Trump's USA

Address to Congress
Conservative criticism of Trump's speech: "Low IQ"

Donald Trump's speech to Congress last night received more than 100 standing ovations from the Republican members in the room. But outside the hall, not everyone on the American right is as pleased.

Curt Mills, CEO of the conservative magazine American Conservative, writes to The Independent that he was irritated by Trump's focus on the military's operations abroad.

"This fetishization of the military is more harmful, pointless [...] and low IQ than in the first term."

An anonymous Republican official tells Politico that Trump's focus on his successes meant that he said far too little about his plans for the future.

- It's just looking back, and even though it's grand, I wish we had more details about the steps ahead.

Free beer until the first attack – drank for 45 minutes

A bar a few hundred meters from the Capitol in Washington DC offered free beer during Trump's speech to Congress last night – until the president's first insult. According to the Washington Post, which was there, most attendees expected to get a drink for about five minutes.

It took 45. When Donald Trump finally criticized "Biden and his corrupt partners in Congress", the bartender turned off the free tap.

Then there was another hour of the speech, and a long series of insults, but many of the visitors had managed to get "well and visibly drunk", according to WP.

- If we have to listen to this clowning, it can at least be close to free alcohol, says 23-year-old bar patron Megan Moody.

Analysis: A fascinating spectacle – never seen so many medals

Donald Trump's speech to the nation included, in addition to praise for his own policies and the heckling of political opponents, a series of medal presentations, invited stars and even secret guests.

- He made it a kind of pep rally. I've never seen so many medals, says New York Times White House correspondent David E Sanger in an analysis shortly after the speech ended.

Sky News' James Matthews calls the speech "a fascinating spectacle" and says that the president received a standing ovation more than a hundred times during the one-hour and 41-minute speech.

He may need that, says Matthews, who points out that the Republicans risk a major loss in the upcoming midterm elections. According to him, many Republicans have begun to wonder whether the president is doing more harm than good when trying to win seats in Congress.

ICE operations
Trump sues New Jersey – the state stopped ICE

The US Department of Justice is suing the state of New Jersey and its Democratic governor, Mikie Sherrill, over an executive order that restricts federal immigration authorities' access to state land, AFP reports. According to the lawsuit, the decision violates the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution.

Sherrill's executive order, issued in February, prohibits the immigration agency ICE from operating on state property that is not open to the public without a court order. It also prevents the agency from using such land as a base for its operations.

Attorney General Pam Bondi says New Jersey's leadership is "deliberately trying to hinder and endanger law enforcement." The governor responds that the government should instead focus on training its agents "so they can do their jobs better and more safely