Takeaways from Trump's State of the Union Speech
By Reuters | 24 Feb, 2026

The President stuck to the script and delivered a Trumpian virtuoso performance of glosses, falsehoods, deflections and exaggerations.

President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, a potentially pivotal moment as the White House seeks to firm up support among Republican voters ahead of November's midterm elections.

Trump's speech comes against a backdrop of rising tensions with Iran and voter frustration with the high cost of living. 

Here are some takeaways from Trump's address:

RISKY BUSINESS

Trump put dollars and cents at the heart of his speech, suggesting his aides, who have been pushing him for weeks to speak more about the economy, have prevailed for now.

He offered a broad-based sweep of kitchen-table economic issues - housing, health care, utility bills, crime, retirement - but he again stopped short of acknowledging that many Americans are still struggling with the high cost of living, including food and house prices.

Some party strategists have warned that without a more emphatic message on inflation, Trump's Republican Party is at risk of losing control of Congress in the November midterm elections. 

In Trump’s telling, inflation, mortgage rates and gas prices are falling, while the stock market, oil production and foreign direct investment are booming along with construction and factory jobs.

But government data shows inflation ticked up last year, while the economy lost factory jobs and overall job creation was anemic. And while prices of some items - like eggs - have dropped since Trump's return to the White House, food and other prices more broadly have continued to increase.

Voters tell pollsters they are anxious about the economy and are dissatisfied with Trump’s handling of the issue. Fifty-six percent disapprove of his handling of the economy, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, while 36% approve.

WEDGE ISSUES

Trump argued that Republicans deserved two more years of control of Congress because of their handling of the economy, immigration and public safety. But beyond those policy issues, he made a far more visceral appeal to voters to back Republicans.

“These people are crazy,” he said of Democratic lawmakers in the chamber who have voted against most of his legislative proposals and who view his presidency as one that has weakened democratic institutions. "Democrats are destroying this country, but we've stopped it just in the nick of time," he said.

On a number of occasions, Trump took aim at Democrats as anti-American and acting against the best interests of the country, highlighting the increasingly partisan tone of the annual speech. 

Democrats stayed in their seats, visibly irritating Trump, while Republicans leapt to their feet to applaud the president on issues ranging from gender politics to illegal migration and crime. 

Some, like Representatives Al Green, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, yelled at Trump during his speech. For those Democrats, Trump’s views on those issues are divisive and problematic, and upset large parts of their base.

CASE FOR WAR

One of the most-asked questions going into Trump's speech was whether he would finally make a detailed case for war against Iran, elaborating on the reason for the major U.S. military buildup in the Middle East.

The president did not even mention Iran until well over an hour into his speech. And when he did, he simply repeated his standard talking points, saying it was imperative to keep a bomb out of Tehran's hands. He gave little hint about which way he is leaning on military action - a huge preoccupation at home and abroad.

During the first 75 minutes, he made only a glancing reference to Venezuela, while Russia and Ukraine were barely mentioned at all. His fixation on acquiring Greenland — a dispute that has strained transatlantic relations — did not come up at all.

While he did spend a good chunk of time later in the speech discussing conflicts that his administration has been trying to resolve, the lack of national security and foreign policy talk up front was conspicuous, given how much time and political capital he has been spending on diplomacy of late.

He has in recent weeks dispatched his closest aides to far-flung capitals to try to settle the war in Ukraine and negotiate with Iran. Last month, his administration deposed the leader of Venezuela, and much of the administration's time and energy has been focused on managing relations with the South American country.

TRUMP STAYS ON MESSAGE - FOR THE MOST PART

By Trump's own standards, he turned in a disciplined performance, largely sticking to prepared remarks, avoiding the sometimes-bizarre asides that often pepper his speeches, and resorting to personal attacks only rarely.

As he entered the chamber, he even shook hands with the assembled Supreme Court justices - even as he had publicly lashed out at them days earlier after they curtailed his power to levy tariffs. His performance was also light on the racial dog whistles and dehumanizing rhetoric toward immigrants that have been characteristic of some of his speeches in the past.

By the standards of most politicians, it would have been a dark performance. He described the murder of a Ukrainian immigrant in extremely graphic terms. But for Trump, the speech counted as an "on message" performance. 

His advisers, some of whom have long pushed him to dial down his rhetoric so as not to turn off middle-of-the-road and independent voters, were likely relieved.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Gram Slattery, editing by Ross Colvin and Deepa Babington)