Donald Trump proclaimed his first year in office a success at the State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, even as his presidency is dogged by low public approval ratings before November’s midterm elections in which voters could hand control of Congress back to his Democratic opponents.

The annual address to a joint session of Congress came after months of turmoil for the Republican president, including a crackdown on immigrant communities in Minneapolis that resulted in the deaths of two US citizens, and faltering progress on his campaign promise of lowering the cost of living.

But Trump maintained a triumphant tone in his speech, saying that he had inherited a country ruined by Joe Biden and quickly rebuilt it.

“Tonight, after just one year, we can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before, and a turnaround for the ages,” Trump said.

“We will never go back to where we were just a very short time ago. We’re not going back.”

Polls have shown that many voters disagree, with Trump underwater on his handling of key issues such as the economy and immigration. The president sought to link himself to more recent successes, at one point bringing out the US men’s hockey team that just won gold at the Winter Olympics.

“Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it,” Trump said, before summoning the players to make a surprise appearance in the gallery of the House of Representatives chamber.

Democrats remained seated and withheld their applause as he spoke, part of a campaign of “silent defiance” encouraged by party leaders. Several opted to skip the event, with some announcing plans to take part in counter-programming held elsewhere, including a “People’s State of the Union” organized by liberal groups.

“This administration continues to disregard the rule of law and the constitution while failing to lower costs for American families. I have more productive ways to spend two hours than listening to more lies. I’ll pass,” Arizona senator Ruben Gallego said in a statement before the speech.

Al Green, the Democratic representative from Texas who was ejected from the House chamber a year ago for heckling the president and later censured, held up a sign reading “Black people aren’t apes!”, in reference to Trump sharing a racist video of Barack and Michelle Obama. After confrontations with Republicans, Green appeared to be escorted out of the chamber shortly after Trump began speaking.

Other Democrats opted to attend while using their plus-ones as a way to signal disapproval with Trump’s policies, or focus attention on uncomfortable subjects. Many Democrats invited as guests survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased financier and one-time friend of the president who has been at the center of a roiling political intrigue after Congress mandated that files related to his sex-trafficking prosecutions be made public.

“The Trump administration is fighting our push for justice at every step with a cover-up. It is an honor to bring Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s family as our guests for the State of the Union, to be a visible reminder to Trump that we’re not giving in or giving up,” said Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, who has invited relatives of the prominent Epstein survivor.

The speech to a joint session of Congress is nonetheless a key moment ahead of the November midterm elections, in which Trump’s Republican allies are defending their slim control of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Beyond the United States, Trump has ordered a military buildup around Iran that raises the possibility he may order strikes against the longtime American adversary, just weeks after his special forces seized the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and took him to stand trial on US soil.

Trump’s cabinet attended the speech, as did four justices of the supreme court. Its conservative majority had generally not stood in the way of the president’s efforts to expand executive power over the past year until last week, when it struck down his attempts to unilaterally impose tariffs on a host of trading partners. That sparked a tirade from Trump, who called the justices that disagreed with him “fools”, and said he was “ashamed” of them.

Liberal Elena Kagan along with John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh, all conservatives, were in attendance. Only Kavanaugh had said he would have upheld Trump’s tariffs, but the president shook the hands of all four, who were seated in the front row, just before beginning his speech.