Cal Thomas: The president’s speech to Congress – and America

Cal Thomas, Tribune Content Agency on Mar 5, 2025

It was a partisan speech. It was an optimistic speech. It was a speech that laid the blame for inflation and the massive number of migrants and illegal drugs that entered the country during the previous administration at the feet of Democrats. It was an uplifting speech about the future. It was a deliberately divisive speech when it came to policies pushed by the Democrats as opposed to policies endorsed by Republicans. And it was at times a funny speech as President Donald Trump pointed to Democrats and the silly signs raised by some, blasting them for all sorts of things when they had the power. It was a long speech. One commentator said it eclipsed the long-winded speeches of Bill Clinton.

It was also full of empathy for victims of migrant crime. Trump brought some of the widows and daughters whose husbands and fathers were taken from them by gang members who had repeatedly committed crimes but were let go after being arrested in Democrat states with “sanctuary cities.”

As if to rile Senate Democrats, none of whom would vote for a bill protecting women's sports from men who claim to be transgender, Trump invited a woman who suffered traumatic brain injury after being hit with a volleyball by a biological man playing with women on the opposite team.

Perhaps the sweetest moment of the night was when Trump authorized the Secret Service to bestow the title of “agent” on a young boy who was given five years to live after being diagnosed with brain cancer. He always wanted to be a police officer. The boy hugged the agent who gave him an official identification card. His proud father lifted him up for all to see.

Incredibly, all the Democrats remained seated, stoic and would not applaud anything, not the boy with brain cancer, not families of murder victims, not even the first lady when she entered the chamber. So deep is their hatred for Trump who is running circles around them with the speed of his policy initiatives. Some held up signs, reminiscent of that TV ad for a pharmaceutical company that treats depression. The woman in the ad carries a round sign with an upside-down smiley face. That appears to be the face of today’s Democrat Party. They are being beaten by Trump at every turn. Polls show the public are mostly with him, especially in his quest to downsize bloated government

That’s where Democrats are these days. They participate in a political ad that looks like a video wall with everyone saying the same thing about the still struggling economy and throwing in a vulgarity, as if that will win them votes. The video looks like an expanded version of the old FBI “Ten Most Wanted” list we used to see in post offices.

A lowlight for Democrats was when Rep. Al Green of Texas began yelling and interrupting Trump’s speech. Green, who has filed articles of impeachment against Trump that are going nowhere, was escorted out of the chamber by the sergeant at arms as Speaker Mike Johnson pounded his gavel and called for decorum.

It is supremely ironic that Democrats are criticizing the economy when it was the previous administration that caused inflation and accompanying high prices. It took Ronald Reagan two years to turn around the bad economy of Jimmy Carter.

The headline was kept until almost the end of the speech. Trump announced he had received a letter from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he is ready for negotiations to end the war with Russia, including the mining of Ukrainian minerals to help repay the U.S. for its $350 billion contribution to the war. Trump said he has heard “strong signals” from Russia that Vladimir Putin is “ready for peace.” We’ll see about that.

It was a good night for Trump and Republicans. All the Democrats and their media allies could do is look like they were attending a funeral. They have nothing else to show the country except policy failures from the last four years.

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Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I've Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America" (HumanixBooks).