In his fifth address to Congress, President Donald Trump stood in the same spot where key historical moments had occurred, like when Franklin Roosevelt asked for a declaration of war after Pearl Harbor and when Lyndon Johnson spoke following President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Instead of using the moment to unite the country, Trump used the moment to offer a vision of America where compromise wasn’t needed, and the opposing political party was ridiculed instead of respected.
Trump started his nearly two-hour speech by claiming his first weeks in office were “the most successful in the history of our nation,” even suggesting that his accomplishments surpassed those of George Washington, the nation’s first president.
He listed several actions he saw as successes, including declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, sending troops to stop migrants, freezing federal hiring, rolling back regulations, and pulling the U.S. out of various international agreements. He promised even more unilateral actions, like raising taxes on imports from countries like Mexico and Canada.
Trump also took credit for bringing federal workers back to the office, stopping what he called “government censorship” in favor of “free speech,” and ending “weaponized government.” However, his administration is the one using the Justice Department to target Democratic members of Congress for old statements and taking steps to ban programs aimed at promoting diversity, which he and his supporters claim discriminate against white people. He also declared that the U.S. “will be woke no longer.”
While the chamber was filled with cheers of “U.S.A.” and chants of his name, Trump did acknowledge the presence of Democrats. He complained that no matter what he did, he couldn’t please them.
“It’s very sad, and it just shouldn’t be this way,” he said before questioning why Democrats wouldn’t join Republicans in celebrating his so-called “incredible wins for America.”
But in reality, Trump wasn’t interested in bringing Democrats on board. His goal was to eliminate the Democratic Party as a major political force. The administration, with help from the “Department of Government Efficiency” led by Elon Musk, was focused on targeting Democratic power centers, even when the party wasn’t in power.
Trump’s team was working to reclassify large parts of the civil service, making it easier to fire federal workers who didn’t support the president’s agenda. They also froze federal spending and foreign aid, targeting organizations like USAID that they believed were staffed by Democrats who supported the party’s campaigns.
At the same time, the administration threatened to cut off federal funds to universities if they didn’t change their hiring and teaching policies to be more in line with Republican views, including eliminating diversity programs.
In short, if Democrats supported it, the administration wanted to destroy it. They believed that by doing so, they could weaken and eventually dismantle the Democratic Party.
