LIVE: STATE OF THE UNION 2026

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Hey everybody, thank you for tuning in. We are going to cover the state of the. union tonight um which should happen in. about 45 minutes. So as soon as we have. um any sound from inside the chamber,

we'll go full screen on the state of the. union. In the meantime, wanted to take. this opportunity and uh start answering. questions, start talking about what we. can expect from the State of the Union. speech this evening. Um if you have. questions, feel free to throw them in. the chat. I'll uh I'll do my best to. respond to them. But first and foremost, as we um head toward this evening, I. think it's pretty clear what Trump is. going to do, and also the trap that he's. going to fall into as he makes this.

speech. So Trump only has one way of. operating, and that is to accept all of. the credit, none of the blame. If he's. the president, he's going to pretend. that everything is great, the economy is. gang busters, everybody's flush with. cash, jobs are booming, manufacturing's. on the rise, inflation's falling, all. the things. Prices are down. uh e energy. is cheaper, whatever it may be. He will. he will lie to people because that's the. only thing he knows how to do. He just. knows how to sew a narrative that.

reflects well on him. The problem is. he's falling into the same trap that. every Democrat fell into in the leadup. to the 2024 election, which is that you. have to defend your you feel like you. have to defend your position. And so you. will say whatever needs to be said so. that you can reflect well upon yourself. and your party. And in doing so, all you. do is lose the confidence of the vast. majority of people because they know. that the economy is not doing well. They.

know that their prices are rising. They. know that health care is not covered, that you've not kept your promises as it. relates to um electricity and costs and. food assistance and whatever it may be. And so Trump is in this impossible. position right now where he is both. going to say everything is fantastic and. I deserve all the credit while at the. same time alienating the vast majority. of Americans who recognize the truth, which is that we know things aren't. doing well right now. And look, I say. this as somebody who saw the exact same.

thing happen to Biden, and I was among. those people, and I have enough humility. to be able to say that, but Trump and. Republicans clearly haven't learned the. lesson that they benefited from in the. leadup to the 2024 election, which is. that they will just go to the mat. claiming that everything is perfect. while ignoring the fact that people. don't think everything is perfect. And. so Trump stands to to lose a lot this. evening because if he decides to do what. we all clearly know he's going to do,

which is to double, triple, quadruple. down on this bogus idea that everything. is going great, all he's going to do is. further alienate himself, make himself. look even more out of touch to the vast. majority of people who already know that. he is a president who who. is completely unrelatable to the. majority of Americans. And so this is. only going to further the divide between. Donald Trump and the American population. uh who supports him at the lowest rate. of this presidency. He's got like 36%. approval, which I believe matches his.

lowest approval rating in his first term. as well. And so this stands to be a. really dangerous moment for Trump. And. it is a trap that I'm that I'm beyond. certain I can guarantee you he's going. to fall into because there's no world. where Trump gets up there and says, "You. know what? Uh uh I made promises about. health care, about protecting earned. benefits, about lowering costs, about. getting stubborn inflation down. And uh.

and we haven't gotten there yet, but. there's a a lot more work to do, and I'm. committed to doing it and helping the. American people." He's not going to do. that. He's going to get up on that. podium on the deis and say, "We have the. hottest country in the world right now. I've fixed everything. No one's ever. been this excited for what America. represents." Grown men, they come to me. on the streets, their muscles bulging. out of their shirts and they're crying. You've never seen grown men cry like. this. Tears streaming down their face.

and they say, "Sir, sir." And they say. it through the tears and through their. he their sobs and their heaves. and they. say, "Sir, we've never seen an economy. this strong, sir." And the reality is. that all that's going to do is show. people that he doesn't have any clue. what's going on. He doesn't have any. clue what people are contending with. He. doesn't know what the economic situation. for the vast majority of Americans is. And that would be bad enough unto. itself. even worse given the fact that. he exploited that exact issue when he. was running for president in 2024. That.

is the exact thing that he tapped into, which will tell everybody watching that. he is full of because he knew to. tap into that feeling the pain that. people were contending with. He knew. that he could exploit it to get their. votes. But that one once he got power. the second he actually was able in a. position where he was able to do. something about it. Forgot about those. people immediately and started helping. himself. And that is the story of this. presidency. Donald Trump likes to say. America first. But the reality is it is.

Trump first, America last. Everything. that's happened in this presidency is to. the benefit of one person. It's not you. It's not me. It is Donald Trump himself. when he engages in these uh vindictive. prosecutions that helps one person, it. helps him. When he when he uh uh does. holds these crypto dinners where he's. doubled his net worth, that helps one. person. It's not you, it's not me, it's. him. When he builds a ballroom that. helps one person, everything Trump is.

doing is to the benefit of himself. And. so he ran as a populist and he uh told. people he was going to take care of. their health care costs and and their. grocery bills and their mortgages and. their housing and their rent and the. price of eggs. He's done nothing for any. of that stuff. But he has doubled his. net worth. He has added what $3 billion. to his bottom line. How many Americans. out there can say that that they've seen. uh the same economic benefits that Trump. has conferred onto himself? Probably not. too many. Unless of course you're in his.

tax bracket or you're one of the people. being protected in the Epstein files. alongside Trump. Those are the people. who really benefit from all of this. Every action Trump has taken is to the. is is to the detriment of people who. thought they were going to get exposure. on the Epstein files. Accountability for. the people involved when in reality the. only people being served, the only. people being helped are the people who. are in those files as co-conspirators. and that includes Donald Trump. You. struck gold if you are one of those. people.

But I think Democrats especially want to. keep it at the forefront. We know. they'll be. >> All right, we have people slowly. starting to work their way into the. chamber right now. Uh again, for those. who are tuning in, the show should begin. in about 30 minutes. So, if you're. watching right now, just uh stand by. because we will uh as soon as we have um. as soon as we have any movement here, we'll go full screen. I'm going to put. this on small for right now.

I did get a question that that I want to. uh to talk about. Um am I going to be. doing commentary during? I'm going to do. some commentary during. If there is a. fact check that's needed, I'm going to. do a fact check. Uh, I'm not here to. just give Donald Trump a platform to.

spew lies with no push back if you want. that. Um, which is totally fine. Uh, check it on another on another outlet. I'm going to keep that to a minimum. because I don't want to, you know, this. isn't to just hear me talk. You can hear. me talk all day and all night um, and in. the pre-show right now and in the post. show afterwards. Um, so I am going to. try to keep my commentary to an absolute. minimum. Um, but with that said, if. there is something that needs to be. checked or called out, I I'll be able to. do that. So, I'm going to try to keep uh.

I'm going to try to keep uh a nice. balance here between the two things. With that said, as we wait for this show. to begin, if anybody has questions, feel. free to throw them in the chat. just tag. my name so I can see them and uh and we. will uh we'll keep it going that way. This way I can answer any questions that. folks might have.

I should note too, um, there was some. pretty big news today that was released. by, uh, NPR. And uh I think that's worth. bringing up here because uh I don't want. to let the lunacy of the Trump. administration blind us to the fact that. what should be the biggest story in the. world um feels like another day in the.

