President Trump touted his economic achievements and attacked immigrants and Democrats in a divisive State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Trump also criticised the Supreme Court, which struck down his emergency tariffs last week, and repeatedly castigated the Democratic side of the aisle for not applauding him.
“These people are crazy,” he said. “Democrats are destroying our country, but we’ve stopped it in the nick of time.”
Trump is facing the lowest approval ratings of his term, around 40%, with nearly 60% expressing disapproval. The White House has tried to move on from setbacks like the months-long Epstein controversy and pivot attention to affordability.
“A short while ago, we were a dead country,” Trump said. “Now we are the hottest country anywhere in the world. The hottest.”
Trump also promoted his record of stopping illegal immigration and accused Somali immigrants of defrauding the government. At one point, he told the Democratic members of Congress that they should be “ashamed” for refusing to stand when he said that the government’s first duty “is to protect American citizens, not illegal immigrants.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali immigrant from Minneapolis, shouted back at him: “You should be ashamed.”
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Trump said the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling was “very unfortunate” and “disappointing.” Four justices of the court — John Roberts, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — sat impassively with their hands folded while Trump rebuked the ruling.
David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Skydance, was among those in the audience, appearing as a guest of Sen. Lindsey Graham. The government is reviewing Netflix’s deal to acquire Warner Bros., while Paramount is angling to break up the deal with a competing bid.
Trump also took several minutes of the speech to honour the U.S. men’s hockey team, which won gold at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, and to talk up the 2028 games in Los Angeles.
“We’re going to do a good job in Los Angeles,” he said. “Los Angeles is going to be safe, just like Washington, D.C., is now one of the safest cities in the country.”
From Variety US