Last night President Trump gave the second State of the Union address of his second term. It ran nearly 11,000 words and two hours. I have cued the PBS video below to begin with Speaker Mike Johnson’s introduction of the president. NPR has posted a transcript of the speech. No offense — the speech is too damn long. I would like to note a few themes and observations in bullet points.
• Trump struck a Reaganite tone of optimism: “[Y]ou’ve seen nothing yet. We’re going to do better and better and better. This is the golden age of America.” As President Reagan put it: “America’s best days lie ahead…You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
• Trump proclaimed his success in closing the border at the top of his speech. It happened so quickly that he made it look easy: “In the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States.” I’m afraid his success on this issue is now taken for granted. It is old news. Insofar as one can tell from his reported approval rating, the attitude of the electorate seems to be what have you done for me lately?
• The theme of illegal immigration was a motif. He hit it early and often. He returned to it toward the end of his speech by recognizing members of the audience victimized by illegal aliens.
• He claimed successes fighting inflation. I hoped he would talk about gasoline prices and here he did: “Gasoline, which reached a peak of over $6 a gallon in some states. Under my predecessor, it was quite honestly a disaster; it is now below $2.30 a gallon in most states and in some places $1.99 a gallon. And when I visited the great State of Iowa just a few weeks ago, I even saw $1.85 a gallon for gasoline.” California, where Democrats rule the roost, presents another story.
• We’re winning: “And to prove that point — to prove that point, here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud. The men’s gold medal Olympic hockey team, come on in.” Special recognition: “I just want to tell you that the members of this great hockey squad will be very happy to hear based on their vote and my vote, and in this case, my vote was more important, that I will soon be presenting [goalie] Connor [Hellebuyck] with our highest civilian honor, which we will be given and which has been given to many athletes over the years.
• Trump went out of his way to recognize martial valor with medals of honor to World War II veteran Buddy Taggart, to Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover, severely wounded during the strike on Maduro in Venezuela, and to retired Capt. E. Royce Williams, a Navy pilot who shot down multiple Soviet jets during the Korean War. He also recognized his Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan with a Legion of Merit for the 165 lives he saved during the July 4 Texas flood. Regarding Chief Warrant Officer Slover, this was special:
This is hands-down, my favorite State of the Union moment… 🥺🙏🏼
pic.twitter.com/cPVHcxFwet— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) February 24, 2026
• Trump touted tariffs. It is a theme that in my view does not serve him well. It’s a dud.
• Trump returned to the Demorats’ cause — “open borders for everyone.” Have I mentioned that Democrats treat illegal aliens as a core constituency?
• Entitlement programs are sacred: “We will always protect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.” More to come: “Your 401(k)’s are way up. Yet, half of all of working Americans still do not have access to a retirement plan with matching contributions from an employer. To remedy this gross disparity, I am announcing that next year, my administration will give…access to the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker. We will match your contribution with up to $1,000 each year, as we ensure that all Americans can profit from a rising stock market.” You have got to be kidding me.
• Nancy Pelosi was given a well-deserved shout-out: “Let’s also ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information. They stood up for that. I can’t believe. I can’t believe it. Did Nancy Pelosi stand up, if she’s here? Doubt it. Pass the Stop Insider Trading Act without delay.”
• The state of Minnesota also received a well-deserved shout-out for the massive public programs fraud committed almost entirely by members of our Somali community. Trump called them “Somali pirates” and put the number at $19 billion. I would like to focus on political resonsibility for the fraud — Democrats catering toa another core constituencey — and he’s probably off by more than half on the number. The true number is large enough.
• Ilhan Omar — Somali fraud Exhibit A — seized the moment to misbehave and draw attention to herself. We have to talk about Ilhan — a beneficiary of immigration fraud and a perpetrator of marital fraud.
• “If you agree with this statement,” Trump said, “then stand up and show your support: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.” No surprise: Democrats remained seated. For reasons set forth above, Democrats oppose the statement. Same with respect to Trump’s demand to end sanctuary cities and adopt voter id. Have I mentioned that Democrats treat illegal aliens as a core constituency?
• Trump pursued the theme with the Democrats’ current attempt to obstruct funding for ICE. I first heard the that ICE be eliminated at the Fifth District Special Convention on Father’s Day 2018 when Ilhan Omar gave her remarks accepting the convention’s endorsement.
• Trump hit the Democrats’ support of genital mutilation for minors: “Surely, we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents will. Who would believe that we’ve been talking about that. [Applause] We must ban it and we must ban it immediately. [Applause] Look, nobody stands up. These people are crazy.” We have to talk about Minnesota. As the man said, “These people are crazy.”
• Trump turned to Iran: “They were the kings of the roadside bomb. And we took out Soleimani. I did that during my first term, had a huge impact. He was the father of the roadside bomb. And just over the last couple of months with the protests, they’ve killed at least, it looks like 32,000 protests — 32,000 protesters in their own country.” Insofar as Trump vowed that “help is on the say,” I take that as a preview of coming attractions.
Democrats must be favorites to take control of the House in the coming mid-term elections. Much hinges on the fate of the economy and how it is perceived by voters. One hopes that last night will not be a high-water mark. Although you can’t talk Americans into feeling good, the recognition of heroes among us is a good place to start.
