Democrats 'un-American' for not applauding speech, Trump says

U.S. President Donald Trump accused congressional Democrats on Monday of being "un-American" and perhaps even treasonous for refusing to cheer positive news during his State of the Union address, as he turned an appearance that was arranged to promote new tax cuts into a session on bashing the political opposition.

During what turned into a wide-ranging speech, Trump most notably criticized House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi for describing as "crumbs" the bonuses of $1,000 or more that some companies, including the one he spoke at, are giving their workers as a result of the tax cuts.

He also accused Democrats of being "un-American" for not clapping even for positive news during his address to the nation last week, in contrast to fellow Republicans, who Trump said were "going totally crazy wild" over everything in the speech.

"They were like death. And un-American," Trump said about the Democrats. "Somebody said treasonous. Can we call that treason? Why not?" 

"They certainly didn't seem to love our country very much," the president said. He said Democrats "would rather see Trump do badly than our country do well."

Even as Trump celebrated the tax cuts and the economy, the Dow Jones Industrial Average took a wild ride during his nearly hour-long speech, falling roughly 1,000 points before erasing some of the losses. Trump has frequently commented on gains by the market during his first year in office, but he stayed silent on the day's gyrations during his appearance at an Ohio company that makes cylinders.

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Once the markets closed, the White House issued a statement saying Trump's focus is "on our long-term economic fundamentals, which remain exceptionally strong, with strengthening U.S. economic growth, historically low unemployment, and increasing wages for American workers."

At its close, the Dow had fallen more than 1,150 points, its largest ever single-day point drop, erasing its gains for the year.

As for Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, Trump said: "She's a rich woman who lives in a big beautiful house." He said the "crumbs" talk was not a "good day" for Pelosi. He referred to her as the Republicans' "secret weapon" and predicted his party will fare well in November's congressional election.

Pelosi responded on Twitter, writing: "Every American should be alarmed by how @realDonaldTrump is working to make loyalty to him synonymous with loyalty to our country. That is not how democracy works."