President Donald Trump kicked off his address before a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening.
“To my fellow citizens, America is back,” Trump declared after thanking the members of Congress and first lady Melania Trump.
“Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden Age of America,” he said. “From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. And we are just getting started.”
The audience was heard chanting “USA, USA, USA” amid the president’s opening remarks.
Trump arrived to the podium shortly after 9:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Tuesday, where he was greeted by cheers from conservative lawmakers, while Democrats overwhelmingly remained seated.
Protests broke out shortly after Trump began his speech, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson demanding Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, be removed after he refused to stop yelling or sit during the speech.
“Our members are directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House, and to cease any further disruptions — that’s your warning,” Johnson said. “Members are engaging in willful and continuing breach of decorum, and the chair is prepared to direct the Sergeant at Arms to restore order to the joint session.”
“Mr. Greene, take your seat. Take your seat,” Johnson continued before Green was removed.
The speech marks Trump’s first before Congress since his return to the Oval Office in January. The address, though similar to the State of the Union, does not carry the same official title as Trump has not been in office for the past year.
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The White House previously told Fox News Digital that “The Renewal of the American Dream” was the theme of the speech and would feature four main sections: accomplishments from Trump’s second term thus far at home and abroad; what the Trump administration has done for the economy; the president’s renewed push for Congress to pass additional funding for border security; and the president’s plans for peace around the globe.
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Trump did not participate in any formal speech preparation — such as advisers coaching him on how to gesticulate during the address — but he was involved in the editing process of the speech, Fox News’ Peter Doocy reported ahead of the address.
Several Democratic members previewed they would boycott Trump’s address ahead of Tuesday, including Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., also skipped attending, instead holding a live prebuttal of the speech.
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Democrat congresswomen who did join the speech were seen wearing pink in protest of Trump and his policies, notably ones they say impact women.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.