Democrats held competing events on the evening of the State of the Union address across Washington where lawmakers boycotted the official event and protesters said they wanted to show the growing opposition to Donald Trump’s increasingly unpopular agenda.
On the National Mall, hundreds of people, including about 30 Democratic members of Congress, gathered for the “People’s State of the Union”, a counter-rally. Attenders held signs that read “No Money for ICE” and “Healthcare Not Warfare”. One person on stage carried a large poster with the photographs of the more than 30 people who had been killed in dealings with ICE since Trump took office in 2025.
