In record State of the Union, Trump spars with Dems, touts economy and immigration
The speech was a chance for Trump to make his case ahead of the midterms.
President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union Tuesday night in Washington, as a majority of Americans disapprove of how he is handling inflation, tariffs, relations with other countries, immigration and the economy, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll.
For Trump, the speech was a chance to make the case directly to millions of Americans ahead of November's midterm elections where control of Congress is at stake. Dozens of Democrats, meanwhile, skipped the speech in protest.
Key Headlines
Schumer predicts a ‘painful and tedious’ speech
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump’s speech would be “painful and tedious for the American people,” and that the president would blame Democrats and the Supreme Court for the nation’s troubles.
“America is deeply unhappy with Trump's leadership, and he'll blame everyone else for our country's troubles. He'll blame Biden, he'll blame the Supreme Court. He'll point the finger at everyone but himself,” Schumer said Tuesday afternoon.
"So tonight, Americans aren't going to get the real state of the union ... What Americans will get is a state of deception, a state of denial,” he said.
Schumer said that some of the chaos was the administration’s crackdown on immigration, Trump's tariff policies and his involvement with the Jeffery Epstein investigation.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Epstein Files Transparency Act bipartisan co-authors to sit next to each other at speech
Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. -- two of the leading co-authors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act -- will sit next to each other at the State of the Union address.
This is notable because it is often rare to see Democrats and Republicans sitting together on the House floor during the State of the Union.
Khanna and Massie plan to show their support for Epstein survivors, with the Democrat inviting Epstein survivor Haley Robson as his guest to the address.
-ABC News' Lauren Peller
Democrats say Trump must make his case on Iran to the American people
House and Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday that Trump needs to better explain his aims for Iran after congressional leaders were briefed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
“This is serious, and the administration has to make its case to the American people,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries questioned whether Iran’s nuclear program has been "completely and totally obliterated" as the White House claimed after the U.S. military struck Iranian facilities in June.
“If that, in fact, was true, what is the urgency as of this moment? That's an open question, and the American people need a real explanation,” Jeffries said.
Rubio and Ratcliffe briefed the Gang of 8 -- the majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate and the top Republicans and Democrats on the intelligence committees from each chamber -- remotely as the lawmakers met in a secure location.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray and Noah Minnie
Trump hosts USA men's hockey team in Oval Office
President Donald Trump greeted members of the gold medal-winning men's hockey team in the Oval Office on Tuesday, ahead of the State of the Union, photos and videos show.
The members can be seen filing into the Oval Office wearing their Olympic gold medals around their necks, with some shaking the president's hand, in a video posted on X by one of Trump's top aides, Dan Scavino.
"I recognize every one of you. I know every one of you," Trump said as the athletes made their way in. The president also laughed that they were "big guys" and congratulated the team.
The athletes were also captured holding up their gold medals while standing around the president at the Resolute Desk, on the South Lawn and making their way down the colonnade during their White House visit.