Annotated and fact-checked breakdown of Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address

Full Transcript: Donald Trump’s 2026 State of the Union

Delivered February 24, 2026, to a joint session of the 119th United States Congress.

Speaker Johnson, Vice President Vance, first lady of the United States, second lady of the United States, members of Congress and my fellow Americans, our nation is back: bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before.

Less than five months from now, our country will celebrate an epic milestone in American history, the 250th anniversary of our glorious American independence. This July 4th, we will mark two and a half centuries of liberty and triumph, progress and freedom in the most incredible and exceptional nation ever to exist on the face of the earth. And we’ve seen nothing yet. We’re going to do better and better and better. This is the golden age of America.

When I spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just inherited a nation in crisis, with a stagnant economy, inflation at record levels, a wide‑open border, horrendous recruitment for military and police, rampant crime at home and wars and chaos all over the world. But tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before and a turnaround for the ages. It is, indeed, a turnaround for the ages. And we will never go back to where we were just a very short time ago. We’re not going back.

Today our border is secure, our spirit is restored, inflation is plummeting, incomes are rising fast, the roaring economy is roaring like never before, our enemies are scared, our military and police are stacked, and America is respected again, perhaps like never before. After four years in which millions and millions of illegal aliens poured across our borders totally unfettered and unchecked, we now have the strongest and most secure border in American history, by far. In the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States.

We ended DEI in America. We cut a record number of job‑killing regulations, and in one year we have lifted 2.4 million Americans — a record — off of food stamps. And for all of these reasons, I say tonight, members of Congress, the state of our Union is strong. 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, Mr. President, we’re winning too much. We can’t take it anymore. We’re not used to winning in our country until you came along; we’re just always losing. But now we’re winning too much. And 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.

One of the primary reasons for our country’s stunning economic turnaround, the biggest in history, where the Dow Jones broke 50,000, four years ahead of schedule, and the S&P hit 7000 where it wasn’t supposed to do it for many years, were tariffs. I used these tariffs, took in hundreds of billions of dollars to make great deals for our country, both economically and on a national security basis. Everything was working well. Countries that were ripping us off for decades are now paying us hundreds of billions of dollars. They were ripping us so badly. You all know that. Everybody knows it. Even the Democrats know it. They just don’t want to say it.

And the big story was how Donald Trump called the economy correctly and 22 Nobel Prize winners in economics didn’t. They got it totally wrong; they got it really wrong. And then just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court, it just came down — very unfortunate ruling. You caused that problem. You caused that problem. They knew their statements were a lie, they knew it, they knew it, they knew their statements were a dirty, rotten lie. Their policies created the high prices. Our policies are rapidly ending them. We are doing really well. Those prices are plummeting downward. The price of eggs is down 60%. The cost of chicken, butter, fruit, hotels, automobiles, rent is lower today than when I took office by a lot. And even beef, which was very high, is starting to come down significantly. Just hold on a little while. We’ll get that down. And soon you will see numbers that few people would think were possible to achieve just a short time ago.

Anybody seeing energy prices going down to numbers like that cannot believe it. It’s like another big tax cut. I’m also confronting one of the biggest rip‑offs of our times, the crushing cost of health care, caused by the Affordable Care Act. Since the passage of that act, big insurance companies have gotten rich. With our government giving them hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars a year, as their stock prices soared, that’s why I introduced the great health care plan. I want to stop all payments to big insurance companies and instead give that money directly to the people so they can buy their own health care at a much lower cost. In addition, my plan requires maximum price transparency.

And I’m asking you to approve the Safe America Act, to stop illegal aliens and others who are unpermitted persons from voting in our sacred American elections. All voters must show voter ID and proof of citizenship in order to vote. No more mail‑in ballots except for illness, disability, military or travel. None. And this should be an easy one. And by the way, is polling at 89%, including Democrats, 89%. The reason they don’t want to do it is because they want to cheat. They make up all excuses. They say it’s racist. They come up with things. They want to cheat, they have cheated, and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat.

We are working very hard to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers are dying each and every month. As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must. That’s why in a breakthrough operation last June, the United States military obliterated Iran’s nuclear weapons program with an attack on Iranian soil known as Operation Midnight Hammer. For decades, it has been the policy of the United States never to allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Together, we will make America stronger, safer, and more prosperous than ever before. And as we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, we will honor our values, defend our freedoms, and pass forward an inheritance of liberty and opportunity that will endure forever.