Trump era when it still is the biggest. story in the world. Um, and that is that. we now have evidence thanks to NPR, thanks to this NPR reporting that uh. that there are there is documents in the. Epstein files implicating Donald Trump. um committing sexual acts with a minor. that were buried by the Department of. Justice. Um, so we don't have. those files yet because the DOJ has yet. to release them, but NPR has uh has done.

their reporting and uh and that is up to. uh that has been exposed thus far. So. now it becomes up to, you know, members. of Congress to try and get these files. revealed. Um, I think it's pretty. obvious why the DOJ decided to suppress. these files while releasing uh plenty of. others, like for example, all the ones. with Bill Clinton. Um, who by the way, like if Bill Clinton's in the Epste. files, release those, too. Release any. files that implicate anybody. Um, and. uh, and.

um, the good news is that a bunch of. Democratic members of Congress have. brought survivors of the Epstein uh, um, whole situation uh, to the State of the. Union tonight, signifying that this is. not something that they're letting fall. by the wayside, which I think is uh, the. the moral position to take. So, um, luckily as well, there is people like. Thomas Massie to give this bipartisan. cred. And I think that that's, um, I. think that's it, uh, uh, going to be.

especially important here because, you. know, if this did devolve into the usual. D versus R thing, I think it would be a. lot easier for Republicans to cast it. aside. But the fact that there are. people like Thomas Massie and in certain. instances Nancy Mace and Lauren Boowbert. and formerly Marjorie Taylor Green who. are willing to side um with uh the. survivors. I think that that helps push. back against this narrative that um that. you know uh that Trump did nothing wrong. and this is just you know a Democrat.

hoax or this is something a problem that. only Democrats have to contend with. So. keep an eye out for more information as. it relates as it relates to this Epstein. stuff. will say a as far as Trump's. involvement in all of this, I am the. least conspiratorial person that you. will ever meet. Um, I am a skeptic to. the nth degree and. I would normally be loathed to say that. Donald Trump is like directly implicated.

for doing something heinous contained. within the Epstein files just because if. I haven't seen something, I'm going to. I'm going to naturally be skeptical. But. then I find myself thinking, nobody. knows how to distort, manipulate, exploit the media like Trump does. and. he knows. what this daily drip drip drip news. cycle is doing to him. Like he knows the. way that this is damaging to him. And if.

anybody would recognize the importance. of not getting caught up in this, it. would be Trump. And so if there's some. way to absolve himself, he would do it. If there was some way to put this to to. to to bed, he would do it because again, he knows how to manage the media. He. knows how to how to spin a narrative. The fact that Trump hasn't been able to. do it and would rather contend with. these daily miserable stories about. himself than simply release the Epstein.

files tells me that whatever is in these. files must be worse than what everybody. out here is thinking. Otherwise, why. subject yourself to this? And why why. would Trump subject himself to this? Again, he is a master at manipulating. the media. Nobody does it better than. this guy. And I say that as somebody who. hates him. He is a master at getting the. media to do what he wants. And sometimes. I fall for it. Sometimes I'm uh uh. distracted by his uh deflections.

And so. when I watch this media. um narrative consume him, the only thing. that I can think of is okay, whatever is. in those files must be worse than what. we're all saying. And what we're all. saying is pretty bad. So again, I'm not. saying here that Trump has done. something wrong or is guilty of. something, but if you were to engineer a. response to this scandal that would make.

me believe that, it would look exactly. like this. It would be a more than. more than 365day effort where you pull. stunts like having your attorney general. say that the files are on her desk. ready to be released only for them never. to be released. It would look like. letting Gla Maxwell out of prison after. she meets with the deputy attorney. general who is also Trump's criminal. defense attorney when she said that. Trump did nothing wrong. It would look.

like a bunch of right-wing influencers. waving around fake binders about, you know, Epstein that was basically. just public information. Anyway, before. that, it would look like a failure to. release 3 million of the files by the. December 19th deadline more than two. months ago. It would look like even. among the three million files that were. released, which again is only half of. what is in there, the victim's names.

being exposed, but the co-conspirator's. names being hidden every single time. And so, I don't know how many more. things we can see from this. administration before it becomes. painfully obvious, blatantly obvious. that they are engaged in a cover up. Like I don't know how I don't know what. other giant clues we can get other than. them just wearing signs on their head. that say we are we are covering up the. Epstein files that would lead us to. believe or lead us to recognize more.

clearly what's going on here. So again, I will caveat this by saying I cannot. say that Donald Trump has is guilty of. some crime, but if he was trying to hide. for the fact that he was guilty of the. crime, he would be doing all the things. he's doing right now. So um again, I am. grateful that there are people like. Thomas Massie and Roana who are taking. the lead on this issue and making sure. that this doesn't fall by the wayside. I'm grateful that there are a bunch of.

Epstein co-conspirators who are uh right. now acting as guests to members who will. be in the chamber watching Donald Trump. as he makes his uh State of the Union. speech this evening. And uh I'm grateful. that you know for everybody else in this. ecosystem who continues to hammer away. at this issue and who rightfully calls. out when things are a distraction. because that is what Trump is best at. doing is distracting from the obvious uh. the obvious crimes that he's committed.

or that he's implicated in um by. pointing to a hundred different other. things. And so I think it's going to be. difficult for people to remain focused. on on uh the issue at hand here. Uh. especially when you have an. administration that is so good at, you. know, putting shiny things in front of. us. But I think that this is also an. issue that has dogged this. administration and that if we've seen. anything, it's that they're not able to. outrun it. >> Now we can see the president coming up.

and now it's a little crowded in Stat. Hall. There you can see that's you know. oh 25 steps from the from the house from. the house chamber. So. >> what's also notable about John Cornin we. just saw is the president has not. endorsed in that Texas GOP primary. He. likes all three. He is um. friendly with Attorney General Paxton. He also um has a relationship with. Congressman Hunt. And then John Cornin, who's the sitting senator, has not been.

endorsed. And from my hearing and. reporting is that uh that's given some. GOP leadership, some GOP donor. All right. So, let's talk about the. speech this evening. Um, I know that. there's a lot of discussion about what. Democrats could and should do this. evening. And I've seen a lot of people. talking about, oh, they should boycott,

they should go, they should they should. yell. I've had I I can't remember who it. was, but I spoke to somebody that was. like, once every five minutes, somebody. should stand up and yell and just and. just drown him out the entire time. I. actually don't think and and you know. there I'm sure there are going to be. folks who don't agree with me on this. but I don't think any of that is. necessary. Um Trump is going to Trump is. going to hang himself during this speech. figuratively speaking. Like. he is tasked with the impossible task of.

congratulating himself on a job well. done. And we all know Trump. We know. that that's what he's going to do. while. simultaneously. having to face. an American public that knows that this. is not a job well done. An American. public that knows that he hasn't kept. his promises. An American public who. feels the brunt of the pain from the.

trade war where he's imposed these. tariffs that are passed on to American. consumers. an American public who knows. when they go to the grocery store that. everything is more expensive than it was. last year or two years ago. An American. public who listened to him say that he. was going to protect earned benefits. only to watch him cut Medicaid for 17. million Americans and cut ACA subsidies. that impact 24 million Americans. And. I'm sure a lot of people watching this. right now have the Affordable Care Act. and watch their watch their subsidies.

increase by 50% 100% 200% 300% from. where it was in 2025. I watched my. subsidies increase from where they were. in 2025. >> So he is going to be talking. to an American public. >> who's going to listen to him. congratulate himself on a job well done. mission accomplished, big banner and. everything while they know that things. have only gotten worse for them. And. that would be bad enough for any. president, but especially bad for a.

president who ran on this idea that he. understood people's pain and he was. going to fix all of these problems that. they were contending with. >> that he understand that he understood. specifically what it meant for people to. deal with these high prices and high. costs and and uh and the the difficulty. affording rent and and housing. Like. these are things he spoke about on the. campaign trail when he was posing as. some populist champion. It was all. but that didn't stop him from. doing it. And now people realize that it.

was a bill of goods because in reality, the only person who benefited from any. of this presidency is Trump or people in. the Epstein files or people in Trump's. tax bracket or his donors or people in. prison who have been pardoned or who. whose sentences were commutated because. they're frauds just like Donald Trump. Let's look in. See if we could see. anything right now. There we go. >> Don Barasco. Dick Durban. Is that Dick. Durban with him? I think. >> Yeah. >> JD Vance right behind him.

