Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer ordered their conference not to obstruct the speech. Of those who complied, they did not respond to any of Trump’s points.

ROWLAND: I think in the long run, the Democrats' much better argument would be that President Trump is in fact not fighting for them. He's fighting for the billionaire class. But I think the protests kind of undercut that message.

TRUMP: My fellow Americans get ready for an incredible future because the golden age of America has only just begun it will be like nothing that has ever been seen before. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America. (APPLAUSE)

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Carolina Lumetta.

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