By Gabriel Solis
Tuesday night, President Donald Trump delivered his annual State Of The Union address, before a joint session of Congress and a gallery of onlookers. Trump used his record-length speech of nearly one hour and 48 minutes to tout his economic achievements, laud praise on his administration’s foreign policy and immigration crackdown, heavily criticize his predecessor and other Democratic officials, and lean heavily into a sense of patriotic fervor that permeated his remarks.
He first touched on immigration and border security, an issue he would return to multiple times throughout the evening. He reported that the border is now secure and that zero illegal immigrants have been allowed into the country in the last nine months (which is a misleading claim). Throughout the evening, he repeatedly criticized Democrats and the Biden administration for what he characterized as an open-border policy, referencing immigrants that “poured in by the millions and millions from prisons and mental institutions” (another of many unsubstantiated claims), and emphasized his administration’s focus on reversing its effects. He also highlighted people in attendance who fell under the umbrella of “angel moms and families,” a term his administration has coined for people who have lost loved ones to what he called “the scourge of illegal aliens.” In at least one case that Trump mentioned, there is no evidence that the victim was murdered by an illegal immigrant.
One of these highlighted was 7-year-old Dalilah Coleman, who in 2024 was involved in an accident with an 18-wheeler truck driven by an undocumented immigrant. Trump used the incident to call for the passing of the “Dalilah Law,” which would ban illegal immigrants from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses (which they already cannot). He also insinuated that “many, if not most,” illegal aliens cannot speak English or read road signs. Notably, he asked young Coleman, who is re-learning to walk after the incident, to “please stand up.”
In broad reference to America’s undocumented immigrant population, Trump remarked, “We’re getting them the hell out of here fast. We don’t want them.” He called for the abolition of sanctuary cities, which are purely ideological and have no basis in legality. He highlighted that “we will always allow people to come in legally,” though his administration has taken actions to make that process more difficult.
Then, he touched on the economy, the issue Americans most wanted to hear about, according to a CBS poll. He touted what he described as a “stunning economic turnaround,” pointing to dropping inflation rates and gas prices, increased child tax credits, his “No Tax On Tips” pledge, and the creation of “Trump accounts” for American children.
There were inaccuracies on this topic as well. Trump vowed to “always protect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,” all of which his administration made cuts to at the beginning of his term. He claimed that he has brought in $18 trillion in foreign investments since taking office, which is a number he has mentioned before and one that appears to be widely inflated. He also stated that the cost of living is “plummeting downward,” which is false. It is still rising steadily.
Trump repeatedly credited his tariffs for his economic successes, and touched multiple times on a recent Supreme Court ruling that barred the implementation of some of those tariffs, which he called “unfortunate.” He posited that tariffs will soon replace income tax in America, which he said would take “a great financial burden off the people that I love.” In the future, he pledged to continue his economic implementations as well as combat the costs of health care and prescription drugs.
At one point, Trump insinuated that states are allowed to “rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will.” To punctuate this, he highlighted a mother and daughter, seated in the gallery, whose story he claimed was an example of this behavior. In reality, this notion is entirely false. No U.S. state currently allows irreversible gender-affirming care to minors under the age of 18. This marks the second State of the Union address in a row where Trump has brought a guest designed to underscore a negative narrative on gender-affirming care.
Trump also repeatedly hit on foreign policy, repeating previous talking points about his intervention in Iran, his negotiation for the return of hostages living and dead from Hamas to Israel, and his labelling of cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, briefly touching on the U.S. intelligence-backed killing of cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes. He did not explain his increased military interest in Iran, which was another key topic that many Americans wanted addressed, according to the same CBS poll. He stated that the Russia/Ukraine war “would have never happened if (he) were president.” He referred to Venezuela, whose government his administration upended in early January, as “our new friend and partner.” He mentioned his approval of a trillion-dollar military budget, of which he said, “We had no choice. We have to be strong.”
Notably, when Trump repeated his previous claim that he has ended eight wars since the beginning of his term, there was an audible interjection from someone in attendance, to which Trump responded, “Isn’t it funny? They’re sick people.” The eight-war claim is greatly exaggerated. It was unclear who the interruption came from.
Omni-present throughout Trump’s speech was a heightened sense of patriotism, punctuated by his often hyper-patriotic rhetoric. He stated, “We’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it. People are asking me, please, please, please, Mr. President, we’re winning too much. We can’t take it anymore. We’re not used to winning in our country. Until you came along, we were just always losing, but now we’re winning too much.”
Trump also billed his current term as “a turnaround for the ages,” and touching on the nation’s 250th anniversary, stated, “You’ve seen nothing yet. We’re gonna do better and better and better. This is the Golden Age of America,” to thunderous applause.
No less than four times, the speech was interrupted by chants of “USA, USA” and accompanying claps, as well as a chant of “Charlie, Charlie,” when Trump addressed murdered conservative activist and internet personality Charlie Kirk.
Trump gave out numerous military accolades to distinguished servicemen throughout the evening, and early in his remarks, invited the gold-medal winning U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team to file into the Congressional chamber and be celebrated, before awarding goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The U.S. women’s hockey team, who also won gold, was not present and received no awards, having declined to attend after recent controversy. Trump did mention they would “soon be coming to the White House.”
Also constant throughout the evening were references to the Biden administration, which he described as “quite honestly, a disaster,” as well as direct attacks on Democratic lawmakers in attendance. Multiple times, Trump addressed Democratic congresspeople directly, saying things like, “you caused that problem,” and “these people are crazy.” He remarked that his current term “should be (his) third term, but strange things happen.” Comparing himself to Joe Biden, he mused, “What a difference a president makes.”
Even before Trump took the podium, his speech was the cause of dissent among Democratic lawmakers. Approximately 50 Democratic congresspeople skipped the speech entirely, and a counter-speech dubbed “The People’s State of the Union” was held on the National Mall.
At the main event, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, interrupted Trump’s speech by shouting, “You have killed Americans!”, likely in reference to the multiple shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in her state. This prompted an exchange in which each told the other that they should be ashamed. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, was seen wearing a pin with the words “F*CK ICE,” and could be heard shouting, “Release the Epstein files!” Omar and Tlaib left together just before the end of the speech. Trump notably did not address the Epstein files throughout the course of his record-long remarks.
Also during Trump’s remarks, Rep. Al Green of Texas was removed from the chamber for holding up a sign reading, “Black People Aren’t Apes!” in reference to a racist AI-generated video Trump posted to his social media platform, Truth Social, depicting the Obamas as apes. The video has since been deleted, but Trump has refused to apologize.
The Democratic response to the address was delivered just after Trump left the podium by Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger. Her remarks lasted about 13 minutes, and she contested Trump’s claims of economic success as well as condemned his actions concerning immigration.
