“The next president of the United States will only be the president of a party,” Thomas Jefferson predicted as George Washington, with his singular stature, ceded the office. In the modern era, that cramped vision of the presidency has never been more starkly on display than it was on March 4th, when Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress for the first time in his second term. At least within the chamber that evening, he was the president of worshipful Republicans, and the scowling, leaderless Democrats seemed relevant only as his foil, or chew toy.
Mr Trump’s own vision for America under him was as grandiose and imperious as ever. “We are going to forge the freest, most advanced, most dynamic and most dominant civilisation ever to exist on the face of this earth,” he pledged in closing, having earned at least one superlative by delivering the longest presidential speech to Congress, at about 100 minutes, in recorded history. Yet as he extolled his imposition of tariffs on allies and adversaries alike, declared victory over “wokeness” and “unelected bureaucrats” and renewed pledges to obtain Greenland and the Panama Canal, he held out little hope that political unity would blossom within his civilisation. For their part, Democrats showed no interest in it. They stayed seated or stood with backs turned as Mr Trump made his way into the chamber, shaking Republican hands and air-kissing Republican cheeks.
Anticipating this stony reception, Mr Trump came prepared to beat Democrats over the head with their own silence. “Once again, I look at the Democrats in front of me, and I realise there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud,” he said. As Republicans leapt to their feet to clap or chant “USA” and “Trump”, Democrats presented themselves less as a coherent opposition than a confused, petulantly partisan one. Some waved little signs saying “False” or “Save Medicaid”. Some walked out, wearing shirts that read “Resist” on the back because they just couldn’t, unfortunately. One was ejected for trying to shout the president down. Few clapped, and then wanly, even when Mr Trump announced that Pakistan had turned over the terrorist behind an attack that killed 13 American soldiers during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
In fairness to Democrats, Mr Trump was baiting them into partisan displays by extravagantly bragging about his election and his achievements already back on the job. He said “it has been stated by many” that his first month in office was the most successful in American history. “You know who number two is?” he asked. “George Washington.” He called his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, “the worst president in American history”. He asserted that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency had found “hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud”, an amount in excess even of Mr Musk’s own poorly substantiated claims.
Intensifying Republican support by goading Democrats is a familiar tactic for Mr Trump, and it remains a risky one. Despite his assertions to the contrary, his approval rating is only slightly higher than that of the most unpopular president early in his term since 1953—the 45th one, Donald Trump. Republican leaders have taken to urging their lawmakers to skip town halls, saying the worried constituents who keep turning up are paid activists.
Mr Trump’s many boasts during his speech about executive orders backlit his dearth so far of legislative achievements. As during the campaign, Mr Trump repeatedly warned of threats posed by people he said entered America illegally under Mr Biden. While Democrats had said they needed new legislation to secure the border, Mr Trump said, “it turned out that all we really needed was a new president”. It was one of his best lines, but later he acknowledged he needed such legislation himself, calling on Congress to supply money for border security. “Americans expect Congress to send me this funding without delay,” he said. Democrats in the chamber had not forgotten he ordered Republicans to block such help when Mr Biden wanted it.
It’s the economy, as usual
When spending on pandemic relief is excluded, Mr Trump still added more to the national debt in his first term than Mr Biden did. But he told Congress he would balance the budget while delivering “tax cuts for everybody”, raising expectations Republicans would struggle to meet even with more than a paper-thin House majority and without a united opposition. Polling suggests most Americans are already anxious about his economic stewardship. Having promised as a candidate to lower inflation on his first day in office, he has talked less about high prices lately. Before Congress, he complained he had inherited “an inflation nightmare”, but he cannot hope to avoid responsibility for long, particularly if his gamble on tariffs does not, as he promised, succeed in “protecting the soul” of America and making it “rich again”. Despite the display of Republican unity, some party leaders are antsy about tariffs’ consequences for prices. “There’ll be a little disturbance,” Mr Trump acknowledged, a rare admission tariffs could have any downside. “But we’re OK with that. It won’t be much.”
Delivering the Democratic response, Elissa Slotkin, a new senator from Michigan and former CIA officer, executed a thankless task effectively, particularly given the Democrats’ muddle. She spoke of proudly serving Democratic and Republican presidents and of bipartisan American support for a healthy middle class and strong national security. While Mr Trump was cutting programmes to finance “an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends”, she said, “grocery and home prices are going up, not down, and he hasn’t laid out a credible plan to deal with either of those.” It’s a message that might work if prices stay high, and if Democrats ever come up with a credible plan themselves. ■
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