>> Dick. >> Yeah, that is. He's retiring this year. >> and in leadership. So. >> strong D. He's been very critical of the. uh Trump administration. >> The Democrat side does look sparse from. all the House uh members that aren't. there. somebody getting their picture taken. with the vice president. I don't. recognize him, I'm afraid. I'm sorry. >> I'm sure this is a bit of a homecoming. for Vice President Vance, seeing all of.

his former Senate colleagues. >> that he's built relationships with for. years. >> You also have to wonder what's going. through his head of would this be a. State of the Union I'd be delivering one. day if he has political aspirations. beyond this. >> All right. So, you can see the chamber. beginning to fill up. They're usually on. point um in terms of the timing for. events like these. So, I should note for. anybody who's watching, there are about. 20 minutes left before the event.

actually begins and the speech actually. begins. >> I don't know how long it'll last. Uh. knowing Trump, >> we will be here deep into the hours of. the morning. Um, but I hope that it's. not as long and rambling as I think we. all know it's going to be. >> I did get the question, how is my dog? And Aston is doing. >> excellent. And I'm going to see if he'll. come and join us.

>> Uh, by the way, can you guys let me know. if the audio levels are too quiet. because I can try and raise the audio if. if so. the speech wasn't necessarily a. compliment. >> and this is my audio. I'm not uh I'm not. I have the audio for. >> uh the actual. um stream turned down for right now.

>> Nancy was always very interesting to see. the chemistry or lack thereof. Mike's. dynamics. >> Okay. >> Yes. You're only gonna hear me for right. now. Um I haven't turned on the stream. audio. >> So as soon as that event starts, I will. make sure. >> uh to turn that up.

>> as a great. sitting up there as a reporter. What's. that like? >> Yeah. >> Oh, I was just going to say you can you. can hear a lot surprisingly. So, there's. >> I have I have some in the dog. So, hopefully the dog comes up shortly. I. just texted him. >> All right. I think we're going to get.

the dog. >> Um, okay. So again, for those who are. just tuning in, we have about 20 minutes. left, little less than 20 minutes until. this State of the Union. Um, for those. wondering what to expect from Trump, I. presume it's going to be more greatest. hits. I mean, you all have sat through. enough Trump speeches to know enough. Trump tweets, enough Trump posts, enough. Trump press conferences to to know the. usual stump speech, the rambling screed.

that he usually gives, which is we live. in the hottest country in the world. Uh. we've he's closed the border, done away. with transgender for everyone, ended. DEI, like all just it's just random. buzzwords that he thinks um that he. thinks sound good when in reality, I. mean, you look at what Trump's actually. accomplished for people. Prices has have. gone up, health care has been cut, food. assistance has been cut, the trade war. rages on. Other countries continue to. make trade deals with countries around.

the world, circumventing the United. States, including the United States. pushing other countries into the arms of. China, which is the one country that we. claim to want to stop in terms of their. ascent. uh you know he. meanwhile the the the the benefits the. real people who have been uh helped in. all of this are are millionaires and. billionaires who've watched their taxes. get cut again. People who were in prison.

for fraud who are no longer in prison. because Trump has freed them. And of. course uh you know Trump himself who. gets to benefit from a ballroom uh a. ballroom that he's building himself. And this is the child. He will be. joining. He'll be joining us for State. of the Union tonight. This is Aston.

This is going to be the only good part. of the evening. >> Okay, baby.

Good boy. >> That dog is the only thing propping up. my mental health.

>> Just a. 14 and a halfyear-old dog. That's that's. the only thing keeping me going. When. you all don't hear from me, when when. when I vanish, uh you'll know why. I. hope it never happens. I have big plans. for that dog to live for as long as. humanly possible. >> But I am trying to keep that dog uh I'm. trying to keep that dog with me as long. as I can.

>> Okay. Uh back to politics here. >> You'll see senators start to work their. way into the chamber. It I'm going to be. curious to see how many Democrats. actually um do end up showing up to. this. This is the point I was making. before before. There are going to be. plenty of Democrats who do decide to. boycott this. there are going to be.

plenty of Democrats who decide to come. I know that there are Democrats who have. Epstein survivors joining them uh inside. of the chamber. Um all of those are. fine. I actually don't think that we. need to do something to make it about. Democrats. This is going to be about. Trump screwing himself. This is going to. be about Trump lying to Americans to. their faces and trying to get them to. believe it and Americans not buying it. They're they're not like people are. smart enough in this country to realize. that when Donald Trump stands up there. and congratulates himself, pats himself.

on the back for a job well done. >> that, >> he is convincing nobody. Again, I say. this as somebody who watched the entire. 2024 campaign play itself out where. Democrats said, "No, no, the economy is. good because uh uh inflation is. transitory and look at the stock market. it's at a record high and job growth is. the highest it's ever been and the. reality is that people were hurting and. uh Republicans exploited that reality.

Now Republicans are doing the exact same. thing and we already have we've seen. this happen before. We have seen this. this this dance before. Um we've been on. the wrong side of it. But watching. Republicans make the exact same mistake. that Democrats made just in this past. election cycle uh really does go to show. that they did not learn their lesson. that they were perfectly content to. exploit. There was this really moment. after Democrats.

all over again. >> If you want to uh throw some questions. into the chat, I'll do my best to answer. them now. USA.

from the House chamber, but there will. be some pomp and circumstance to get him. into the into the House chamber. I think. first we'll see Mrs. Trump enter into. the visitors gallery. There'll be. applause and she'll enter into her uh. assigned seat and with her guests and.

we'll see that. >> And which of the Trump. >> and there's Amy Amy Clolobashar running. for governor of Minnesota and she's. ahead in the poll. She's got about 50%. average right now in the polls for. governor since Tim Walls isn't isn't. running. chatting with a Republican, John Curtis from Utah. >> And is that was that Tom Emmer behind. her, the one of the Republican uh House. leaders? He's a from Minnesota as well, but he's one of the Republican House. leaders. I'm I'm sure delegations within. a state, whether you're a Democrat or.

Republican, are more friendly than than. >> So, you can see a little bit from the. view of the chamber that it looks to be. quite full. Um, I I'm hoping that we get. an angle of the full chamber so that we. can have some insight into how many. Democrats are there or not there. Uh, hopefully we get that view shortly. So, I'll be keeping an eye on that with this. uh with this footage from inside the. chamber. Um, again, hopefully we get a.

full view. You can see a little bit. right there. More sparse on the. Democratic side, but certainly not. empty. And I didn't think it would be. like I didn't think that we would have. no Democrats who would show up to this. Um. because again like the onus is not going. to be on the Democrats to to pull some. stunts or make it about themselves. The. onus is really going to be on Trump not. to bury himself when he tries to. gaslight people into thinking that. everything is is great in this country.

when it's not. What key states should I be sending. money to for campaigns? That's a good. question. So, when you say states, I'm. assuming statewide. So, let's talk about. Senate races. Um, once we get through.

the primaries, there are a bunch of. Senate races that I here's, this might. be me wish casting or being naive, but I. feel bullish about the Senate. Um, objectively bullish about the Senate. This is not like, look, I'm I'm I'm bad. at at predicting who's going to win. elections. I uh didn't think Trump would. win both times. I have my blind spots. I. legitimately feel bullish about our. chances in the Senate given the swings.

that we've seen thus far and especially. the swings that we've seen among certain. population, certain demographics like. the Latino population um in, you know, in November uh I'm sorry, in the. off-year election, you know, in. November, we saw uh swings among the. certain Latino populations in certain. jurisdictions up to 50 points. So, so. with that said, I you know, I'm I'm sure. that we do uh I'm sure that we will see. um major demographic swings and and. hopefully that means that we could take.

some of these states um in the Senate. So, to answer that question, what states. do I think are important as far as the. Senate is concerned? I think Maine is. absolutely flippable. I think North. Carolina is flippable. I think Ohio is. flippable. And we've got good candidates. in all of those places. Um, we will. either have Janet Mills or GLR or Graham. Platner in Maine. Uh, shared Brown, great candidate in Ohio. Uh, and if. there ever was a cycle that he could win. in, this is the cycle. Uh, Roy Cooper.

running in North Carolina. Alaska is. another one. Mary Pelah has already won. statewide. Um, and then we look into. some of the places where I think we have. the ability to be on offense like Texas, you know, depending on who wins there. We have Jasmine Crockett or James. Terico. This is a good cycle as well. and depending on who the Republican. candidate is. Um obviously Ken Paxton is. much more MAGA, much more extreme. So. we'll see what happens in terms of the. primary uh and if Ken Paxton's able to. edge out John Cornin uh who's a little.

bit more moderate, although um I want to. disabuse everybody of this notion that. moderate Republicans actually exist. because I don't actually think that that. is uh the case. So, I know that that's. not a simple answer, but it is an answer. in terms of, you know, what states are. going to be worth sending money to. There are there are a lot of good. opportunities where Democrats uh can and. should be on offense that we haven't. been on offense before.

