President Trump’s boisterous address before a joint session of Congress Tuesday night highlighted his upcoming agenda — from an illegal immigration crackdown to use of tariffs and a pro-exploration energy policy — as he boldly declared “America is back.”
But the nationally televised speech, which lasted a record 99 minutes, featured a few incidents you may not have seen on TV.
From Democrats throwing tantrums to a candid hot mike moment between Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), here’s a few things you might have missed:
Dem Rep. Al Green wields cane, booted from Trump’s address
Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas nearly stole the show moments after Trump began speaking, waving around his cane and shouting at the commander in chief repeatedly that “you have no mandate”.
Green’s outburst was a rare moment of open defiance among congressional Democrats, who largely sat stone-faced and silent.
As the Texan rose to speak, shaking his cane at the president, Republicans tried to drown him out with chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!”
Despite a warning from Johnson, the long-serving congressman refused to yield the floor — forcing Sergeant-at-Arms William McFarland to escort him from the chamber.
‘Squad’ member Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s whiteboard
During Trump’s speech, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) repeatedly brandished a whiteboard at Trump that had various cutting remarks scrawled across it.
At one point, Tlaib inked “Start paying your taxes” on the board, a display which the TV cameras did catch.
She also wrote “What about the immigrants who worked for you?” and “That’s a lie!” in response to other utterances by the commander in chief.
JD Vance and Mike Johnson trash Biden
Vance and Johnson were recorded talking about the upcoming length of Trump’s speech.
“I think the speech is going to be great, but I don’t know how you do this for 90 minutes,” the veep could be heard saying.
Johnson responded: “The hardest thing was doing it during Biden when the speech was a stupid campaign speech.”
Trump’s family: Who was sitting inside the prez’s box?
The presidential box was filled with family members, administration officials and special guests invited by first lady Melania Trump.
Trump children Ivanka, Donald Jr., Eric and Tiffany all attended the event with their respective spouses or partners – Jared Kushner, Bettina Anderson, Lara Trump and Michael Boulos, respectively.
Melania’s father, Viktor Knavs was seated several rows behind the first lady in the gallery, while Trump’s youngest son, Barron, was absent.
