US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (March 5) tore into Democrats who heckled him during his Tuesday (March 4) speech to a joint session of Congress. Taking to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the opposition leaders behaved so badly they deserve to lose the next congressional election — due in 2026.

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What happened during Trump's speech to Congress?

On Tuesday, Trump addressed a joint session of the US Congress for the first time during his second term as president. During the one-hour and 40-minute speech, he touted his many radical policies and executive orders. While celebrating his administration's drive to dismantle swathes of federal democracy, he remarked that his administration was "just getting started".

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While Republicans cheered almost every line Trump uttered, Democrats were for the most part silent - except when mid-speech, a congressman refused to stop heckling the Republican president, shaking his walking stick at him.

Just minutes into the speech, Al Green, the Democratic Party congressional representative heckling at Trump, was removed from the House for interrupting the president's speech. 

That was not all. During Al Green's protest and even after, other Democrats were seen holding up placards that read "False," "Musk Steals," "Save Medicaid," "Protect Veterans," and "That's a lie!".

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Others were seen wearing scarves, striped ties, or lapel ribbons in the yellow and blue colours of the Ukrainian flag in solidarity with the war-torn nation, a US ally they claim has been betrayed by the Trump administration.

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How did Trump react?

Donald Trump was visibly annoyed at the interruptions and at one point even sought support from Democrats, asking them to work together "to Make America Great Again," to no avail.

Later, the White House released a statement titled "Democrats Showed Whose Side They’re On — And it’s Not the American People," in which it slammed the opposition. Listing exact moments (35 in total) where Democrats "refused" to applaud Trump, it claimed, "Congressional Democrats were too consumed by their own hatred of President Trump".

Also read | White House gets 'petty'? Releases list of moments Democrats didn't clap for Trump

On Truth Social, Trump said: "The Democrats should lose the Midterms based on their behaviour at last night’s Joint Address to Congress."

"They didn't even have the common courtesy to stand, smile, or applaud," he wrote, adding that his party should use this against Democrats in the next midterm election in 2026.

(With inputs from agencies)