I think what's going to be especially. interesting is the Supreme Court. justices are going to enter the chamber. soon. And Trump has been on a tirade. going against these Supreme Court. justices because they didn't bend his. 100% will. And so um the interesting. part of uh of that is that we will see.

these justices go in the chamber. He. said that their family should be. embarrassed for them. Um, and uh, you. know, this is what you expect with this. is what you get with Donald Trump, which. is um, which is he demands 100% loyalty, slavish devotion, and if he doesn't get. it, he will throw you under the bus the. moment you lose your usefulness. And we. have seen that process play out god. knows how many times from Michael Cohen. to Gordon Sland, George Papadopoulos, Kaylee Mcinany, Ronda McDaniel, Marjorie.

Taylor Green, Mike Pence. the moment. that you are no longer useful for Donald. Trump, under the bus you go. And the. same thing happened with the Supreme. Court. A Supreme Court that has bent. over backwards creating out of whole. cloth provisions that allow Donald Trump. uh um all of this deference, you know, they they created the this provision. where he can commit crimes with. impunity. They ignored section three of. the 14th amendment which would have. prevented him from running for office um. uh because he gave aid or comfort to. those who engaged in insurrection or.

himself participated in the insurrection. that which that he should not have been. able to run as the result of that. None. of those things mattered because this. Supreme Court was so differential to. Trump and yet they didn't give him 100%. loyalty as far as their court decision. goes and they said that his. unconstitutional tariffs were. unconstitutional. How dare they? And so. he went on some tirade about how the. Supreme Court uh should be embarrassed, about how their families should be. embarrassed about them, and they will be. front and center staring at him the. whole time.

Heat. Heat.

For those asking about factchecking, I. will be doing factchecking during the. speech minimal. I'm going to try to. strike that balance between making sure. that you can hear what he has to say. while also not letting blatant lies go. unchecked. So, I'm going to try to be.

stealthy about this and also make sure. that I'm not talking too much, but also. not allowing misinformation to uh to. thrive here. And I do know, by the way, that we have. my dear friend Mark Elias in the. audience right now. So, in the chat, y'all can say hello to Mark Elias. because I know that he can see you right. now because I just got a text, one of the people who is doing the.

absolute most uh to protect democracy. right now. And if you would like to support Mark's. work, the best way to do that is to. subscribe to Democracy Docket. And you. can just go to democracy.com. >> and sign up.

All right. So, we've had the diplomatic. corps. We've had the Supreme Court. I'm. guessing that the cabinet will be next. before the president. It is now 8:56. here on the East Coast. 8:57. The speech. is due to start at 9. We're kind of on. time here, but we do have some more to. come in. But I would say within 5. minutes of 9:00, somebody will come to. the door. The clerk will come to the. door. Mr. Mr. Speaker, the President of.

the United States. Let's see if we can. hear. >> Kavanaaugh is one of the justices who. hasn't been the target of Trump's eye. because he decided to say that the. unconstitutional tariffs were somehow. not unconstitutional because it is more. important as we know to heap blind. deference onto Trump at any turn than to. actually follow your oath of office and. uh and uh you know say what the constit. and and uphold the constitution uphold.

the. Oh, there's Senator Kelly. >> Is he talking to the Supreme Court? He's. talking with Elena Kagan. >> Yeah, it looks like he's waiting to. >> She's the senior uh justice who. >> Interestingly, as it relates to Mark. Kelly. There was a prosecution attempt. at the hands of Janine Piro that. apparently was abandoned today if I'm. not mistaken. And so Janine Piro is the.

US uh the US attorney for uh Washington. DC and she was the person in charge of. attempting to prosecute these Democratic. members of Congress for um for saying. that soldiers or members of the military. should ignore unlawful orders which is. just. written in the the um uniform code of. military justice. It's just it's just. part of the uniform code of military. justice. It's not controversial. it's. just in the code. And Republicans.

launched this whole faux outrage stick, this bit where they pretended that they. said something wrong and they attempted. to prosecute them. Uh they they tried to. get a grand jury indictment and not one. of the grand jury members voted in favor. of it. Not one. Um, and so ultimately. the whole thing was just uh was just. relinquished today uh by Janine Piro, old old judge Janine from Fox News who. realized that even this one was going to. be a bridge too far uh for this.

administration. >> Survivor is. >> we knew secretary. >> Marco Rubio Andy Treasury. >> Okay, you're going to mark the list. Okay, we'll look. You look we'll mark. >> you see Mr. Hegath defense or Department. of War. >> Oh, I think I see bomb. Pam Bondi. >> Well, those are the big ones. Not having. them in the room would be very. >> Yeah. The four RFK Jr. Health and Human. Services, Secretary. Chavez Ramirez. >> Yeah. A little bit of controversy. I I.

see how they dropped the charges though. against her husband. If you're. interesting, if you go to Politico and. type in labor secretary, you can read. the story. There were some charges filed. against her husband. Uh sexual. harassment charges, but they have been. dropped. There's um Linda McMahon. There's uh Secretary Gnome, DHS. >> So, uh Susie Wild, that's chief of staff. behind Secretary Gnome. That's Susie. Wilds, daughter of Pat Simo, the. longtime sports broadcaster.

>> Always a really interesting story there. There's Lee Zeldon. >> I did spot secretary. >> Yeah, I did see Doug Bergam as well. >> So, Bergam is there. >> Is this Russ Voy, OM director? Russ Voit. or vote. >> vote. >> Thank you. I wasn't sure which one it. was. >> He's very instrumental in this. administration. >> Oh, very much so. >> Especially during the Doge cuts early. this year. And then DNI director Tulsey. Gabbert. >> Is that Tulsi?

>> Yep. There she is. >> Kind of a homecoming for her, too. Former House member, >> Democrat from Hawaii, in fact. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, I'm noting we haven't seen. Brooke Rollins yet, the agriculture. secretary. And do you know I think Greta. told us earlier that the egg secretary. is the most frequent designated. survivor. >> Oh, there she is though. >> There's Brooke. >> Brook Rollins is there. >> Lutnick and then. >> Lutnick is there. Uh commerce. >> behind Rollins. >> Transportation. We saw Scott um.

>> Duffy. Sean Duffy. >> Sean Duffy. >> Jameson Greer. >> That was Scott Turner in front of him of. of HUD. >> Then we have Kelly Laughler. >> Small Business Administration. I was. banking on her bean. I don't know why, but that's who I guess. >> Well, I you know, my guest before was uh. Chris Wright of Energy. I don't think. we've seen that. >> That's a good one. >> I could be the winner of the 50 Cents. >> Oh, wait. Is that um Chris? >> I don't think we have a designated. survivor secretary, right? >> Because Kelly Laughler of small. business, she was a former senator from.

