US President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address at the Capitol on the evening of February 24th, Eastern Time. This was his first State of the Union address in his second term, lasting over two hours. The previous record was set by Clinton in 2000: 1 hour and 29 minutes.
The State of the Union address serves as both a policy platform and a political tool for the US government to garner public support. Currently, some voters are dissatisfied with Trump’s handling of the economy, immigration, tariffs, foreign policy, and healthcare. In a recent CNN poll, 68% of respondents believed he had prioritized the wrong issues.
Therefore, given the significant setbacks to his tariff policies and the political pressure of the midterm elections later this year, Trump unsurprisingly devoted a large portion of his address to alleviating Americans’ concerns about the cost of living, opening with a series of positive indicators, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassing 50,000 points.
Trump stated that his administration had brought core inflation to its lowest level in over five years. Core inflation is projected to fall to 1.7% in the last three months of 2025. However, government data released last week showed that US economic growth slowed significantly at the end of last year. He then went on to boast about the soaring US stock market over the past year: since the election, the stock market has broken records 53 times, meaning that ordinary Americans have more retirement savings than ever before. He also urged Congress to ban insider trading and ensure that lawmakers cannot use inside information to manipulate stocks.
Trump also revealed that the White House had reached agreements with several large technology companies, who agreed to cover the electricity costs in the communities where new AI data centers are being built, instead of having the public pay for them. He also called on Congress to pass legislation to redirect federal healthcare subsidies from insurance companies back to consumers.
Regarding trade, Trump stated that US tariffs would remain in effect under other legal provisions. These other tariff tools include Section 301 of the Trade Act, which targets trading partners, and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which focuses on specific industries.
In addition, he addressed a range of domestic issues in his speech, including border security, immigration, and crime, particularly mentioning the decline in murder rates in major cities, attempting to use this as evidence that the deportation of illegal immigrants was effective.
On geopolitics, he outlined his diplomatic strategy of “peace through strength,” revealing that the US had received over 80 million barrels of oil from Venezuela and was considering strikes against Iran. He stated that Iran was about to develop missiles capable of striking the US mainland.
Finally, Trump boasted that he had ended eight wars in his first ten months in office, attributing the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire to Secretary of State Rubio: “Everyone likes you.”
Throughout the speech, Trump made no mention of the highly publicized Epstein papers, drawing criticism from his political opponents. Furthermore, before Trump even reached the podium, Representative Al Green rose and unfurled a banner reading “Blacks are not apes” in protest, and was subsequently escorted away. Trump’s social media accounts posted a video clip on the 5th involving attacks on the Obamas.
