Partisan Taunts and Defiant Protests: Trump’s First Speech to Congress

03/05/25 • 29 min

16 Listeners

In his first address to Congress on Tuesday night, President Trump took a highly partisan victory lap as Democratic lawmakers openly protested against him.

Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The Times, walks us through the speech, including the reactions to it in the room.

Guest: Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading:

A combative President Trump taunted his political rivals during his speech.
Here are six takeaways from Mr. Trump’s address to Congress.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

In his first address to Congress on Tuesday night, President Trump took a highly partisan victory lap as Democratic lawmakers openly protested against him.

Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The Times, walks us through the speech, including the reactions to it in the room.

Guest: Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading:

A combative President Trump taunted his political rivals during his speech.
Here are six takeaways from Mr. Trump’s address to Congress.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Previous Episode

DOGE Has a Math Problem

3 Recommendations

Since President Trump took office, Elon Musk and DOGE have wielded an unprecedented level of power to help the administration cut the U.S. government, and they claim to have stopped tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending.

David A. Fahrenthold, an investigative reporter for The Times, explains why those claims are not what they seem — and what that tells us about Mr. Musk’s project to shrink the federal bureaucracy.

Guest: David A. Fahrenthold, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading:

DOGE’s only public ledger has been riddled with mistakes.
The group has now deleted hundreds of claimed savings, worth billions of dollars, from that ledger.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Next Episode

How Tariffs Are Shaking Up the War on Fentanyl

For years, even as fentanyl has killed Americans at an astonishing rate, Mexico has claimed that it was doing everything possible to crack down on production of the drug.

This week, President Trump began using punishing new tariffs to test that claim.

Natalie Kitroeff, who is the Mexico City bureau chief for The New York Times, discusses the surprising result of his tactics.

Guest: Natalie Kitroeff, the Mexico City bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading:

Mr. Trump’s threats and Mexico’s crackdown have hit Mexican cartels.
Mexico gave Mr. Trump much of what he wanted. That didn’t fend off tariffs.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Photo: Daniele Volpe for The New York Times

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.