DJ Daniel, Marc Fogel, the family of Laken Riley were among those highlighted during the address
Trump recognizes young cancer survivor who dreams of being a police officer
President Donald Trump recognizes Devarjaye 'DJ' Daniels during the joint address to Congress.
President Trump's signature "weaving" skills were on full display during his joint address to Congress.
Throughout his record-long speech, Trump incorporated his unique communication technique he has dubbed the "weave" during recent media appearances, a lengthy aside often used to support a broader point he is trying to make, to highlight some of the biggest themes of the night.
While touting the bold actions he has taken since being sworn into office, Trump targeted Democrats over their refusal to get on board with his agenda.
"This is my fifth such speech to Congress, and once again, I look at the Democrats in front of me, and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy, or to make them stand or smile or applaud, nothing I can do," Trump said.
"I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history, or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded," Trump continues. "And these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won't do it no matter what. Five- five times I've been up here! It's very sad, and it just shouldn't be this way."
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He then made a direct challenge to Democrats, telling them "For just this one night, why not join us in celebrating so many incredible wins for America? For the good of our nation. Let's work together and let's truly make America great again."
Incidentally, those prepared comments occurred moments after Rep. Al Green, D-Tx., was escorted out of the House chamber for repeatedly disrupting Trump's speech.
US Vice President JD Vance, from left, US President Donald Trump, and US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, during a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Later on in his speech, Trump spent several minutes listing "appalling waste" uncovered by Elon Musk's DOGE, including "$45 million for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion scholarships in Burma" and "$20 million for the Arab 'Sesame Street' in the Middle East."
Trump even had some fun with some of DOGE's discoveries.
"$40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is," Trump reacted, sparking laughs in the House chamber. "$8 million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of… $8 million for making mice transgender. This is real!"
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President Trump's "weaving" abilities were on full display during his joint address to Congress. (Win McNamee/Pool via REUTERS)
Trump, relying on his instincts from his years as the celebrity TV host, wove several made-for-TV moments into his address, like when he made 13-year-old brain cancer survivor DJ Daniel an honorary Secret Service agent, when he informed high school senior Jason Hartley, the son of a deceased veteran who aspired to be the fourth generation in his family to serve in the military, that his application to West Point was approved, and telling Alexis Nungaray, the Angel Mom of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray who was murdered by illegal immigrants, that his administration was renaming Texas' Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge in memory of her daughter.
President Trump made 13-year-old cancer survivor DJ Daniel an honorary Secret Service agent during his joint address to Congress. (Fox News)
Other guests invited to the address were given the spotlight representing key policy agendas, like when he introduced Payton McNabb, the former high school volleyball player who suffered traumatic brain injury after being struck in the face from a ball hit by a biological male opponent as he promoted his executive order banning trans athletes from playing in women's sports. He did the same when he introduced the mother of Laken Riley, the Georgia nursing student who was murdered by an illegal immigrant, cementing her legacy as he touted the Laken Riley Act he signed into law.
He also showcased Marc Fogel, the American teacher rescued by the Trump administration after being held captive in a Russian prison, and his 95-year-old mother Malphine, who pleaded with Trump to rescue her son on the campaign trail. Trump noted that he met Malphine in Butler, PA, moments before he was nearly assassinated, and seamlessly transitioned to honor the wife and daughters of Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who lost his life while protecting his family at the Trump rally.
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Marc Fogel, the American teacher rescued from a Russian prison by the Trump administration, and his 95-year-old mother Malphine were introduced by President Trump in his joint address to Congress. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)
Trump first put a spotlight on his "weave" tactic on comedian Andrew Schulz's "Flagrant" podcast during the election.
"I do a thing called the weave," Trump said in October. "And there are those that are fair that say, ‘This guy is so genius.’ And then others would say, ‘Oh, he rambled.’ I don't ramble."
"You have to have certain things. You need an extraordinary memory, because you have to come back to where you started. A weave is only good if you can go back," Trump told Schultz.
"They don't give you credit for that," Schulz responded. "You can go all the way over here."
"I can go so far here or there," Trump said, sparking huge laughs from the co-hosts. "And I can come back to exactly where I started. Now, someday when you don't come back to where you started-"
Trump later went on, "I call it the weave. And some people think it's so genius. But the bad people, what they say is, ‘You know, he was rambling.’ I sat around, but there's no rambling. This is a weave. I call it the weave. Good name… That's another name. We had ‘fake news.’ We came up with lots of names. but the weave is- I think we should make ‘the weave’ a part of that staple."
He has since mentioned the "weave" in other media appearances.
Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
