Trump boasts in State of the Union that US is ‘winning so much’

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump declared during a marathon State of the Union on Tuesday that “we’re winning so much” — insisting he’d sparked an economic boom at home and imposed a new world order abroad in hopes it can counter his sliding approval ratings.

Trump’s main objective was convincing increasingly wary Americans that the economy is stronger

than many believe, and that they should vote for more of the same by backing Republicans during November’s midterm elections. In all, Trump spoke for a record 108 minutes, breaking — by eight minutes — the previous time mark from his address before a joint session of Congress last year.

The president largely avoided his usual bombast, only occasionally veering off-script — mostly to slam Democrats. As he did during such addresses in his first term, Trump relied on a series of surprise special guests to dramatically punctuate his message. They included U.S. military heroes and a former political prisoner released after U.S. forces toppled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump drew some of the loudest applause of the night when he invited the Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team into the House chamber.

“Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it. People are asking me, ‘Please, please, please, Mister President, we’re winning too much. We can’t take it anymore,’” Trump said before introducing the team.

The hockey players, wearing their medals and “USA” sweaters, drew a bipartisan standing ovation. Trump pointed to the Democratic side of the chamber and quipped, “That’s the first time I ever I’ve ever seen them get up.”

In a made-for-TV moment, the president announced he would be awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, to the hockey team’s goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck. He also bestowed the Purple Heart on Andrew Wolfe — a National Guard member who was shot while deployed on the streets of the nation’s capital. Wolfe made his first public appearance since then during the speech.

That scene recalled a similar surprise announcement in 2020, when Trump gave the Medal of Freedom to conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh during his State of the Union speech.

Trump decries tariff decision as justices look on

The president championed his immigration crackdowns and his push to preserve widespread tariffs that the Supreme Court just struck down. He drew applause only from Democrats while describing the high court’s decision, which he called “an unfortunate ruling.”

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Trump vowed to plow ahead, using “alternative” laws to impose the taxes on imports and telling lawmakers, “Congressional action will not be necessary.” Trump argued that the tariffs are paid by foreign countries, despite evidence that the costs are borne by American consumers and businesses. “It’s saving our country,” he said.

The only Supreme Court justices attending were Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan. Trump greeted them personally before the speech, despite last week slamming Coney Barrett — who he appointed to the high court in his first term — for siding with the majority against his tariffs.

Democrats also stood for Trump vowing to halt insider trading by members of Congress. But Rep. Mark Takano, a California Democrat, yelled, “How about you first!” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, called out, “You’re the most corrupt president!”

When some heckling continued, Trump proclaimed, “You should be ashamed of yourselves.” Later, he pointed at Democrats and proclaimed, “These people are crazy.”

Democratic Rep. Al Green was escorted from the chamber early in the speech, after he unfurled a sign of protest that read “Black People Aren’t Apes!” That was an apparent reference to a racist video the president posted that depicted former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as primates in a jungle. Green was also removed during Trump’s address last year.

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The president, meanwhile, was mostly optimistic and patriotic, but Trump struck a darker tone in large swaths of his speech to warn about the dangers posed by immigrants. He invited lawmakers from both parties to “protect American citizens, not illegal aliens” and championed proposals to limit mail-in ballots and tighten voter identification rules.

Affordability gets relatively little time

Trump didn’t dwell on efforts to lower the cost of living — despite polling showing that his handling of the economy and kitchen-table issues has increasingly become a liability. Such concerns about the high costs of living helped propel Democratic wins around the country on Election Day last November.

There also are persistent fears that tariffs stoking higher prices could eventually hurt the economy and job creation. Economic growth slowed in the last three months of last year.

It is potentially politically perilous ahead of November elections that could deliver congressional wins to Democrats, just as 2018’s blue wave created a strong check to his administration during his first term.

On Tuesday, Trump blamed his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, along with Democratic lawmakers in the chamber, saying they were responsible for rising prices and health care costs, two issues his political opponents have repeatedly raised against him.

“You caused that problem,” Trump said of affordability concerns. He added a moment later, “They knew their statements were a dirty, rotten lie.”

