2 takeaways from Trump's pointedly partisan address to Congress
After a firehose of a first six weeks back in the White House, President Trump delivered a boastful and partisan address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.
Coming in at just under 100 minutes, it was the longest such speech in modern history. And it saw a Democratic member of Congress be kicked out, several other Democrats walk out at various points and a Republican Party firmly and enthusiastically backing their president.
Here are 2 takeaways:
1. Trump boasted about what he's done so far, leaning into even the most controversial things.
"America is back," Trump proclaimed at the beginning of his speech. It was, ironically, a line also delivered by Joe Biden at the beginning of the Democrat's term in office following Trump's first four years.
The echo underscores that the country is deeply divided about what its values should be, about what America is and means and where it should go going forward.
Trump has attempted radical change, what he called Tuesday night a "commonsense revolution" that has seen "swift and unrelenting action."
That action has been spearheaded by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Trump gave Musk the spotlight and praised him, and Musk's moves have been cheered by many in the GOP base.
But those changes have been loudly and strongly opposed by many others, including independents. In the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, independents gave Trump just a 34% approval rating and Musk and DOGE a 34% favorability rating. Two-thirds said they think Trump is moving too fast to make changes to the federal government without considering the impact.
2. It was a very partisan speech, mostly appealing to MAGA supporters.
Americans are about split on the direction Trump is moving the country, the poll found, but this was not a speech that sought to reach across the aisle and expand those numbers. Quite the opposite.