WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union Address to Congress on Tuesday night, receiving cheers from Republicans and jeers from Democrats in the chamber.
Speaking before a gathering of lawmakers, the president railed against Democrats, blaming them for the nation's problems, getting loud applause from Republicans and angry shouts from Democrats.
In the first minutes of his speech, Trump blamed Democrats for causing "record-setting inflation."
He took credit for what he called bringing consumer costs down, although many Americans continued to feel the impact of high prices and economists see no significant relief on the horizon.
Trump blasted Democrats for "open borders" policies, saying that Democrats should be ashamed. "You should be ashamed!" Democratic lawmaker Ilhan Omar from Minnesota shouted back.
When Trump claimed that he had resolved eight wars, a Democratic lawmaker interjected loudly, "That's a lie."
Throughout the address, Republican lawmakers frequently rose to their feet and applauded enthusiastically, while Democratic lawmakers remained largely unresponsive.
A rare moment of bipartisan applause occurred when ice hockey players who had just won gold for Team USA at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games entered the chamber. Trump quipped to Democrats, "That's the first time I've ever seen them get up."
Democrats have blasted Trump's mass deportation policies as heavy-handed and illegal, having resulted in the death of two protesters -- both U.S. citizens -- during federal immigration enforcement operations in January.
The speech was met with a collective Democrat boycott: dozens of lawmakers were absent. An hour before the address, Democrats held a separate "People's State of the Union" rally on the National Mall in Washington, inviting those affected by the administration's policies to speak.
This counter-event, attended by hundreds of opponents of Trump's policies, was viewed as an unprecedented move.
"I'm not in the Capitol Building tonight, because I have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen for an hour or two or three or four, a man who's made 4 billion U.S. dollars off of being President is going to lecture you, the American people, about how good you have it," said Democratic Congressman Greg Casar from Texas. "He's going to tell us that the State of the Union is strong, strong for who? ... everyone but Donald Trump's rich friends know that it's a disaster."
Before the speech, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Democrats protest everything, from the president's joint address to the administration's immigration crackdown. "It's shameful," said the Republican leader.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that Trump should use his speech "as an opportunity to apologize to the American people for breaking every single promise that he made -- particularly his promise to lower the high cost of living on Day One."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed Trump on the social media platform X, saying, "Americans have never seen a State of the Union so disconnected from reality."
"President Trump rattled off lie after lie in a nearly two-hour-long speech that tried to paper over his equally long list of failures and broken promises," said Schumer.
Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua that the address lacked detailed proposals to address affordability and high healthcare costs. "(Trump) blamed many current problems on the Democrats. It was not an uplifting and unifying message, but one that played to Trump's base and did little to bring the country together," West said.
Trump also painted a rosy picture of the economy, but "many voters do not believe that and feel their financial position is not doing well," West added.
The economy is giving off mixed signals.
Consumer confidence rose 2.2 points in February, according to data released Tuesday. However, fourth quarter GDP growth came in at 1.4 percent -- far below economists' estimate of 2.5 percent. Hiring slowed over the past year, while the costs of mortgages, homes and rent remained high.
Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College in the northeastern state of New Hampshire, told Xinhua that 13 months into his second administration, Trump is "in a far weaker position than he addressed Congress last time."
His tariffs have proven unpopular and his immigration policies have "provoked extended, organized backlash," Galdieri said, adding that household goods are no more affordable than when Trump took office.
The address comes in the lead-up to November's midterm elections and is widely seen as a bid to rally support for the president and his GOP to voters. Some experts believe that recent off-year elections in New York City and the states of Virginia and New Jersey -- all won by Democrats -- are potential signs that Republicans may not fare well in the midterms. ■