Trump also said he’d press tech companies involved in artificial intelligence to pay higher electricity rates in areas where their data centers are located. Such data centers tend to use large volumes of electricity, potentially increasing the cost of power to other consumers in the area.

Another notable off-script moment came as Trump was referencing prescription drug prices, saying, “So in my first year of the second term — should be my third term — but strange things happen,” prompting at least one chant in the chamber of “Four more years!”

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who delivered the Democratic response to Trump’s speech, slammed the president’s aggressive immigration policies, his widespread cuts to the federal government and his tariffs.

“Even though the Supreme Court struck these tariffs down four days ago, the damage to us, the American people, has already been done. Meanwhile, the president is planning for new tariffs,” she said. “Another massive tax hike on you and your family.”

A warning to Iran

Trump’s address came as two U.S. aircraft carriers have been dispatched to the Middle East amid tensions with Iran. Trump said, “My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy.”

“But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror — which they are, by far — to have a nuclear weapon,” he added.

The president also recounted U.S. airstrikes last summer that pounded Tehran’s nuclear capabilities, and lauded the raid that ousted Maduro in Venezuela — as well as his administration’s brokering of a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

Trump misleadingly claims that tariff revenues are ‘saving’ the US

“It’s saving our country, the kind of money we’re taking in.”

Trump has imposed massive tax hikes on imports, but they’re not sizable enough to make a dent in the government’s annual budget deficits. Nor have the tariffs corresponded with manufacturing job gains.

Before the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s tariffs based on an emergency declaration, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that his new taxes would raise $3 trillion over 10 years, or $300 billion annually.

That’s not enough to cover the cost of his $4.7 trillion in tax cuts, including additional interest cuts, that favored companies and the wealthy. Nor is it enough to pay down an annual budget deficit that last year was $1.78 trillion.

Tariffs have been paid by US firms and consumers

“The tariffs, paid for by foreign countries … ”

Nearly every study finds otherwise.

The Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Kiel Institut in Germany and two economists from Harvard and the University of Chicago have looked at who is paying the tariffs, and all have concluded that nearly all the costs have been paid by U.S. firms and consumers.

U.S. importers write the checks to pay the tariffs. The only way overseas companies could pay is if they cut their prices to make up for the cost of the duties, but all the studies cited above find that that’s not happening.

“This nonsense has lasted long enough and no one should tolerate any further discussion of the notion that foreigners are paying the tariff bill,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the right-leaning American Action Forum and a top economist in George W. Bush’s White House, said last week.

Trump’s big tax breaks bill divides the Congress

Republicans jumped to cheer on their side of the aisle when Trump praised the GOP majority in Congress that “delivered so beautifully” in passing the bill last year.

And when Trump criticized Democrats for voting against it, they too stood and cheered.

The bill that became law is the most significant legislative achievement for the president and his party, so far, in his second term.

It extended many tax cuts that had been approved during Trump’s first term and were about to expire. The package also offered new tax breaks including no taxes on tips, overtime pay and others.

Trump repeats claim that tax law contains ‘no tax on social security’

“And with the great big beautiful bill, we gave you no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security.”
Trump frequently says his big tax cut bill means no tax on Social Security.

But that’s not true for everyone. Not all Social Security beneficiaries will be able to claim the deduction, which lasts four years until 2029. Those who won’t be able to do so include the lowest-income seniors who already don’t pay taxes on Social Security, those who choose to claim their benefits before they reach age 65 and those above a defined income threshold.

The deductions also phase out as income increases.

Trump promises to allow migrants who ‘love our country’

“We will always allow people to come in legally, people that will love our country and will work hard to maintain our country.”

Trump has actually taken steps to restrict who can emigrate to the U.S. often in the name of protecting national security.

He suspended the refugee program on his first day in office and in October resumed the program but only in limited numbers for white South Africans.

Trump has also placed restrictions on who can travel or emigrate to the U.S. from nearly 40 countries. Many of those countries are in Africa.

Trump investment accounts for kids get a shoutout

“Tax free investment accounts for every American child. This is something that’s so special. It has taken off and gone through the roof.”

