He made us wait for a punchline but he got there.
For an address that was trailed as “fireworks” by Team Trump, finding a fresh news line was more hard work than firework. From Donald Trump, we’d heard it before.
Until, that is, he got to Ukraine, Zelenskyy, the mineral deal and the “peace” beyond.
He said the Ukrainian president had been in touch saying he was ready to sign an agreement on minerals with the US “at any time that is convenient for you”.
It’s what he wanted to hear and his reaction sounded like a breakthrough, following the breakdown at the Oval Office between the pair.
Live reaction to President Trump’s speech to Congress
Trump said: “I appreciate that he sent this letter. Just got it a little while ago. Simultaneously, we’ve had serious discussions with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace. Wouldn’t that be beautiful.”
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It was the big headline from a nearly two-hour speech that was disrupted and defined by Democratic protest. It’s what America’s political division looks like – like it’s never looked before.
Donald Trump arrived for his big night a president unprecedented, divisive, and box-office. So was this.
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In a Capitol chamber thick with acrimony, he was led in down an aisle where they cheered him on one side and on the other they remained silent, sullen and seated. One Democrat held a sign that read: “This is not normal.” It was grabbed by a Representative across the aisle and thrown into the air.
This annual address to Congress is, typically, an occasion when a sitting president sits his people down, tells them where they are and where they’re going. This was an opportunity to draw breath and reflect after 43 days of a presidency in perpetual motion.
In the event, the sales pitch quickly descended into a sporting event. Democrats held signs that read “Musk Steals” and “That’s a lie”. Female representatives dressed in pink to protest at Trump policies they said were negatively impacting women and families, and other Democrats took off jackets to reveal shirts with the slogans “Resist” and “No more kings”.
Then there was the ejection of Representative Al Green. He heckled Trump and later said that hearing the president talking about his mandate “triggered something” in him.
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It all reflected where the Democrats are 43 days into this presidency – furious, yet fragmented. Earlier in the day, party members had been urged by their House leader Hakeem Jeffries to show opposition as a check and balance against the “excesses of the administration”.
The party hasn’t come to a unified view on how to play this president – they share the personal animosity, if not the political instinct.
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On the podium, Donald Trump had a more comfortable night than his last joint address in 2020.
Then, he had Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi rip up a copy of his speech. Last night, he was flanked by Vice-President JD Vance and Republican Speaker Mike Johnson bearing expressions of true love.
They laughed in all the right places to a speech that will have felt familiar. “America is back,” proclaimed Trump in kicking off an extended recap, a brag and not a humble one, of a presidency he said was “just getting started”.
A big story in the build-up had been tariffs, stock markets tumbling and worries that smouldering trade wars could destabilise the US economy.
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The concerns are shared by economists and Republican lawmakers and Trump’s commerce Secretary had suggested he might be preparing to announce a compromise.
Not last night, he didn’t.
