US President Donald Trump On Tuesday reignited a long-standing political feud with Senator Elizabeth Warren, referring to her as “Pocahontas” during his address to a joint session of Congress.
The remark came as Trump discussed US financial support for Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia.
“The United States has sent hundreds of billions of dollars to support Ukraine’s defense… You wanna keep it going for another five years? Yeah. Pocahontas says yes,” Trump said, seemingly pointing at Warren in the audience. The Massachusetts senator responded with a slow clap and a restrained smile, appearing to keep her composure.
Trump has frequently used the “Pocahontas” nickname to mock Warren’s past claims of Native American ancestry. The controversy dates back to Warren’s assertion that she had Indigenous heritage—claims that came under scrutiny when she released a 2018 DNA test showing a small percentage of Native ancestry. Critics, including Trump, accused her of exaggerating her background for personal or political gain.
Warren later dismissed Trump’s remarks, criticising his speech as “a fantasy.” When asked whether she was surprised by the attack, she simply shook her head. “No,” she said. “The whole speech was a fantasy that Donald Trump tries to construct.”
Donald Trump’s comments on Warren came as he defended his stance on the Ukraine conflict, claiming he had been working “tirelessly” to end the war. “Millions of Ukrainians and Russians have been needlessly killed or wounded in this horrific and brutal conflict with no end in sight,” he said, arguing that US spending on Ukraine’s defense had exceeded $350 billion.
The “Pocahontas” remark drew criticism from Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, who called it “low-rent” and unpresidential. “That’s kind of a low-rent thing you don’t expect from a president of the United States,” Durbin said.
Donald Trump’s first Congress address of his second term followed a turbulent first six weeks in office, during which he has reshaped US foreign policy, engaged in a trade war with key allies, and clashed with world leaders, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