Part of Trump’s tax legislation, Trump Accounts are meant to give $1,000 to every newborn, so long as their parents open an account.

That money is then invested in the stock market by private firms, and the child can access the money when they turn 18.

Parents can contribute up to $2,500 annually in pretax income, and yearly contributions are capped at $5,000. Some of the country’s wealthiest businesspeople have contributed tens of billions of dollars to the initiative, including billionaires Michael and Susan Dell and hedge fund founder Ray Dalio and his wife Barbara.

Several major companies announced plans to add Trump Accounts contributions to their benefits packages, including Uber, Intel, IBM, Nvidia and Steak ‘n Shake.

Trump touts falling fentanyl seizures as sign of policy success

“The flow of deadline fentanyl across our border is down by a record 56% in one year.”

Trump appears to be referring to fentanyl seizures, not the amount of fentanyl that got through undetected, which is unknown.

Fentanyl seizures at U.S. land borders and airports started dropping in 2023 and have continued to fall during Trump’s first year in office. Fentanyl seizures on the Mexican border dropped at 50% annual clip in October and at a 22% annual clip in January, the latest data available.

Monthly seizures were regularly above a half-ton before Trump took office but fell below that mark for 10 of his first 12 months as president. Trump has heavily pressured Mexico to increase enforcement but it’s unclear what is driving the decline.

Adam Isacson, a policy analyst at the Washington Office of Latin America, has said other possible explanations include less demand in the United States, infighting among Mexican cartels and new scanners that were installed at border crossings during Joe Biden’s presidency.

Trump says he will make LA safe as he made Washington

“We’re going to do a good job in Los Angeles. And Los Angeles is going to be safe, just like Washington, D.C., is now one of the safest cities in the country.”

Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington in August 2025 and has credited it with lowering crime to historic lows.

Crime did go down after a surge of federal authorities and National Guard members onto the streets. But Mayor Muriel Bowser maintained it was already trending down at the time. Trump and Republicans argued that local police were cooking the books and not giving the surge the true credit it merited.

A House Committee and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro issued reports supporting the fixed crime data claim. Bowser challenged those findings and asked for an inspector general review, which is underway.

Overall violent crime fell 29% in 2025 from 2024. It is currently down 29% so far this year from the same time in 2025. Federal authorities and more than 2,200 Guard members are still on the streets.

Outside of the Capitol, Democratic lawmakers respond to Trump’s address

A number of Democratic lawmakers chose to skip the president’s address, with some gathering just outside the Capitol on the National Mall for a “People’s State of the Union.” Standing alongside activists, they argued that Trump’s speech would not offer an accurate portrayal of the state of the nation.

“We know our state of the union. We know it is under attack,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. Democrats held other counterprogramming as well, including a “State of the Swamp” event. The party’s formal rebuttal, however, was scheduled to come from Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger following Trump’s address.

Trump touts Republicans’ massive tax and spending law

“I urged this Congress to begin the mission by passing the largest tax cuts in American history, and our Republican majorities delivered so beautifully. Thank you Republicans.”

Republicans’ tax and spending package that Trump signed into law last summer includes various provisions that eliminate federal income taxes on tips for people working in jobs that have traditionally received them, a deduction for older Americans and the creation of Trump accounts.

Trump says he’ll give Medal of Freedom to Team USA hockey goalie

“I will soon be presenting Connor with our highest civilian honor.”

Trump announced that he will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Team USA hockey goalie Connor Hellebuyck. Trump said the award has been given to “many athletes over the years.”

Hellebuyck made 41 saves, many of them spectacular, during the United States’ 2-1 victory over Canada for the gold medal at the Milan Cortina Games.

In his first term, Trump honored athletes including golfer Tiger Woods and football players Alan Page and Roger Staubach with the Medal of Freedom. He also awarded it posthumously to baseball great Babe Ruth.

US Men’s Olympic Hockey team receives standing ovation and chants of ‘USA’ after Trump shoutout

In a rare display of bipartisanship, members of the Men’s Olympic Hockey team received a standing ovation as they entered the House chamber after a shoutout from Trump.