Georgia who got defeated. It would be. interesting if there was no designated. survivor because Trump doesn't accept. the fact that anybody could ever lead. the country other than him. And so the. notion that there should be some. designated survivor in the event that. something ever happened um in the. capital is just unfathomable by him. And. so he was like, "No, no, no designated. survivor. It'll either be me or nobody.". >> It's so interesting. John Ratcliffe used. to be on all the cable news channels on.

a freent. >> All right. For those who are just tuning. in, we are minutes away minutes away. from this starting. For people who are. not yet subscribed to this channel, if. you'd like to stay on top of um live. streams like this one, I'm also going to. be live streaming the primary election. results on Tuesday next week so that we. can find out the the winner of the big. Texas primary. That's on the Democratic. side, James Telerico and Jasmine. Crockett. On the Republican side, John. Cornin and Ken Paxton. It's going to. have major implications uh for the 2026.

election. I'm going to be live streaming. that as well. So, if you'd like to uh. follow along with that live stream and. support this channel completely way. to support this channel. >> RFK Chris Wright, we think we saw him. Doug Bergam Rollins Doug Collins. Have we seen Doug Collins? >> No, he was a designated survivor last. year. He could be. >> because we've seen McMahon, Zeldon,

Lutnik, Bessent, Gnome, Bondi, Gabbard, Turner, Duffy, and Laughler. >> Wow. >> Double duty possibly for. >> There we go. I think we got it. I think. we got it. Doug. >> enjoyed his time so much. His alone. time. >> I'm always curious what they are doing. when they just hang out, watch the. speech. >> Now, is Doug Collins running for Senate. in Virginia or in Georgia? >> No, I don't believe so. He did. He did. >> because I know there's a Republican. primary. That's it. He did before. There.

is a Republican primary to take on Mr. >> in terms of the evening tonight. Here's. what we can expect. This will start. momentarily. I think uh we are just a. few seconds away from um from uh Trump. entering the chamber and beginning the. speech. Afterwards, Abigail Spanberger. is going to give the Democratic. response. And I believe Alex Padilla, senator from California, is going to um. is going to give the Spanish.

response afterwards. >> The crew that walked down last year for. the joint session. >> Nobody has left yet, has. >> it? Obviously speculation over who will. be the first, but yeah, we're now in. February and everyone's intact. >> And I do not see I didn't see Eric Trump. with the family yet. We saw Don Jr., Here we saw Baron. We saw Ivanka. I. don't think I've seen. >> I think or um. the other woman, the other young lady.

that is saw Tiffany. >> Did you see Tiffany? >> And I haven't seen Eric. >> and I thought I saw Eric. >> Tiffany was there. Tiffany was there. >> And Eric's wife, former head of the RNC. She's often comes to these events as. well. >> She's got her she's got her own show now. on Fox. >> Please let me know. Let me know if you. can hear me and if you can hear the. stream. >> We're expecting a two-hour speech. In a minute, of the house will come in.

and say, "Mr. Speaker, the president of. the United States, maybe some cheers, some booze. We'll. listen to the president as he walks down. a we hope we can hear better than we can. hear during this portion. It's fun to. watch everybody walk in. I mean, this is. a big night in Washington. like you. said, huge security event. >> Okay, for anybody who can't hear, um, all you got to do is just try to reset. uh to refresh the browser and that. should that should do the trick. I. apologize if there's any um I apologize.

if there's any audio issues. >> It looks like I'm always interested in. who's grabbing the aisle seats to get. the entrance greetings with the people. coming down the center aisle. Mr. Speaker, the President of the United. States. leadership is.

Heat.

up here. All right.

Heat. Heat.

Keep moving. Trying to keep them on time. Heat.

Heat. Heat.

up.

Heat. Heat. Heat up.

here. Heat. Heat.

Heat. up here.

Members of Congress, I have the high. privilege and distinct honor of. presenting to you the President of the. United States. Heat.

>> Well, thank you very much everybody. It's really an honor. Speaker Johnson, Vice President Vance, First Lady of the United States.

Second Lady of the United States.

>> Did he forget Usha's name? Members of Congress and my fellow. Americans, our nation is back. Bigger, better, richer, and stronger than ever. before.

Less than five months from now, our. country will celebrate an epic milestone. in American history, the 250th. anniversary of our glorious American. independence. This July 4th, we will. mark two and a half centuries of liberty. and triumph, progress and freedom in the. most incredible and exceptional nation. ever to exist on the face of the earth. And you've seen nothing yet. We're going.

to do better and better and better. This. is the golden age of America. When I last spoke in this chamber 12. months ago, I had just inherited a. nation in crisis with a stagnant. economy, inflation at record levels, a.

wide openen border, horrendous. recruitment for military and police, rampant crime at home, and wars and. chaos all over the world. But tonight, after just one year, I can say with. dignity and pride that we have achieved. a transformation like no one has ever. seen before and a turnaround for the. ages. It is indeed a turnaround for the. ages.

And we will never go back to where we. were just a very short time ago. We're. not going back. Today, our border is secure.

USA USA. >> Thank you. Today, our border is secure. Our spirit is restored. Inflation is plummeting. Incomes are. rising fast. The roaring economy is. roaring like never before. And our. enemies are scared. Our military and.

police are stacked. And America is. respected again. perhaps like never. before. >> Yeah, we're pretty much alienated on the. global stage. Uh job growth is anemic. Hardly any jobs added in the first year. of Trump's term. Since Liberation Day, I. think we've had 100,000 jobs added in. like 9 months. And inflation is 3/10en. of a point lower than it was when he. took office. >> Millions poured across our borders. totally unvetted and unchecked. We now.

have the strongest and most secure. border in American history by far. In the past nine months, zero illegal. aliens have been admitted to the United. States.

But we will always allow people to come. in legally, people that will love our. country and will work hard to maintain. our country. They're detaining and deporting people. who did go through the normal pathways. to citizenship. So this is an absolute. The flow of deadly fentinol across our. border is down by a record 56%.

in one year. And last year the murder rate saw its. single largest decline in recorded. history. This is the biggest decline, think of it, in recorded history. be the. lowest number in over. 125 years. The year 1900, in fact,

substantially before my wonderful. father, I had a wonderful father, Fred, before he was born. Substantially before. he was born. That's a long time ago. He. wouldn't like me to say that, but that's. a long time ago. The Biden. administration and its allies in. Congress gave us the worst inflation in. the history of our country. But in 12. months, my administration has driven. core inflation down to the lowest level.

in more than 5 years. And in the last. three months of 2025, it was down to. 1.7%. Gasoline, which reached a peak of over. $6 a gallon in some states. Under my. predecessor, it was quite honestly a.

disaster, is now below $2.30 a gallon in. most states and in some places $1.99. a gallon. And when I visited the great. state of Iowa just a few weeks ago, I. even saw $185. a gallon for gasoline. >> Yeah. So, none of that is true. The. national uh average for gas is 2.95. So, it's almost three bucks a gallon. Uh.

there's there's there the the gas. average in this country is not. >> the annual cost of a typical new. mortgage is down almost $5,000. just since I took office. One year. and low interest rates will solve the. Biden created housing problem while at. the same time protecting the values of. those people who already own a house. that really feel rich for the first time. in their lives. We want to protect those.

values. We want to keep those values up. We're going to do both. And we are going to keep it that way. The stock market has set 53 all-time. record highs since the election. Think. of that. One year, boosting pensions, 401ks, and retirement accounts for the. millions and millions of Americans. They're all gaining. Everybody's up. way. up. In four long years, the last. administration got less than $1 trillion.

in new investment in the United States. And when I say less, substantially less. In 12 months, I secured commitments for. more than $18 trillion pouring in from. all over the globe. >> Yeah. So, these are numbers that Trump. just pulls out of his ass. Like, these. don't mean anything. They change every. day. There's no way to back any of it. up. Oftentimes the commitments are. bigger than the GDPs of the companies. that is much more than $18 trillion for.

one year. What a difference a president. makes. >> A short time ago, we were a dead. country. Now we are the hottest country. anywhere in the world. The hottest.

