He also pulled an unusual move, bringing on stage Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance and Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, who Trump pardoned last month for cases involving war crimes. Lorance was serving a 19-year sentence for ordering his soldiers shoot at unarmed men in Afghanistan, and Golsteyn was to stand trial for the 2010 extrajudicial killing of a suspected bomb maker.

The president spoke for over an hour, doing impressions of Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and joking about the slim physique of Ohio congressman — and former wrestler — Jim Jordan, who was in attendance. He also introduced his son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, and North Florida Congressman Mike Waltz.