The players received multiple rounds of applause, chants of “USA” and pumped fists from lawmakers. Rep. Lisa McClain, the Republican House Conference Chair, shouted “Love you!”

Members of the team stood in the gallery seats overlooking the House floor after Trump praised them. Several smiled and waved at the crowd.

Trump then gave a shoutout to the women’s team, who also received a standing ovation despite not being in attendance. Both teams won gold at the Winter Olympics in Milan.

Trump touts record low numbers of migrants at southern border

“In the past 9 months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States.”

Arrests for illegal crossings have plummeted to their lowest levels since the mid-1960s under Trump’s watch.
Republicans including Trump constantly criticized President Joe Biden for the number of migrants arriving at the southern border.

Arrivals hit a peak of 250,000 in December 2023. Then they started to fall to less than 50,000 in December 2024, Biden’s last full month in office.

They’ve plummeted even further under Trump.

The January tally of 6,070 arrests along the Mexican border translates to the lowest annualized rate since 1967.
Critics say the drop has carried big moral and humanitarian costs by ending asylum at the border.

Trump invites the USA women’s hockey team to the White House

The USA women’s hockey team — who, like their male counterparts were champions at the recent Olympics in Milano-Cortina — will get their due from Washington soon.

The women’s team had declined an invitation from Trump to attend Tuesday’s State of the Union, due to the timing of the address.

As the gold medal-winning men’s team made their appearance during the speech, Trump announced that the women’s team “will soon be coming to the White House.”

Trump says US has received over 80 million barrels of Venezuelan oil

The president said the U.S. has received more than 80 million barrels of oil from its “new friend and partner, Venezuela.”

That exceeds what his administration had initially projected in the days after the U.S. military carried out a stunning raid in Venezuela’s capital last month and captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuela’s oil industry produces roughly 1 million barrels a day. The country has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

Trump vowed to turn around Venezuela’s crippling oil industry after Maduro was captured and taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

Trump misstates gas prices, again

Trump said gas prices now are below $2.30 per gallon in most states, which overstates the price drop since last year.
According to AAA, the national average was $2.95 per gallon as of Tuesday.

That’s below the $3.14 average as one year ago, but not nearly as low as Trump claims.

Who’s the designated survivor?

They typically start the day as low-profile Cabinet secretaries. They end it that way, too, God willing.

But when the rest of the government is gathered together for a big event, like Trump’s State of the Union address, a designated survivor is kept away to ensure someone in the line of leadership succession stays alive.

The president’s pick to sit out this time appeared to be Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, who was also chosen as the designated survivor last year for the president’s address to a joint session of Congress. Collins was not seen in the chamber. The White House did not immediately confirm he was chosen.

Trump inflates foreign investment

“I secured commitments for more than $18 trillion pouring in from all over the globe.”

Trump has presented no evidence that he’s secured this much domestic or foreign investment in the U.S. Based on statements from various companies, foreign countries and the White House’s own website, that figure appears to be exaggerated, highly speculative and far higher than the actual sum. The White House website offers a far lower number, $9.6 trillion, and that figure appears to include some investment commitments made during the Biden administration.

A study published in January raised doubts about whether more than $5 trillion in investment commitments made last year by many of America’s biggest trading partners will actually materialize and questions how it would be spent if it did.

Trump’s claim that US is ‘the hottest country’ misses context

“Now we are the hottest country anywhere in the world, the hottest.”

The U.S. economy has generally performed strongly in Trump’s second term — after getting off to a bumpy start.

GDP shrank for the first time in three years during the first quarter of 2025. Growth rebounded in the second half of the year — from April through June, the economy expanded at a healthy 3.8% pace. And from July through September, it grew even faster — 4.4%. It slowed in the fourth quarter, increasing at only a 1.4% annual rate.

A key measure of inflation fell to nearly a five-year low in January. However, according to the Fed’s preferred measure, it remains elevated as the cost of goods such as furniture, clothes and groceries increase. Companies have also sharply reduced hiring.