As thousands of new businesses are. forming at factories, plants, and. laboratories are being built, we have. added 70,000 new construction jobs in. just a very short period of time. It's. getting bigger and bigger and stronger. Nobody can believe what they're. watching. American oil production is up. by more than 600,000 barrels a day. And. we just received from our new friend and. partner, Venezuela, more than 80 million. barrels of oil.

Very exciting for the oil companies. Big. moment for Exon Mobile here. American. natural gas production is at an all-time. high because I kept my promise to drill, baby, drill.

More Americans are working today than at. any time in the history of our country. Think about that. any time in the. history of our country more working. today. And 100% of all jobs created. under my administration have been in the. private sector. Trump has added the fewest jobs of any. president in modern American history. He's added like in the last nine months.

maybe 100,000 jobs. >> Ei in America. The last nine months of Trump's. presidency, the jobs added combined. would still be Joe Biden's worst month. of jobs. >> 2.4 million Americans a record off of. food stamps. >> Yeah. By lifting him off food stamps, he. means taking food stamps away to the.

tune of $186 billion. and then claiming victory for it. >> Reasons I say tonight, members of. Congress, the state of our union is. strong. Our.

country is winning again. In fact, we're. winning so much that we really don't. know what to do about it. People are. asking me, "Please, please, please, Mr. President, we're winning too much. We. can't take it anymore. We're not used to. winning in our country. Until you came. along, we're just always losing. But now. we're winning too much." And I say, "No, no, no. You're going to win again. You're going to win big. You're going to.

win bigger than ever." And to prove that. point, to prove that point, here with us. tonight is a group of winners who just. made the entire nation proud. The men's. gold medal Olympic hockey team. Come on. in. Heat.

up here. Heat. up here.

Go ahead.

That's the first time I've ever seen. them get up. And actually, not all of them did get.

up, but they beat a fantastic Canadian. team in overtime. as everybody. So, as. did the American women who will soon be. coming to the White House. I'm going to playing clean up on that. issue.

They were in the Oval Office before and. I just want to say a second very big. congratulations to team USA. But I have. to say that and I told them this and we. took a vote of the team. I said, "Anybody votes no, I'm not doing it." So.

they stood there and they weren't about. to say no because I'd never seen a. goalender play as well as goalie Connor. Halib.

think of it. 46 shots on gold. And I. asked him the one shot, the one where. you put your stick in the back and it. hit the neck of your stick and bounced. off. Do you practice that or was that a. little lucky? He refused to answer that question. But I just want to tell you that the. members of this great hockey squad will.

be very happy to hear based on their. vote and my vote and in this case my. vote was more important that I will soon. be presenting Connor with our highest. civilian honor which we will be given. and which has been given to many. athletes over the years. But when I say. many, not too many, like 12. It's called. the highest civilian honor in our. country, the Presidential Medal of.

Freedom. great athletes have gotten that very. great the best and I thought he deserved.

it and I did take a vote. Every single. one of them I said I'm not giving it if. anybody goes no and every single one of. them rapidly put up their hand. So I. want to thank you all. What a special. job you did. What special champions you. are. Thank you very much.

I'm also pleased to say that the next. time the Olympic torch is lit, it will. be here in America for the 2028. Olympics. And it's the summer version. right in Los Angeles. We're going to do. a good job in Los Angeles.

And Los Angeles is going to be safe just. like Washington DC is now one of the. safest cities in the country. and this year. And I must say I got them. both. I got them in my first term and I. was disappointed because I didn't think. I'd be the president when this happened.

But strange things took place. And now. I've got them because I got the Olympics. and I got the 2026 FIFA World Cup and I. wanted to claim the 250th, but I didn't. get away with that one. I couldn't claim. that one for myself. But we're getting. the World Cup. So, we have the World Cup. and the Olympics coming and that is. exciting news.

So this will be a year to celebrate our. country and the heroes who have kept it. free. Men like Buddy Tagert. At age 17, Buddy volunteered to defend. America in World War II, serving in the. Pacific under the great General Douglas. MacArthur. He fought bravely in the. famous battle of Manila. Worked so hard. He was badly wounded and almost killed.

by enemy machine guns in Luzon. And 81 years ago this month, he. liberated the largest internment camp in. the Philippines, one of the largest. anywhere in the world. But he earned. many honors, including a Purple Heart. and a Bronze Star. came home, started a. family, and tonight he is in the gallery. looking forward to July 4th, 2026, his. 100th birthday.

So buddy, you're a brave man and we. salute you. Even in times of challenge, setback, and immense heartache, the. spirit of 1776. has always shone through very brightly. It was July 4th of last year when. floodwaters tore through a girl's summer. camp in central Texas. One of the worst. things I've ever seen. I was there. rising 26 feet in the matter of minutes, tragically claiming many, many lives.

You all remember that one. As the waters. threatened to sweep her away, 11-year-old Millie Kate Mlan closed her. eyes and prayed to God. She thought she. was going to die. Those prayers were. answered when Coast Guard rescue swimmer. Scott Ruskin descended from a helicopter. above. Nobody knew where he came from. It was Scott's first ever rescue. mission. Young guy, but very brave, very, very top. always top in his class.

and he lifted not just Billy Kate but. 164 others to safety.

People watched Scott from a distance and. they couldn't believe what they were. seeing. The winds were blowing, the rain. was pouring, everything was going. And. that rapid water, nobody's ever seen. anything like it. They said, "Wow, that's something." Tonight, Scott and. Millie Kate are here together, reunited. for the very first time. Thank you,

Scott. Millie Kate. and Petty Officer Ruskin, I'm pleased to. inform you that I am now awarding you.

the Legion of Merit for Extraordinary. Heroism, which is what it was, extraordinary heroism. Thank you. And I'd like to have the military aid to. please come down. and take care of the service. Military.

aid. Thank you very much. Take care of. that very important service. Thank you very much. From 1776. to today, every generation of Americans. has stepped forward to defend life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And they're really doing it for the next. generation. But now it's our turn. Together, we're building a nation where. every child has the chance to reach.

higher and go further. where government. answers to the people, not the powerful, and where the interests of hardworking. American citizens are always our first. and ultimate concern. That is the debt we owe to the heroes. who came before us, and that is the. promise we must keep to America for our. 250th. year. Last year, I urged this Congress. to begin the mission by passing the. largest tax cuts in American history.

and our Republican majorities delivered. so beautifully. Thank you, Republicans. All Democrats, every single one of them, voted against these really important and. very necessary massive tax cuts.

>> He's saying that Democrats voted against. tax cuts that overwhelmingly favor. millionaires and billionaires. They. wanted. largescale tax increases to hurt the. people instead. >> Ironic considering his tariffs are a. consumption tax on working-class. Americans. >> You no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on social security for our. great senior.

And we also made interest on auto loans. taxdeductible, the first time, but only. if the car is made in America.

Recently in Pennsylvania, I met Megan. Hemhouser, a devoted mom whose. homeschools her children, beautiful, two. children, during the day while waiting. tables at night as her husband works. overtime, operating very heavy. equipment. Megan is here this evening. and she's happy to tell you that she is. so so much richer because with no tax on.

tips, no tax on overtime, and her. expanded child tax credit done again by. Republicans, Megan and her husband will. take home more than $5,000 extra just. for the year, cutting her tax bill in. more than half. Megan, please stand up. We're fighting. for you, Megan.

