President Trump, in his address to Congress Tuesday, celebrated the whirlwind of changes he has brought to the federal government. His success from this point on will depend largely on whether Americans believe the unease caused by his speedy actions—an unsettled stock market, a trade war with allies and uncertainty over the extent of federal job and spending cuts—will lead to the American renewal he promised.

In making his case, Trump suggested that a return to “the golden age of America,” while under way, would take time to complete. He acknowledged that prices remain high, singling out the cost of eggs, and twice in his speech said his tariffs could cause short-term pain. “There’ll be a little disturbance, but we’re OK with that,” he said. 

But by ticking through the catalog of changes he has started or implemented, Trump bet that showing himself to be a leader taking “swift and unrelenting action” would persuade the country that he was on the right path. Trump said he was removing violent undocumented immigrants from the country, was acting to expand energy production and would strip money from schools that allow transgender girls and women to compete in women’s sports—all actions that polling shows to be popular.

His success in working with Congress to pass important parts of his agenda likely depends on whether voters see more progress than pain. The president has retained strong loyalty among Republican lawmakers, but tentative signs of unease are emerging.

Some Republicans worry that Trump, who campaigned on fighting inflation, is adding upward pressure on prices with his tariff program, which could anger voters. Protests at constituent meetings over federal cutbacks and his Ukraine policy have grown so confrontational that senior House leaders urged GOP lawmakers to stop holding in-person town hall meetings.

Trump’s actions so far have surely pleased the 38% of his 2024 voters who told pollsters that even substantial change in how the country is run wouldn’t satisfy them—they wanted complete and total upheaval. But some congressional Republicans need a broader set of voters in order to hold their House and Senate seats.

Trump had the opportunity to talk to those voters on Tuesday—those who want a revision to the federal government, rather than a revolution—and to try to ease any pressure from them on GOP lawmakers.

One sign of whether Trump succeeded may come on Wednesday, as Elon Musk, Trump’s designated budget-cutter, is due to meet with House Republicans to discuss the work of his Department of Government Efficiency. Musk’s reception among the GOP lawmakers will offer signs of whether their support for his work, which so far has cut thousands of federal jobs and idled swaths of federally funded work, remains solid.

Some of Trump’s top goals rely on his ability to keep his party unified. A large tax-cutting plan has broad GOP support, but its potential to raise the federal deficit or require cuts to the popular Medicaid program, which supplies health insurance for roughly one in five Americans, has rattled some in the party. Trump in his speech repeated calls to extend the tax cuts for individuals he signed into law in his first term, and which expire this year, as well as to end federal taxes on tips, Social Security benefits and overtime. The tax cuts Trump and his party want are far larger than the savings they expect to identify through budget cuts.

A spending bill needed to keep the government funded after March 14 will likely require Republican unity, as well, as Democrats may withhold their votes in protest of Trump’s budget policies. Democratic support is usually required to pass such bills due to opposition from GOP budget hawks. 

Trump offered examples of spending identified by Musk that he described as wasteful, but his speech didn’t lay out the size of government that Trump believes should remain once the cutting is done, or a vision for what level of services would remain.

Some GOP lawmakers are looking for more detail and less disruption.

“I feel like some of this stuff was rash,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R., Neb.), who represents a competitive House district and said the administration was “not efficient” in firing some federal workers only to hire them back. “What’s the impact when you cut an FAA guy? What’s the impact that you cut a nuclear scientist?’’ he asked. He said officials “should have those discussions before you make decisions.”

Democrats, who have few tools to press their priorities in either the House or Senate, tried to turn the American public against Musk and Trump by inviting recently fired federal workers to the House chamber to hear the president’s speech. “Musk Steals” read the small signs that some Democrats carried into the House chamber.

Trump used his own invited guests to help tell the story of what he had accomplished in his first six weeks. He called out Payton McNabb, a former high-school volleyball player who was seriously injured when a transgender opponent spiked a ball in her face. “Payton, from now on, schools will kick men off the girl’s team or they will lose all federal funding,” the president said.

After calling for greater support for police, including a request that Congress make the death penalty mandatory for anyone who murders a police officer, Trump singled out D.J. Daniel, a 13-year-old boy who has outlived his cancer prognosis and has dreams of becoming a police officer. To cheers, Trump announced that he was asking his new Secret Service director to make the boy an honorary agent.

Trump also spoke directly to another guest in the crowd, Alexis Nungaray, and said her 12-year-old daughter Jocelyn had been murdered by two immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. In a bit of stagecraft, Trump then held up for the cameras an executive order he had signed naming a wildlife refuge after Jocelyn.

The showmanship had a point, said Doug Heye, a former communications aide to senior House leaders and the Republican National Committee. “How many other times have we seen him hold up an executive order in the past six weeks, and every time it’s, ‘Look, I’m doing things,’ ” Heye said. “The things he’s doing are almost secondary to, ‘I’m doing things.’”

The effect, he said, is to buy goodwill from voters “who are going to go to Target in a week and a half, and things that come from China and Mexico are going to cost more” due to retaliatory tariffs levied in response to tariffs imposed by Trump. 

David Winston, a longtime Republican strategist and pollster, agreed. “What Trump is doing is saying, ‘Look, I’m really trying to get things done.’ And people are very happy they have a president who is trying to move the ball forward” even though they may be unsure of the effect of his actions.

“The challenge he still faces is showing that things are going in such a way that people believe the economy is improving,” Winston said. Trump made the case, he said, that voters should give him time.