The U.S. stock market did well last year, and yet it underperformed many foreign markets. The benchmark S&P 500 index climbed 17% — a nice gain but short of a 71% surge in South Korea, 29% in Hong Kong, 26% in Japan, 22% in Germany and 21% in the United Kingdom.

Trump claims $18 trillion in investments — but it’s unclear where the numbers come from

“I secured commitments for more than $18 trillion pouring in from all over the globe.”

It’s unclear where that number comes from. The White House has published a figure of $9.7 trillion, which includes private and public investment commitments from other countries.

Researchers at the Peterson Institute for International Economics last month calculated the investment pledges at $5 trillion from the EU, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the Persian Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump touts drop in murder rate

“Last year, the murder rate saw its single largest decline in recorded history.”

Homicide rates did drop sharply in many cities last year. But violent crime has been trending downward for years in the U.S. after a spike during the coronavirus pandemic. And experts say the historic drop in violence defies easy explanation despite elected officials at all levels rushing to claim credit.

A study from the Council on Criminal Justice — a nonpartisan think tank — released in January showed a more than 20% drop in the homicide rate between 2024 and 2025 in 35 cities that reported data. Some cities, including Denver and Washington, reported a 40% decrease.

FBI reports for 2023 and 2024 also showed significant reductions in violent crimes. Violent crime dropped to near pre-pandemic levels around 2022 when Biden was president.

Trump says the economy is doing great. Most Americans disagree

Trump has praised the U.S. economy tonight, but AP-NORC polling shows that most Americans don’t think the country is doing well economically.

About two-thirds of U.S. adults continue to say the country’s economy is “poor.” That’s unchanged from recent months, and it’s broadly in line with views throughout Biden’s last year in office.

Republicans are the exception. About 6 in 10 say the economy is good. But even within Trump’s own party, a significant share — about 4 in 10 — describe it as poor.

Income growth has slowed in the past year, not ‘rising fast’

“Incomes are rising fast, the roaring economy is roaring like never before.”

After-tax incomes, adjusted for inflation, rose just 0.9% in 2025, down from 2.2% in 2024. That is the smallest annual gain since 2022, when inflation soared and caused Americans’ inflation-adjusted income to drop.

Wages and salaries are the largest component of incomes, and their growth has slowed as companies have sharply slowed hiring. Workers typically command smaller wage gains in such an environment.

Rep. Al Green is escorted from the chamber as Republicans chant ‘USA’

The House Sergeant at Arms approached and escorted Green, who stood as Trump began speaking with a sign reading “Black People Aren’t Apes!” from the chamber barely two minutes into the address.

Two Trump allies, Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas and Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, had approached the area where Green was sitting before Capitol Police escorted him out.

Before Green exited, some Republicans began chanting “USA.”

Trump didn’t inherit a ‘stagnant economy’

“When I last spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just inherited a nation in crisis, with a stagnant economy.”
Not quite.

Voters were unhappy with high inflation in the 2024 election, but the U.S. economy was far from stagnant.

U.S. gross domestic product rose 2.8% in 2024 after adjusting for inflation. That’s a stronger pace of growth than the 2.2% achieved last year during the start of Trump’s second term.

Trump briefly greets Supreme Court justices

The president briefly greeted the four Supreme Court justices, shaking their hands before quickly moving on.
Representing the court were Chief Justice John Roberts, Elena Kagan and two of Trump’s appointees, Brett Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan.

The greetings were notable because Trump angrily lashed out at the court after the justices in a 6-3 opinion Friday struck down his tariffs, a signature element of his economic policy.

Roberts, Coney Barrett and another Trump appointee, Neil Gorsuch, joined the court’s three liberal justices in voting down the tariffs.

Trump is less popular on immigration than when he took office last year

Although Trump’s overall presidential approval has remained largely steady in his first year, he’s lost support on his handling of immigration. An AP-NORC poll conducted in early February found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of the way he’s handling immigration, down from 49% last March.

That shift means that immigration is no longer a strength for Trump. In his first few months, his approval on immigration exceeded his overall approval, but now they’re indistinguishable.

The February poll suggested that political independents, in particular, are increasingly uncomfortable with the president’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.

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