Fury at State of the Union: Trump blasts Democrat hecklers 'you should be ashamed of yourselves'

Trump's record-breaking address came 13 months into his second administration, and he frequently called his opposition "sick" and "crazy" as he bids to reverse his polling fortunes.

The spikiest moments of the record-breaking 1-hour and 48-minute address came when the President aimed at the Democrats directly.

During one section, Trump asked members of Congress from both parties to stand and applaud if they believed that the "first duty of government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens".

After many of the Democrats did not stand, Trump then told them: "You should be ashamed of yourselves".

In response, frequent opponent Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota shouted back at the President: "You have killed Americans".

The retort appeared to refer to the killing of two Americans in Omar's state at the hands of federal ICE agents.

Trump then called the Democrats "crazy" who were "destroying our country".

Aiming again at Minnesota, Trump also addressed what he called the massive "fraud" being allegedly perpetrated by the Somali community in the state.

He later announced that he will task Vice President JD Vance with stamping out the supposed practice, in a "war on fraud".

Around 50 of the Democrats who were due to attend the speech boycotted the event, choosing instead to attend a 'State of the Swamp' fringe speech.

During the speech, Trump suggested that the supposed criminality of illegal immigrants was a result of Biden-era policies.

He also called upon Congress to ban those who are undocumented from holding commercial driving licenses across the US, citing the example of a five-year-old girl who was left disabled after a crash with an HGV being driven by an illegal immigrant as justification for the proposed ban.

Shortly after Trump began speaking, Democratic Representative Al Green of Texas interrupted him for the second year running before being ejected from the chamber.

Rep Green was hauled out for holding up a sign which read: "Black people are not apes".

The message appeared to be a reference to a video posted on Trump's social media depicting former President Barack Obama and wife, Michelle Obama, as monkeys.

The Democrat from Texas was previously censured by Congress for interrupting Trump's previous joint session address in March 2025.

The State of the Union is an annual event in which the President lays out his accomplishments and legislative agenda for the coming year before the House of Representatives, the Senate, his Cabinet, the diplomatic corps and the Supreme Court.

The address is Trump's first of his second term, despite him making a 104-minute speech before the joint session of Congress shortly after his inauguration in 2025, which served a similar purpose.

In his start to the address, Mr Trump said: "Our nation is back: bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before".

After claiming that he inherited a country "in crisis" from his predecessor, Joe Biden, he then began touting his achievements.

He said that his administration had delivered on inflation, immigration and dropping the flow of deadly fentanyl into the United States.

Trump also touted the record highs seen by the American stock market since his second inauguration.

The address also saw the President come face-to-face with justices of the US Supreme Court after he blasted their decision on Friday to strike down his tariffs as unconstitutional.

The decision saw Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett break with the Republican majority to rule that presidents do not have the power to impose sweeping tariffs on foreign countries under the pretence of an emergency.

During the State of the Union, Trump called the ruling "unfortunate" but suggested he has found a different legal pretence for import taxes.

The President told the joint session: "I used these tariffs to make great deals for our country.

"An unfortunate ruling from the US Supreme Court, it just came down. Very unfortunate ruling.

"But the good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made.

"They will continue to work along the same path before the unfortunate Supreme Court ruling.

"It's saving our country, peace-protecting: many of the wars I settled were because of the tariffs."

Referring to his new legal framework planned to help him reimplement tariffs, the President said: "They are a little more complex, but they are actually probably better. It's led to a solution that will be even better than before."

Trump also suggested that tariff revenue could eventually replace federal income tax, "taking a substantial financial burden off the people that I love."

Ahead of the speech, all eyes were on whether Trump has decided on whether to launch military action in Iran.

Trump's team are currently locked in talks with the Iranian government to reach a deal over the Middle Eastern nation's nuclear programme.

The President has repeatedly threatened to strike the nation if they do not agree to a deal - and there is a huge US military buildup in the region.

During his speech, Trump did not make any substantive announcements on Iran, but did say he would "never allow the number one state sponsor of terror to have a nuclear weapon".

He also said that his "preference was diplomacy" in solving the issue.

In a mid-term year, Trump's approval ratings have cratered to a dismal 36 per cent amid controversy over the surge of agents into cities like Minneapolis, which resulted in the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Goode.

His Department of Justice's (DOJ) handling of the Epstein Files release has also been subject to accusations of a cover-up and calls from Democrats for criminal probes relating to the paedophile financier.

The numbers have led to suggestions that November's mid-term elections could see the House and the Senate taken back by the Democrats, who could then bring impeachment proceedings against the President and his Cabinet.

During the address, Trump also barbed at old rival Nancy Pelosi by suggesting that members of Congress should be banned from trading stocks.

Representative Mark Takano of California yelled "what about you?" at Trump over insider trading as the President called for passing legislation to prohibit the practice.

Amid a bipartisan applause for the suggestion, Trump replied: "They stood up for that. I can't believe it. I can't believe it.

"Did Nancy Pelosi stand up, if she's here? I doubt it. Pass the stop insider trading act without delay".

Among the traditional guests at the address were dozens of Epstein survivors, who were invited by Democrats to highlight the calls for investigations as a result of the files by the DOJ in late January.

At a press conference hours before Trump's speech, Amanda Roberts, the sister-in-law of the late Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, declared that the survivors and members of Congress are "not moving on" from the Epstein scandal.

She said: "Today is monumental. Today, we say to this administration and to the nation that survivors deserve to be seen.

"We will not be moved, we will not be silenced, and we will not go away."

She added: "The President will speak about his agenda. He may say it's time to move on from this Epstein thing.

"Mr President, today we are saying we will not move on, and the world is not moving on."

Trump's guests included the widow of the slain influencer Charlie Kirk, Erika, as well as the First Lady Melania, and his children Barron, Eric, Donald Jr, Ivanka and Tiffany.

Trump credited Kirk with a renewal of religion among American youth after he was "martyred" and called for Congress to "reject political violence of any kind".

He also welcomed the gold medal-winning men's Team USA ice hockey team, which beat Canada at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics last week.

He confirmed that the team's goalie Connor Hellebuyck would also be issued the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the US's highest civilian honour.

Evoking the history of the American Revolution, Trump ended the speech by declaring: "The Golden Age of America is upon us. The Revolution that began in 1776 has not ended."