By Katharine Jackson and Joseph Ax
WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump boasted in his State of the Union address on Tuesday that he had ushered in “the golden age of America,” seeking to project an aura of success despite sagging approval ratings and deepening voter frustration ahead of November’s midterm election.
Heeding calls from Republican lawmakers worried they could lose their congressional majority later this year, Trump spent the first hour of his televised speech focused on the economy, saying he had slowed inflation, driven the stock market to record heights, signed sweeping tax cuts and lowered drug prices.
But it was unclear whether his rosy assessment would assuage Americans’ anger about the cost of living. Trump sought to blame his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, for high prices, but opinion polls show voters hold Trump responsible for not doing more to ease an affordability crisis after he campaigned relentlessly on the issue.
“Our nation is back — bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before,” Trump said after taking the stage to cheers of “USA, USA” from fellow Republicans in Congress, with dozens of empty seats on the Democratic side a reminder that many lawmakers skipped the speech for anti-Trump rallies outside.
The annual speech to Congress came at a fraught moment for Trump’s presidency, with polls showing a majority of Americans have soured on his performance, anxieties rising over Iran and his signature tariff policy foundering after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down most of his import taxes.
For much of the speech, Trump was uncharacteristically disciplined, mostly appearing to stick to his prepared remarks and eschewing his usual stream-of-consciousness digressions. But he flashed his combative side while discussing his immigration crackdown, exchanging shouted insults with several Democratic lawmakers.
The former reality television star injected plenty of spectacle into the event. At one point, he bragged about all the “winning” that the U.S. has experienced during his term, before introducing some other winners: members of the U.S. men’s ice hockey team, who entered the chamber wearing the gold medals they won at the Winter Olympics on Sunday.
He declared that the team’s goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck, would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of half a dozen medals handed out to various guests with typical Trumpian fanfare.
The 79-year-old Trump’s speech lasted approximately an hour and 47 minutes, breaking the record he set last year for the longest presidential address to Congress.
NO CLARITY ON IRAN
While Trump said inflation is “plummeting,” prices for groceries, housing, insurance and utilities remain significantly higher than they were a few years ago. New data released on Friday showed the economy slowed more than expected last quarter while inflation accelerated.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found only 36% of Americans approve of his handling of the economy. Democrats hope to seize control of both houses of Congress from Republicans in November when all 435 seats are on the ballot for the House of Representatives and about a third of the 100 seats in the Senate.
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat whose decisive victory in November was an early midterm warning sign for Republicans, delivered her party’s official response, criticizing Trump for abandoning struggling Americans.
“Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family?” she said. “We all know the answer is no.”
Trump, who attacked the Supreme Court in personal terms after the tariff decision on Friday, held his fire on Tuesday, shaking hands with the four justices present as he entered the chamber. He called the ruling “unfortunate” but argued that it would ultimately have little impact on his trade policy.
Trump did not discuss artificial intelligence, at a time when the technology is fueling both the stock market and growing worries among workers about the threat it poses to job security.
He also spent little time on foreign policy, even though he has focused much of his energies in office on issues abroad.
Trump again claimed he “ended” eight wars, an exaggeration, and barely mentioned Ukraine, despite Tuesday marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion. He did not discuss China, America’s chief economic rival, or Greenland, the semi-autonomous Danish territory he has threatened to take over.
Trump also did not offer clarity regarding his plans for Iran amid signs he is inching closer to a military conflict with Tehran.
“My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy,” he said. “But one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon.”
TRUMP, DEMOCRATS CLASH
When Trump turned to his favorite topic, immigration, he repeated the same rhetoric that animated his 2024 campaign, claiming undocumented migrants were responsible for a wave of violent crime despite studies showing that is not the case.
“You should be ashamed,” he told Democrats, chastising them for refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security unless measures are taken to curb the aggressive tactics of immigration agents under Trump.
Opinion polls show a majority of Americans believe Trump’s immigration crackdown has gone too far, after two U.S. citizens were shot dead by masked federal agents in Minneapolis.
As Trump praised his immigration enforcement, Democrat Ilhan Omar, who represents a Minneapolis U.S. House district, shouted in his direction, “You have killed Americans!”
Trump, who has falsely claimed for years that election fraud in the U.S. is rampant, also attacked Democrats for not supporting a voter identification requirement.
“They want to cheat,” he said. Democrats argue that the Republican-backed legislation would impose unnecessary burdens on voters and suppress turnout.
Democratic U.S. Representative Al Green was removed from the House chamber for the second consecutive year after waving a sign at Trump that read, “Black people aren’t apes.” The message referred to a social media video Trump posted with a clip depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.
The White House eventually took down the video, which Trump said was posted by a staffer. Green, who is Black, was also ejected during last year’s address after shouting at Trump.
Other Democrats offered quieter messages of protest. U.S. Representative Jill Tokuda, a Hawaii Democrat, wore a white jacket emblazoned with words like “affordability” and “healthcare.”
A number of Democratic women wore tags saying “release the files,” a reference to the scandal surrounding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. About a dozen Epstein accusers attended as guests of Democrats.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Joseph Ax in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Daphne Psaledakis; Writing by Joseph Ax and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Howard Goller)
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