Democratic leadership told their members to keep it cool if they decided to show up to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Tuesday night.
But it didn’t take long before Trump started pushing the right buttons.
The party’s strategy for “silent defiance” fell apart during Trump’s nearly 2-hour-long speech, with stone-faced Democrats eventually erupting as Trump repeatedly highlighted issues he’s fought Democrats on. “You have killed Americans!” shouted Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., repeatedly, as Trump trumpeted his immigration enforcement record.
The rancor went both ways, with Democrats yelling at the commander in chief and Trump, meanwhile, calling them “crazy” and telling them they should be “ashamed” of themselves. Some Democrats left the chamber mid-speech.
Republicans, meanwhile, appeared effusive, breaking out into multiple “U-S-A” chants and rising into standing ovations every few phrases. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, got Trump to sign his tie, which pictured a portrait of the president. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., yelled “Four more years!”
One of the most audible reactions in the room wasn’t related to Trump or his agenda at all, but rather an appearance of the U.S. men’s hockey team, which won a gold medal in Italy at the 2026 Olympics.
“Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it,” Trump said.
Trump announced during the address he would be awarding Connor Hellebuyk, the goaltender for the team, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. It was one of several awards he announced Tuesday night: He also gave out two Purple Hearts, a Legion of Merit and two Congressional Medals of Honor.
The president also took a jab at the Supreme Court for a “very unfortunate” decision last week that struck down his tariffs, all while Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Amy Coney Barrett, Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh sat in the front row. The stone-faced justices looked ahead, with Barrett seeming to give a hint of a side-eye. A handful of Democrats went out of their way to greet the justices ahead of Trump’s arrival.
Many Democrats simply didn’t show up — the party’s side of the chamber was dotted with vacant seats, and only about half of Senate Democrats attended. Apart from a vocal handful of members, many Democrats who came sat in silence while Republicans erupted into applause.
“I know that there were a couple times where I was in my office going, ‘What?’” said Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., who watched the address from her office. “I think that they showed a lot of restraint, respectfully, because there were just a lot of blatant lies getting thrown out there.”
Minutes into Trump’s address, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, was ejected from the chamber for the second year in a row, this time for holding a handwritten-sign saying “Black People Aren’t Apes!” The sign was spurred by a recent video shared by Trump on social media depicting former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, Green said.
Green told reporters after he was removed, “I don’t want to see it normalized, and that’s why I flashed this [sign] to the president, so that there will be no question as to where I stand.”
Before Green was removed by chamber staff, he was confronted by Nehls and Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who tried to tear the sign out of his hands. As he was escorted out, Nehls also took a swipe at Green’s sign. Republicans broke out into a “U-S-A” chant as he left.
When Trump began talking about the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota, Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., repeatedly yelled “You’re a liar” and “You’re shooting them.” Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., meanwhile, held up a sign with pictures of two citizens fatally shot by immigration enforcement officers, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
As Trump called on Congress to pass a bill to crack down on lawmakers’ stock trading, Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., shouted back at him.
“Let’s also ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information,” Trump said. “Did Nancy Pelosi stand up? … Doubt it.”
“What about you?” yelled Takano.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters after the address he “came about this close from banging the gavel and having them escorted off the floor, but the president handled it very well.”
He wouldn’t say whether he’d pursue censuring Green this year — the Texas Democrat was censured by the House after heckling Trump during an address last year.
“Al Green was removed pretty quickly. I don’t know if censure is going to be appropriate. I’ll let our colleagues decide that,” Johnson said. “The point of a censure is to bring someone to the House floor and bring shame upon them for their actions. I think they showed the American people the shame already.”
Other Democrats chose more subtle forms of opposition. Members of the House Women Caucus wore white in a nod to the suffragette movement. Others wore pins reading “release the [REDACTED] files” regarding the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Lawmakers also invited survivors, and families of survivors, of Epstein to the speech, who watched from the gallery.
As Trump’s speech began to run on into the late hours of the night — becoming the longest in history — members began to doze off. Reps. David Scott, D-Ga., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., both appeared to be nodding off as the speech hit an hour and a half.
“I have always had a hard time staying awake watching reruns,” Suozzi wrote on social media after the speech.
Erika Chan, Lia Chien, Ryan Tarinelli and Lia DeGroot contributed to this report.
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