Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night lasted a record-breaking 108 minutes—and by most accounts, it felt even longer than that.
The speech was a marathon of lies, stolen valor, and game-show theatrics that will likely do nothing to reverse Trump’s cratering poll numbers or restore America’s standing at home and abroad.
The 79-year-old president claimed the nation is “back, bigger, better, richer, and stronger than ever before.”
None of that is true.
He lied about job creation, inflation, crime reduction, and foreign policy wins. He claimed he’d ended eight wars—which drew jeers even from the chamber.
The evening’s most cringe-worthy moment came when Trump—America’s most famous draft dodger—said he’d like to figure out how to award himself the Congressional Medal of Honor after presenting one to a 100-year-old veteran.
Using the nation’s highest military honor as a political prop was particularly gross. Had a Democrat pulled something like that, there would have been impeachment calls within the hour.
Republican members of Congress clapped like circus seals throughout, cheering even when Trump announced he would ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs and continue imposing them without congressional approval. Congress, in other words, applauded its own irrelevance.
The speech was packed with racism—a particularly vicious attack on the Somali community—and a hard push for the SAVE Act, which would be the most sweeping voter suppression bill in modern American history. It’s supposedly designed to stop illegal immigrants from voting, a problem that doesn’t actually exist. The real goal is making it harder for Democratic-leaning communities, especially communities of color, to cast ballots.
Donald Trump killed two of my constituents. He is a liar and should be ashamed of himself. pic.twitter.com/Y94PNI2XtQ
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 25, 2026
Trump also announced a “war on fraud” to be led by Vice President JD Vance—the leading fraud of his generation, led by a convicted fraudster.
The whole production had the vibe of a speech you’d see in Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s Russia, where everything the leader says is cheered by followers oblivious to the lies, the malevolence, and the damage being done.
Trump arrived at the Capitol with the lowest approval ratings of his career. Every single major policy initiative of his administration is unpopular with the public. His support among Republicans is weakening while independents and Democrats have washed their hands of him entirely.
The dollar is plummeting. International trust in the U.S. has cratered. Our allies are looking for ways to go it alone. Inequality is growing. The rich act with impunity.
From a historic perspective, this may be remembered as the first State of the Union of a failing United States—the first of an authoritarian America, an internationally isolated America, an America actively hostile to the interests of its own people.