President Trump set the record for the longest State of the Union address, speaking for around 1 hour and 41 minutes.

This follows former President Bill Clinton’s 2000 State of the Union address, which ended at 1 hour and 28 minutes.

However, tonight, Trump broke the record for the longest televised State of the Union address.

Since January, headlines have been dominated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Minneapolis, where the agency went in to detain, deport and intimidate migrants.

Three Americans were killed in the operations, two of them during the operation in Minnesota. It’s going to cost Minnesota at least $2 billion in damages, and there was still no mention, other than that they need funding.

They need funding, but cause billions in damages and take two lives. Is this not important to the SOTU? 

All night, no mention.

It’s clear that Trump and Republicans are scared of the public outcry against ICE. It can be assumed that the administration can no longer publicly endorse ICE or talk about it in any context. 

Trump does not care about Alex Pretti or Renee Good and didn’t bother to invite their families. He also does not seem to care much about whatever is left of ICE’s reputation.

Trump introduced Erik Slover, a man who was part of the operation in capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and who was brutally wounded during the process. Slover was honored with the highest military honor, the Medal of Honor. Slover looked to be recovering well. 

This was a display of an incredible feat on the Venezuela mission and is a showcase of true American bravery. 

Former Capt. E. Royce Williams was also honored with the Medal of Honor for his duties during the Korean War.

Trump has ended the war in Gaza, according to his SOTU address. Except he didn’t.

The “end of war” is defined by a conclusion by both parties, which makes sense if the casualties had stopped.

11 people were killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza on Feb. 15. Starved and cornered, Israel continues to attack Gaza and Palestinians.

This should not be surprising since Trump invited Israel to be on the Board of Peace, which Trump is the chair of. A country gets to be invited to an organization of peace and diplomacy on Feb. 11, then sends missiles killing 11 civilians four days later.

It’s clear that ending a war means supporting countries that do not share our values in exchange for status. Gaza is not a part of this board, and neither is Rwanda, another country Trump mentioned, proving that peace is not the objective of the board or Trump’s adjective of  “peace.”

Trump said that Iran has killed around 3,200 protesters within the last couple of months, and said that they had developed missiles that can reach Europe and the United States.

He said Operation Midnight Hammer, which was the operation that destroyed three nuclear facilities in Iran last June, was successful in stopping Iran from building nuclear weapons. This is a contentious topic, as tensions between the U.S. and Iran are extremely high.

Trump did not really promise anything more when it came to Iran’s domestic practices, which goes against his self-proclaimed “president of peace” moniker. 

Trump said, among a list of others, that he successfully ended the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 

First, the second Nagorno-Karabakh War ended in 2020. Second, the most recent major conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan took place in 2023, when Azerbaijan ethnically cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh, a historically and fundamentally Armenian region.

Trump is likely referring to his recent brokering of a peace deal involving the United States, Armenia and Azerbaijan, known as the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). 

Once fully implemented, the TRIPP project will include building a transportation corridor that begins in Azerbaijan, passes through Armenia and ends in Nakhichevan — more Azeri territory. 

Trump did not end a “war” between Armenia and Azerbaijan;  he simply brought their leaders to the White House to sign a “peace” deal.

During the speech, Trump commanded the attention of U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, who was shot in the head on Nov. 26, 2025, while on duty in Washington, D.C.

He was hospitalized and deemed to be in “critical condition.” Wolfe was miraculously standing and smiling before the president and the House and was given the honorable Purple Heart award, a decoration given to those wounded or killed while serving. 

National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom was also awarded posthumously.

Trump mentioned Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk. This was Kirk’s first mention during the speech. 

Trump called Kirk a “martyr” and commanded the audience’s attention to his widow, Erika Kirk. In Kirk’s memory, Trump said Americans are “one nation, under God” and must reject political violence. This was the second time the entire House stood and applauded in unity, the first being for the Team USA men’s hockey team.

Addressing his immigration policies, Trump said it is in America’s best interest to “protect Americans, not illegal aliens.” This remark comes amid an ongoing national debate on immigration reform and border security. Trump doubled down on his campaign’s headline approach to strict border enforcement.

During a standing ovation, Trump jokingly said into the microphone, “I don’t think Nancy Pelosi would even be able to stand if she were here.” Trump insinuated that, because of Pelosi’s age and status, she would not be able to physically stand up and applaud. 

