Donald Trump’s speech | The State of the Union in Pink

(New York) The majority of Americans have it all wrong. Poll after poll shows them to be dissatisfied with the way Donald Trump is managing the economy. However, the president took advantage of the traditional State of the Union speech on Tuesday evening to explain to them that the United States has never experienced a more prosperous period.

“Our nation is back. Bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever. This is the golden age of America,” he declared at the start of a long speech lasting one hour and 47 minutes, the longest in American history in such circumstances.

In praising the strength of the American economy, Donald Trump notably mentioned plummeting inflation and rising wages. Fact-checkers were quick to note that wage increases were overshadowed by increases in major expenses such as housing, child care and health care.

And even though the United States saw economic growth of 2.2% in 2025, down from 2.3% the previous year, the president said he inherited a “nation in crisis, with a stagnant economy.”

“Tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved an unprecedented transformation and historic turnaround. We will never return to the situation that prevailed only a short time ago,” he said less than nine months before the mid-term elections, the major theme of which risks being financial accessibility.

Donald Trump also congratulated himself on having reduced illegal crossings at the border between the United States and Mexico to zero over the last nine months. This was an exaggeration, although it is true that the number of illegal crossings has fallen dramatically over the past year.

Hockey players in the spotlight

After describing what he considers to be his successes on the economic and immigration fronts, Donald Trump continued by introducing the members of the United States men’s hockey team who took gold from Canada during the Winter Olympics.

At the same time, he announced his decision to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian distinction of the United States, to goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck, whose prowess made the difference in the outcome of the final.

“I have never seen a goalie play as well as Connor Hellebuyck. Just imagine: 46 shots on goal,” said the president.

According to official statistics, the American goalkeeper blocked 41 shots.

“Unfortunate intervention by the Supreme Court”

Donald Trump alluded to the recent Supreme Court decision invalidating most of his tariffs, calling it “very regrettable.”

“But the good news is that almost every country and every company wants to maintain the deal they already have, knowing that the legal power I have as president to make a new deal could be much worse for them, and so they will continue to follow the same successful path that we negotiated before the Supreme Court’s unfortunate intervention,” he said.

Only four of the Supreme Court’s nine justices attended the State of the Union address. This group included the president of the court and author of the ruling criticized by Donald Trump, John Roberts, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Before taking the podium, the president shook hands with each of the justices, including Amy Coney Barrett, whom he had personally attacked last Friday.

Attacks on Democrats

He went out of his text a few times to attack the Democrats present in the chamber of the House of Representatives, some of whom were accompanied by victims of Jeffrey Epstein. Dozens of Democrats boycotted the speech.

“You should be ashamed of yourself for not standing up,” he said after asking lawmakers in Congress to stand if they agreed with his assertion that the first duty of the U.S. government is to protect American citizens, not those in the country illegally.

The president did not mention the controversies surrounding the methods employed by the thousands of Immigration and Border Patrol agents deployed to Minnesota as part of Operation Metro Surge. He chose instead to attack the Somali community in this state, some members of which were implicated in a case of public aid fraud.

“When it comes to the corruption ravaging America, there is no more striking example than that of Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have looted approximately $19 billion from American taxpayers,” he said, announcing that Vice President JD Vance would wage a “war on fraud” and “get this job done.”

Sitting side by side, Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib interrupted the president a few times.

“It’s a lie!” You’re lying! shouted Ilhan Omar about the president’s allegations against the Somali community in Minnesota from which she comes.

“You killed Americans!” », Launched Rashida Tlaib.

Donald Trump also attacked Democrats when they disagreed with his efforts to ban gender-affirming care for adolescents.

“These people are crazy. I tell you, they are crazy,” he said.

And he returned to his favorite subject regarding the integrity of American elections. “Fraud is rife in our elections,” he falsely alleged in calling on Congress to approve a bill intended to require all voters to show proof of citizenship to register.

Iranian nuclear program

At a time when the United States is setting up the most imposing strike force in the Middle East since the war in Iraq, Donald Trump repeated that the United States had “obliterated” the Iranian nuclear program last June. However, he accused the Iranians of wanting to relaunch this program.

“I prefer to resolve this problem diplomatically,” he said, referring to ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran. “But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terrorism, which they are by far, to possess nuclear weapons. This can’t happen. »

After honoring several military personnel, active or retired, including a member of the special forces who captured the former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, the president ended his speech on a patriotic note.

“The revolution that began in 1776 is not over, it continues today, because the flame of freedom and independence still burns in the heart of every American patriot,” he said.