President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress this term leaned heavily on the grief of two mothers whose children’s deaths were linked to recently arrived immigrants, describing the murders in detail and saying that securing the nation’s borders is the most crucial step toward “protecting America’s children.” 

Trump’s address came 10 days after the first anniversary of the death of Laken Riley, the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed by an immigrant who had been previously arrested for shoplifting. Riley’s death became a lightning rod for Trump’s anti-immigrant message during the presidential campaign, and Trump invoked it again Tuesday to celebrate the signing of a new law that calls for expanded detention of unauthorized immigrants. Data shows that immigrants and undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born Americans.

Riley’s mother and sister, Allyson and Lauren Phillips, sat in the audience as guests of the White House. Riley’s mother at one point mouthed “thank you” toward Trump as he described the bill named after Riley. 

Also in the audience was Alexis Nungaray, whose 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn, was killed last year. The two men charged in her killing, law enforcement officials say, were not authorized to be in the country. Like Allyson Phillips, Nungaray was thrust into the political spotlight — and the ongoing debate about the nation’s immigration policies — by her daughter’s death. 

After describing Jocelyn’s murder, Trump reached out to Vance for a copy of an executive action renaming a nature preserve in Texas after the girl, who Trump said “loved animals so much, loved nature.” 

“The death of this beautiful 12-year-old girl and the agony of her mother and family touched our entire nation greatly,” Trump said. 

Trump’s remarks about the two murders were embedded in a speech rooted in many of the culture war issues that Trump campaigned on, with messaging that repeatedly targeted the worries of mothers and the safety of children as it relates to Trump’s agenda: the threat of undocumented immigrants, particularly men; “toxic ideologies” in public schools; and toxins in America’s food supply. 

In the audience seated near First Lady Melania Trump was January Littlejohn, a Florida mom who unsuccessfully sued her daughter’s school district arguing that the school “socially transitioned” her child without parental consent. Littlejohn advocated for Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. 

Trump thanked Littlejohn for her advocacy, adding that he is also getting “wokeness” out of the nation’s schools and military. Since taking office, he has launched an assault on policies — or even mentions — of racial and gender equity and inclusivity within government-backed entities. 

Another White House guest was Payton McNabb, who began advocating against the inclusion of transgender girls in women’s sports teams after suffering a brain injury during a high school volleyball game. McNabb said the injury was caused by a trans player on the opposing team. 

“Payton, from now on, schools will kick the men off the girls team, or they will lose all federal funding,” Trump said, looking at McNabb as the chamber’s Republicans applauded. Trump has signed an executive order threatening the loss of federal funding for schools that allow trans girls to play on girls’ teams, but a bill that would have amended civil rights law to ban their participation failed Monday in the Senate. 

Littlejohn and McNabb were two of the White House’s 15 guests, underscoring the level of attention Trump is dedicating to the issue. Less than 2 percent of Americans identify as trans or nonbinary. 

Trump’s attacks on trans rights came as the first and only openly transgender member of Congress, Rep. Sarah McBride, sat in the room for her first presidential address to Congress. McBride has said she is focused on health care and cost of living issues facing people from her home state of Delaware. She was among the Democrats who did not protest Trump’s address.

Trump also pointed the chamber’s attention to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his newly confirmed secretary of health and human services, saying he was going to help “get toxins out of our environment, poisons out of our food supply and keep our children healthy and strong.” Kennedy has promoted debunked theories linking vaccines to autism and other health conditions, and on Tuesday, Trump tied Kennedy’s new position as the nation’s top health official to the ongoing work of studying autism incidence. 

“You can’t even believe these numbers,” Trump said. “It’s one in 36 — there’s something wrong. One in 36 … think of that. So we’re going to find out what it is. And there’s nobody better than Bobby and all of the people that are working with you — you have the best to figure out what is going on.”

While the rise in the autism diagnoses among children in the United States is well documented, extensive studies in the United States and abroad have consistently shown no connection between vaccines and autism.

Trump’s address focused heavily on culture war and gender issues, but he did not mention abortion or fertility treatment. Trump appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, fulfilling a 2016 campaign promise. In 2024, Trump distanced himself from anti-abortion activists in his party while pledging to make in vitro fertilization (IVF) free for patients and calling himself “the father of IVF.”  

Democrats’ protests were largely silent other than Rep. Al Green of Texas, who was escorted out of the chamber early on in Trump’s address after yelling, “You have no mandate!” He later told reporters that he was shouting at Trump that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid, the health care program for low-income Americans. Trump has said he would not cut Medicaid but congressional Republicans have considered cuts. He did not say anything about the program in Tuesday’s address. 

Some Democratic women continued their tradition of wearing white, a color associated with suffragists, while other members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus wore pink, the color of “power and protest,” said Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico, the caucus’ chair, on Tuesday.  

Dozens of Democratic members waved black paddleboards that read “Save Medicaid,” “Musk steals” and “False,” which they held up during Trump’s speech. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan brought a small whiteboard on which she wrote different messages. As Trump’s address went on, House Democrats began trickling out of the chamber. At one point, a group of House progressives wearing shirts that read “Resist” and “No kings live here” stood up and left the chamber. 

Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who was elected in November as Trump carried her state in the presidential race, delivered the official Democratic response in remarks that focused on the economy and national security. 

“America wants change, but there’s a responsible way to make change and a reckless way, and we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country and as a democracy,” she said. 

Elon Musk received not one but two standing ovations from the chamber’s Republicans as Trump praised the tech billionaire and his initiative to curb spending by the federal government. Trump took a few minutes out of his speech to list out examples of programs Musk and his associates had identified for cuts, at several points eliciting laughter from Republicans at American aid programs for African nations. “$8 million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of,” Trump said. 

When Trump said the age of “unelected bureaucrats” making policy was over, many Democrats laughed and pointed at Musk.