Thank you. Thank you, Megan. We're fighting for. you, Megan. Under our bill, parents like. Megan can also activate their children's. brand new Trump accounts. And I didn't. name it. I didn't name it. I did not. name that. Nobody believes me, but I did not name. it. It was named by a very tall man. sitting right there in the third row.

Nice man, a good man. Tax-free. investment accounts for every American. child. This is something that's so. special and has taken off and gone. through the roof. Millions will be. preunded courtesy of the US Treasury and. private individuals like Michael and. Susan Dell who have donated 6 bill250. million to fund the Trump accounts for. 25 million American children.

They're great people. When I asked Michael Dell, "How do you. make all that money?" He said, "Well, I. just sat on my dorm in school and I made. computers and I'd sell them to people. and I just kept selling and selling and. selling and pretty amazing story.".

That's called the American dream. He. sold a lot of computers, a lot of those. laptops. So, I congratulate him on that. But I really thank him and Susan as well. as others like Brad Gersonner, a very. tremendous guy. He was behind it right. from the beginning. Brad Gersonner. Thank you, Brad. So, with modest additional.

contributions, these young people's accounts could grow. to over $100,000 or more by the time. they turn 18. Think of it. How much. money is that for somebody that started. with nothing, over a h 100,000, could be. much more than that. To make this. investment in our children's future, go. to trumpaccounts.gov. Trumpacounts.gov. And a lot of people. are doing it. setting every record in. the book. It's popular. They knew what. was going to what it was going to take.

I'm so proud of them. I'm so proud of. the people that got it started and now. it's just taken off. One of the primary. reasons for our country's stunning. economic turnaround. the biggest in. history where the Dow Jones broke 50,000. four years ahead of schedule and the S&P. hit 7,000 where it wasn't supposed to do. it for many years. were tariffs. I used these tariffs took in hundreds of. billions of dollars to make great deals.

for our country both economically and on. a national security basis. Everything. was working well. Countries that were. ripping us off for decades are now. paying us hundreds of billions of. dollars. They were ripping us so badly. You all. know that. Everybody knows it. Even the. Democrats know it. They just don't want. to say it. And yet these countries are. now happy and so are we. We made deals. The deals are all done and they're. happy. They're not making money like.

they used to, but we're making a lot of. money. There was no inflation, tremendous growth. And the big story was. how Donald Trump called the economy. correctly and 22 Nobel Prize winners in. economics didn't. They got it totally. wrong. They got it really wrong. And. then just four days ago, an unfortunate. ruling from the United States Supreme. Court. It just came down. It came down. Very unfortunate ruling. But the good news is that almost all.

countries and corporations want to keep. the deal that they already made. Right, Scott? Knowing that the legal power that. I as president have to make a new deal. could be far worse for them and. therefore they will continue to work. along the same successful path that we. had negotiated before the Supreme. Court's unfortunate involvement. So despite the disappointing ruling.

these powerful country saving, it's. saving our country. The kind of money. we're taking in peace protecting many of. the wars I settled was because of the. threat of tariffs. I wouldn't have been. able to settle them without. >> the money that's being taken in is just. taxes paid by American consumers. >> Legal statutes and they have been tested. for a long time. They're a little more. complex, but they're actually probably. better, leading to a solution that will. be even stronger than before.

Congressional action will not be. necessary. It's already time-t tested. and approved. And as time goes by, I. believe the tariffs paid for by foreign. countries will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day. system of income tax, taking a great. financial burden off the people that I. love.

Right. Moving forward, factories, jobs, investment, and trillions and trillions. of dollars will continue pouring into. the United States of America because we. finally have a president who puts. America first. I put America first. I. love America.

For decades before I came along, we had the exact opposite. From trade to. healthcare, from energy to immigration, everything was stolen and rigged in. order to drain the wealth out of the. productive, hardworking people who make. our country great, who make our country. run. Under Biden and his corrupt. partners in Congress and beyond, it. reached a breaking point with the Green. New Scam. Open borders for everyone.

They poured in by the millions and. millions from prisons, from mental. institutions. They were murderers. 11,888. murders. They came into our country. You. allowed that to happen. and record. setting inflation that cost the typical. family $34,000 in just a speck of time. Now, the same people in this chamber who. voted for those disasters. suddenly used the word affordability, a.

word they just used it. Somebody gave it. to them knowing full well that they. caused and created the increased prices. that all of our citizens had to endure. You caused that problem. You caused that. problem.

>> It's funny that Trump is going on a. tirade about affordability when things. are more expensive than they used to be. >> They knew their statements were a dirty. rotten lie. Their policies created the. high prices. Our policies are rapidly. ending them. We are doing really well. Those prices are plummeting downward. Here's the part about this. This is. what's damaging because everybody knows. what their grocery bills say, what their. utility bills say, what their health. care bills say. Everybody knows that.

those costs are not going down. So, they. know he's bullshitting them. >> Madam Secretary, thank you. The cost of. chicken, butter, fruit, hotels, automobiles, rent is lower today than. when I took office by a lot. And even. beef, which was very high, is starting. to come down significantly. Just hold on. a little while. We're getting it down. And soon you will see numbers that few. people would think were possible to. achieve just a short time ago. Uh,

nobody can believe when they see the. kind of numbers and especially energy. Beef prices are up 15% over the last. year. >> It's like another big tax cut. I'm also. confronting one of the biggest ripoffs. of our times, the crushing costs of. healthcare. caused by you. >> Since the passage of the unaffordable. care act, >> sometimes referred to as Obamacare, big. insurance companies have gotten rich. It. was meant for the insurance companies,

not for the people. with our government. giving them hundreds and hundreds of. billions of dollars a year as their. stock prices soared 1,1200,400. and even 1,700%. like nothing else. That's why I. introduced the great health care plan. I. want to stop all payments to big. insurance companies and instead give. that money directly to the people so. they can buy their own health care which.

will be better healthcare at a much. lower cost. To be clear, giving people. the money that those subsidies would. have covered is like a,000 or 2,000. bucks. I don't know what you can do with. $1,000 if something happens to you. Nothing. I mean, that won't even cover. somebody's deductible to buy health. insurance. So this whole thing is just a. scam. It was just his way to take money. away from poor people, give it to rich. people by cutting ACA subsidies. That's. all it was. A transfer of wealth from.

the poor to the rich. >> First term and the Democrats immediately. terminated it with full knowledge that. they were doing a very bad thing for the. people. Costs were going to go way up. And that's what happened. And now I'm. bringing them way down on healthcare and. everything else. I'm also ending the. wildly inflated cost of prescription. drugs like has never happened before.

Other presidents tried to do it but they. never could. They tried. Most didn't try. actually but they tried. They said they. tried. They couldn't do it. They didn't. even come close. They were all talk and. no action, but I got it done. Under my. just enacted most favored nation. agreements. Americans who have for. decades paid by far the highest prices. of any nation anywhere in the world for. prescription drugs will now pay the.

lowest price anywhere in the world for. drugs. Anywhere. The lowest price. So, in my first year of the second term, should be my third term, but strange. things happen. I took prescription. drugs, a very big part of healthcare,

from the highest price in the entire. world to the lowest. That's a big. achievement. The result is price. differences of 300, 400, 500, 600% and. more. All available right now at a new. website called trumprx.gov. And I didn't name that one either, by. the way. And here tonight is the very first. customer ever to get that big discount.

And it is big. Katherine Rener. For five. years, she and her husband have. struggled with infertility, and they. turned to IVF. One drug has been costing Katherine. $4,000 to purchase. But a few weeks ago, she logged onto the Trump RX website and. got that same drug that cost $4,000, got. it for under $500. A reduction of much more actually than.

