U.S. President Donald Trump is echoing campaign rhetoric with ‘law and order’ message to a Joint Session of Congress. “As we reclaim our sovereignty, we must also bring back law and order to our cities and towns. In recent years, our justice system has been turned upside down by Radical Left lunatics.” Trump has long promoted a tough-on-crime agenda and sought to paint Democratic-led cities as besieged by violence, despite statistics showing a downward trend in violent crime after a coronavirus pandemic-era spike. Trump took a moment to salute his new attorney general Pam Bondi and new FBI director Kash Patel, who was greeted with a standing ovation by Trump's Republican allies and briefly acknowledged the crowd. It was a norm-breaking moment given that FBI directors historically avoid political events, in part to avoid the impression that they could be seen as beholden to a particular party or public figure. “We’re also once again giving our police officers the support, protection, and respect they so dearly deserve.” While Trump is touting his support of police, one of his first actions after returning to the White House in January was granting clemency to the 1500-plus people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot, including dozens of people who assaulted police. More than a dozen Democrats joined Republicans in a standing ovation for a guest of Trump, a child diagnosed with cancer who Trump said aspires to become a policeman. The child, named DJ, was held up by his father as Republicans and attendees in the House gallery chanted "DJ." Democrats then went largely silent as Trump discussed his health policies.