President Donald Trump released his State of the Union speech, on February 24, 2026. For those who aren’t history buffs, this was the longest State of the Union speech ever done with a record of one hour and forty eight minutes. It surpassed the previous record holder Bill Clinton by 20 minutes. Although many might argue that Trump’s self-praise and dramatic claims throughout are more noteworthy.
Some claims that drew particular attention included one that “inflation is plummeting” and gas prices are down. However, “plummeting” is more of an exaggeration as the year-over-year rise in prices for January 2026 was about 2.4%. Which is lower than when he took office in 2025, but it had already fallen from a peak of 9% in the summer of 2022 under President Joe Biden. He also claimed that gas prices have dropped which is true as they dropped 6%, but what Trump failed to mention was that groceries are up about 2%, electricity is up by 6.3%, housing is up 3.4%, medical care is up by 3.2% and apparel is up by 1.8%. He stated that gasoline is “now below $2.30 a gallon in most states, and in some places, $1.99 a gallon.” Based on statewide averages, there is not one state with an average below $2.30 per gallon, and the lowest average per state is Oklahoma at $2.37 a gallon.
In relation to that, Trump has stated “In one year, we have lifted 2.4 million Americans, a record, off of food stamps.” This number is actually in reference to Americans who are projected to lose their SNAP benefits. Which is an effect of the Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This law also expanded requirements for able-bodied adults forcing them to volunteer or participate in a job 80 hours a month. Currently, about 42 million low-income Americans receive SNAP benefits and a majority of these people live in poverty as well.
While he didn’t speak directly on policy as many expected him to, he did mention “Trump accounts,” which are saving accounts that would be opened for babies born between January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2028. Each account will receive $1000 in seed money and it would be invested and have that money grow to allegedly “$100,000 or more by the time they turn 18.” The biggest problem with these “Trump accounts” is that they exclude the millions of kids who could use that money now. The time range is only 3 years, not even large enough to span a generation.
Additionally, Trump stated that “in the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States.” In January 2026, border patrol officials encountered immigrants nearly 10,000 times, none of these immigrants have been released or any from the past nine months. These immigrants have not been given any court proceedings and have been detained.
Trump, in his speech he talks in the third person and praises himself several times throughout as well, complete with several standing ovations from the republicans in the audience. Most of the democrats didn’t stand up or clap, and towards the end, he had praised himself so often that no one was even standing and clapping anymore.
What Trump’s State of the Union speech boils down to is instead of him talking about policy and the state of America, he boasted of his and his administration’s accomplishments. This was not received well by the American public, and as a result, many people have started to take our president and government less seriously.