Trump talked about the alleged $19 billion in fraud that happened in Minnesota through day care centers. The investigation of such fraud cases is still developing, and the $19 billion in stolen funds has yet to be confirmed beyond a statement from a single federal prosecutor.

Trump, however, is using this investigation to make sweeping statements about Somalis in the United States. He began his mention of this investigation by saying the Somali community is committing it. The majority of defendants in these cases are Somali-American, but putting it on the entire population of 260,000 Somalis in the United States invites hateful rhetoric towards an entire demographic.

Trump went a step further and used the wording “Somali pirates,” clearly referencing the stereotyping of Somalis as pirates. Doing this means he took the opportunity to enforce a racial stereotype upon Somalis.

Rep. Al Green was ejected from the SOTU for simply holding a sign saying “Black people are not apes.” This is the second year in a row that Green was thrown out of a SOTU address. The House, including five democrats such as local Representative Jim Costa, voted to censure him for raising his cane and yelling at Trump in last year’s SOTU. 

Green’s sign is a reference to a video Trump posted to social media depicting both Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, a racist stereotype. This poses the question: What would be racist enough to get you thrown out of the SOTU?

I would say that depicting people as animals, as apes, should be a disqualifier. But clearly, Trump doesn’t want his voters and Americans as a whole to approve of the video, as he hasn’t issued an official apology. 

If he’s so proud, let Green comment on it. Give him a platform to exercise his free speech.

As Trump was speaking about how prescription drugs “were the lowest they’ve ever been,” he said he made this happen in his first term, his second term and then he whispered, “and third term.”

Even if this is one of Trump’s jokes, a breach of constitutional law should not be joked about in the House Chamber. There has always been talk of Trump running for a third term, and if he actually tried to pull it off, it would be incredibly heinous and authoritative.

Trump said that he believes that tariffs will someday replace income tax, after saying that tariffs will remain, despite the Supreme Court ruling against them. Trump’s argument is that tariffs will supplant income taxes in a way that leads to Americans paying less in taxes.

However, Trump’s tariffs have passed the cost of the policy onto consumers. This is historically how tariffs have worked in the past, as manufacturers and retailers charge consumers more to make up for the increased cost of materials. 

This is a continuation of Trump’s misrepresentation of the cost of tariffs, as he has portrayed the policy as a simple cost that foreign importers have to pay, ignoring that those importers would, naturally, have to raise their prices in response.

Trump claimed that the Trump accounts give the next generation “a jump start on saving.”  Trump poked fun at the name, saying he did not name it, but a “large man in the back” did. 

Although Trump praises the accounts, the accounts still come with tax complications.

Trump said that the Dow Jones was at 50,000, echoing Attorney General Pam Bondi’s sentiments when she was questioned about Trump’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. 

One of the special things about the State of the Union is when the president honors and highlights Americans for their accomplishments. I was pleased to see that Trump honored one of the survivors of the Texas Central Floods that happened last summer. The survivor is a young girl named Millie Kate. 

Trump said that Americans are winners, and that they might “get tired of winning.” To prove his point, he brought out the U.S. men’s hockey team.

The men’s team is in hot water for laughing and mocking the women’s hockey team, which also won gold. Trump says the women’s team declined a trip to the State of the Union but completely ignored his sexist conversation with the men’s team.

For an administration that cares so much about women’s sports, it’s clear that, behind closed doors, they do not.

Trump said that 2.4 million people were “lifted” off food stamps. He said this while talking about economic gains, implying that 2.4 million people had experienced enough economic gains to no longer need food stamps. 

But that is totally disingenuous, as 2.4 million people are facing the loss of food stamp access because benefits may not meet the work requirements of the new Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program rules. 

Trump’s choice of words denies that these people are losing access and implies that they can now afford food.

People who rely on food stamps will suffer the loss of those resources.

Trump claimed that in the last nine months, no one has crossed the border illegally. However, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website, in the month of May alone, there were 8,725 illegal crossings, down 93% from the previous year. The blatant misinformation in his most important speech of the year is disappointing, but not surprising.

Trump said that we are in the “golden age” of America. He claimed that before he took office, there were open borders and “record inflation,” which are now fixed as a result of his presidency. 

With inflation, it’s true that it has been down to 2.2% since January 2026. However, prices are still rising, and Trump’s tariffs only hurt those affected most. This is an attempt to inflate his own successes, but he still does not have an answer for grocery prices, which have risen 30% since Trump’s first term.