Jobs, gas prices and ending wars: factchecking Trump’s State of the Union claims | Donald Trump
Donald Trump officially delivered the longest State of the Union address in history on Tuesday night, making sweeping claims about the accomplishments of the first year of his second term.
But the speech, which lasted more than an hour and 41 minutes, was full of strong statements, many of which were exaggerated, misleading or completely untrue.
Here are some of the claims the president made during his speech:
Information check: economy, jobs and investments
Trump has repeatedly touted its economy, boasting that “we are the hottest country anywhere in the world” and claiming “we have more jobs, more people working, than ever before in the history of our country.”
But data shows that job gains under Trump have slowed in 2025 and are much smaller than in other years without the pandemic.
The U.S. gained just 181,000 jobs in 2025, according to revised data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this month.
PolitiFact notes that this number is “well below the typical 1.5 million to 2.5 million during Trump’s first term and former President Joe Biden’s term.”
Trump also said the United States had secured $18 trillion in investment “from around the world” under his leadership. But a review from CNN last year found this: The White House was counting commitments – uncertain amounts promised rather than actual investments. The White House’s investment website lists total US and Foreign Investments as $9.7 trillion.
Fact check: Iryna Zarutska’s killer was not an immigrant
When Trump introduced the mother of Iryna Zarutska, the Ukrainian woman killed on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina, last year, he falsely claimed that she was the man who stabbed Zarutska. ““A notorious criminal who was released to kill in America entered through open borders.”
However, DeCarlos Brown Jr., who was accused and arrested for Zarutska’s murder, was arrested. not an immigrant. Trump has long insisted that noncitizens are responsible for violent crimes across the United States. Data shows Compared to undocumented immigrants, U.S.-born citizens are more than twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes and 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes.
Fact check: US energy prices
Trump claimed that energy prices were falling. “They can’t believe it when they see the energy decrease to such numbers,” he said.
But in the US, the average household energy bill increased by 6.7% from 2024 to 2025. This was despite Trump’s oft-repeated promise to cut electricity costs in half within his first year in office.
Since Trump recaptured the White House, utility companies have increased, or attempted to increase, taxes on American families by at least 100 percent. 92 billion dollarsCutting the bills of 112 million electricity and 52 million gas customers, According to an analysis from the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. The president’s attacks on clean energy expansion are also expected to increase electricity rates by as much as 18% by 2035. Data from power research group Energy Innovation shows.
The Trump administration also cut energy aid to American families. Last year, the administration eliminated cost-cutting tax credits for home energy efficiency improvements. He also sought to eliminate the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps 6 million low-income Americans with their energy bills each year. The program survived, but was significantly hampered after management laid off the program’s entire staff. The blackouts and government shutdown have caused unprecedented delays in distributing aid.
Fact check: gas prices
Trump touted lower gas prices in his state of the union address, saying they were “currently under $2.30 per gallon in most states and under $1.99 per gallon in some places.” But a major environmental mandate his administration enacted two weeks ago could push gas prices higher.
As the Guardian explained in an analysis last week, the repeal of the finding of danger, which is the legal basis for all greenhouse gas regulations in the US, is expected to create a surge in gas prices. This is according to the administration’s own data. Check it out here.
Gasoline prices are also higher than the president claims. According to AAA, which records prices across the country, Oklahoma is the only state offering gas at $2.30 a gallon, or more accurately, $2.374. In some states, prices exceed $4.60.
Fact check: war and peace
In a bold exaggeration, the president claimed to have ended eight wars in his first 10 months. The United States is party to six peace agreements, many of which do not particularly credit Trump. Others were not initially considered war.
Despite being involved in efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel has continued to kill Palestinian civilians and launch airstrikes since the ceasefire was announced last October.
The century-old border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia is one of the conflicts Trump claims to have resolved. Trump presided over the ceasefire agreement signed between the two sides in October, calling it a “tremendous step.”
He warned that otherwise trade talks with the USA would be suspended and pressured the leaders of both countries to make an agreement. But the underlying causes of the conflict, which stemmed from long-standing disputes over colonial-era maps, were never resolved. The ceasefire broke down just a few weeks later in November, and fighting broke out again in December, forcing half a million people to flee their homes.
