Takeaways from Trump’s State of the Union address

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Trump struck a confident and challenging tone; He claimed major victories in fighting crime in major U.S. cities, securing the nation’s borders, deporting undocumented immigrants, reducing costs for American households, and commanding respect for the United States on the world stage.

“The state of our union is strong,” Trump said; At a time when he is significantly weakened politically, has a stagnant economy, declining support for his crackdown on immigrants and some of the lowest approval ratings of his political career.

Trump delivered the State of the Union address — the longest on record — to a deeply divided Congress, drawing sustained applause from Republicans while receiving little more than harsh glares and momentary outbursts of anger and frustration from Democrats.

Trump used his usual advantages

Throughout his speech, Trump used superlatives, as is common for him, mostly to paint a rosy picture.

He “inherited a nation in crisis” with a “stagnant economy” and “wide open borders”, “rampant crime” and “wars and chaos” around the world, but under his leadership he said “we have achieved a transformation that no one has ever seen before and a turnaround for the ages”.

“Our nation is back, bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever,” he said.

He said US military forces carried out one of the largest military actions “in world history” when they entered Venezuela at the beginning of the year to dethrone and capture then-President Nicolás Maduro to face drug charges in the US.

He said America’s enemies are now “scared.” He said the economy was now “roaring.” He said the US military and police were now “stacked” and that “zero” undocumented immigrants had entered the US in the past nine months and that the country now had the “strongest and most secure border in American history”.

He said that although reliable crime data doesn’t go back that far, the country has seen the “largest decline” in violent crime since 1900, the military is “setting records for hiring,” natural gas production is at an “all-time high” and more Americans are working harder than “at any time in our country’s history.”

In his speech, he awarded 2 Medals of Honor, the Purple Heart and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“We’re making so much, we really don’t know what to do about it. People keep asking me, ‘Please, please, please, Mr. President, we’re making so much, we can’t take it anymore,'” Trump said. “I say, ‘No, no, no, you’re going to win again, you’re going to win big, you’re going to win bigger than ever.’”

Despite surveys, an increase in the economy is expected

Trump was clearly trying to convince Americans that the economy was strong.

Many Americans are dissatisfied with the way Trump is managing the economy, according to the poll. A recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found: 57 percent of respondents disapproved Trump’s management of the economy and 64% disapproved It’s about managing tariffs.

But Trump delivered a bullish message about President Biden’s impact on the economy, saying he gave him “the worst inflation in the history of the country” and brought it down.

“We’re doing really well,” he said. “These prices are gradually decreasing”

He cited his policy of eliminating taxes on tipped wages, said mortgage rates were falling, and argued that his policies would soon significantly reduce health care costs for American families, even though millions of people face higher costs as Republicans eliminate health subsidies in the latest “Big Beautiful Bill.”

Trump claimed Democrats were destroying the economy and increasing costs for Americans. “You caused this problem,” he told those in the room to a standing ovation from Republicans. He also suggested that Democrats have chosen “affordability” as a political issue to focus on in vain.

“They just used it, someone gave it to them,” he said.

Flexing on the global front

In addition to improving security in the United States, Trump said he was increasing “safety” for Americans abroad and U.S. “dominance” in the Western Hemisphere.

He claimed to have “ended eight wars” in countries abroad; It was a dubious claim that Democrats in the chamber rejected.

He said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be remembered as “the best ever.”

Trump has called Venezuela a “new friend and partner” since the United States ousted Maduro, from whom the United States has since received nearly 80 million barrels of oil.

“As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever I have to,” Trump said.

He praised the US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June and said the country had been warned not to develop new weapons capabilities and that the US had been in negotiations with Iran but had not heard “secret promises” that Iran would never have nuclear weapons.

Four judges participate

Trump criticized the U.S. Supreme Court — but not as heavily as some expected.

Just days earlier, the court had ruled that Trump’s broad tariffs on international trading partners (a key part of his economic policy) were illegal.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the 6-3 decision, in which Trump-appointed justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s three liberal-leaning justices in ruling against the president, angered Trump. He said he was pleased with the three conservative justices who voted in favor of upholding his tariffs — Samuel A. Alito Jr., Brett M. Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas — and was upset with the other six justices.

He said those six people were “barely invited” to observe the conversation. He also argued, without evidence, that the court was under foreign influence and did not rule in the best interests of Americans.

Four justices attended the speech Tuesday night; Among them were three people who voted against the president: Roberts, Judge Barrett, Kavanaugh and the liberal-leaning Elena Kagan. Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas and the court’s other two liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, were not there.

Trump cordially shook the hands of all four justices present before his speech. During his speech, Trump said the decision was “very unfortunate” but the good news was that most countries that have tariff-based trade agreements with the United States will continue those agreements. The judges sat with their hands on their laps, their faces expressionless.

Big claims and promises

Trump punctuated his speech with sarcastic programming and called on Congress to take action.

He suggested that future tariffs on trading partners could replace the income tax system in the United States.

He said his administration would begin providing working Americans with retirement plans similar to those of federal employees, and that the government would match Americans’ contributions of up to $1,000 each year to such plans.

He claimed that Somali immigrant “pirates” had “plundered” and “ransacked” Minnesota through fraud, that similar fraud had occurred in California and other states, and that he had launched a “war on fraud” to be led by Vice President J.D. Vance.

He also called on Congress to pass a law banning states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Shortly thereafter, Trump asked everyone in the room if they agreed with the statement that “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”

Republicans stood and cheered. Democrats stayed in place. Trump told the latter they should be ashamed of themselves. Somali-born Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) responded with “Liar” and “You killed Americans!”

Times writer Ana Ceballos in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.