$3,500. Katherine, we are all praying for you. and you're going to be a great mom. So now I'm calling on Congress to codify.

my most favorite nation program into. law. Now the one thing I'm not sure it. matters because it's going to be very. hard for somebody that comes along after. me to say let's raise drug prices by 700. or 800%. But John and Mike, if you don't mind, codify it anyway. They may do it. Codify. it anyway. Thank you. Many Americans are. also concerned that energy demand from. AI data centers could unfairly drive up. their electric utility bills. Tonight,

I'm pleased to announce that I have. negotiated the new rate payer protection. pledge. You know what that is? We're telling the major tech companies. that they have the obligation to provide. for their own power needs. They can. build their own power plants as part of. their factory so that no one's prices. will go up and in many cases prices of. electricity will go down for the. community and very substantially down. This is a unique strategy never used in.

this country before. We have an old. grid. It could never handle the kind of. numbers, the amount of electricity. that's needed. So, I'm telling them they. can build their own plant. They're going. to produce their own electricity. It. will ensure the company's ability to get. electricity while at the same time. lowering prices of electricity for you. and could be very substantial for all of. you cities and towns. You're going to. see some good things happen over the. next number of years. Another pillar of. the American dream that has been under. attack is homeownership.

With us tonight is Rayo Wiggins, a mom. of two from Houston. She placed bids on. 20 homes and lost all of those bids to. gigantic investment firms that bypassed. inspection, paid all cash, and turned. those houses into rentals, stealing away. her American dream. She was devastated. Stories like this are why last month I. signed executive order to ban large Wall. Street investment firms from buying up.

in the thousands single family homes. And now I'm asking Congress to make that. ban permanent because homes for people. Really, that's what we want. We want. homes for people, not for corporations. Corporations are doing just fine. Rel, thank you very much. Good luck with your. home. You'll get one soon.

We're also working to make it easier for. Americans to save for retirement. And. under this administration, we will. always protect Social Security and. Medicare. They are not protecting it for. our seniors. We will always protect. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.

Since I took office, the typical 401k. balance is up by at least $30,000. That's a lot of money. We have millions. and millions of people because the stock. market has done so well setting all. those records. Your 401ks are way up. Yet half of all of working Americans. still do not have access to a retirement. plan with matching contributions from an. employer. To remedy this gross.

disparity, I'm announcing that next year. my administration will give these oft. forgotten American workers, great. people, the people that built our. country, access to the same type of. retirement plan offered to every federal. worker. We will match your contribution. with up to $1,000 each year. As we. ensure that all Americans can profit. from a rising stock market, let's also. ensure that members of Congress cannot. corruptly profit from using insider.

information. >> Rich of all people coming from him, this. guy's doubled his net worth while he's. been in office for the last year. But. sure, he's the uh anti-corruption. president. They stood up for that. I can't believe. it. >> I can't believe it.

Did Nancy Pelosi stand up if she is. here? Count it. Pass the Stop Insider Trading Act. without delay. I wasn't sure if anybody even on this. side was going to applaud for that. I. was I'm very impressed. Thank you. I'm.

very impressed. But when it comes to the corruption that. is plundering really it's plundering. America, there's been no more stunning. example than Minnesota where members of. the Somali community have pillaged an. estimated $19 billion dollar from the. American taxpayer. Oh, we have all the. information. And in actuality, the. number is much higher than that. and. California, Massachusetts, Maine, and. many other states are even worse. This.

is the kind of corruption that shreds. the fabric of a nation, and we are. working on it like you wouldn't believe. So, tonight, although. started four months ago, I am officially. announcing the war on fraud to be led by. our great vice president J. D. Vance. >> The war on fraud. This guy has pardoned. how many people convicted of fraud in. the last year? Like like dozens.

If. >> he started with his administration, he'd. be busy for the rest of his life. >> We're able to find enough of that fraud. We will actually have a balanced budget. overnight. It'll go very quickly. That's. the kind of money you're talking about. and we'll balance our budget. The Somali. pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind. us that there are large parts of the.

world where bribery, corruption, and. lawlessness are the norm, not the. exception. Importing these cultures. through unrestricted immigration and. open borders brings those problems right. here to the USA. And it is the American. people who pay the price in higher. medical bills, car insurance rates, rent, taxes, and perhaps most. importantly, crime. We will take care of. this problem. We're going to take care. of this problem. We are not playing. games.

Delila. Delilah Coleman was only 5 years old in. June 2024 when a 18-wheel tractor. trailer plowed into her stopped car. traveling at 60 m an hour or more. The. driver was an illegal alien led in by.

Joe Biden and given a commercial. driver's license by open borders. politicians in California. Doctors said. Delila would never be able to walk or. talk, have a good life. She wouldn't. even be able to eat again. But against. all odds, she is now in the first grade. learning to walk. And she's here this. evening with her dad, Marcus, a. fantastic man. Delila, please. You are a. great inspiration. Please stand up.

Thank you Dala. Many, if not most, illegal aliens do not. speak English and cannot read even the. most basic road signs as to direction, speed, danger, or location. That's why. tonight I'm calling on Congress to pass. what we will call the Delila law, barring any state from granting. commercial driver's licenses to illegal. aliens.

And yesterday, as you probably saw at. the White House, I hosted a ceremony. with Americans who lost their treasured. loved ones to the scourge of illegal. immigration. People came into our. country, how we allowed this to happen. with our open borders. These are the. angel moms and families that for decades.

our government betrayed and our media. totally ignored. Totally. It was. terrible. Hard to believe actually. In. 2023, a 16-year-old high school. cheerleader named Elizabeth Medina was. supposed to perform in her town's. Christmas parade, but she never arrived. Her mother, Jacqueline, went home to. look for her and she found her lying. dead in a bathtub, bleeding profusely. after being stabbed 25 times. Elizabeth.

Beth's killer was a previously arrested. illegal alien who had broken in and. brutally really just brutally. extinguished. the brightest light in her family's life. violently and viciously. Her heartbroken. mother is in the gallery to remind. everyone in this chamber exactly why we. are deporting illegal alien criminals. for our country at record numbers and. we're getting them the hell out of here. fast. We don't want them.

Thank you very much, Jacqueline. Thank. you. We can never forget that many in. this room.

not only allowed the border invasion to. happen before I got involved, but indeed. they would do it all over again if they. ever had the chance. if they ever got. elected, they would open up those. borders to some of the worst criminals. anywhere in the world. The only thing. standing between Americans and a wide. open border right now is President. Donald J. Trump and our great Republican. patriots in Congress. Thank you. Thank. you.

As we speak, Democrats in this chamber. have cut off all funding for the. Department of Homeland Security. It's. all cut off. It's all cut off. They have. instituted another Democrat shutdown. The first one costing us two points on. GDP. Two points we lost on GDP, which.

probably made them quite happy actually. Now they have closed the agency. responsible for protecting Americans. from terrorists and murders. Tonight I'm. demanding the full and immediate. restoration of all funding for the. border security, homeland security of. the United States and also for helping. people clean up their snow. We have no. money because of the Democrats. And it. would be nice. We'd love to give you a. hand at cleaning it up, but you gave no.

money. Nobody's getting paid. It's a. shame. So, you have to think about it. We have, in case you didn't know, pretty. large snowstorm out there. One of the. great things about the State of the. Union is how it gives Americans the. chance to see clearly what their. representatives really believe. So, tonight, I'm inviting every legislature. to join with my administration in. reaffirming a fundamental principle. If. you agree with this statement, then. stand up and show your support. The.

first duty of the American government is. to protect American citizens, not. illegal aliens. Heat.

up. here.

Heat. up here. Heat up. here.

Isn't that a shame? You should be.

ashamed of yourself not standing up. You. should be ashamed of yourself. That is why I'm also asking you to end. deadly sanctuary cities that protect the. criminals and enact serious penalties. for public officials who block the. removal of criminal aliens. In many. cases, drug lords, murderers all over. our country. They're blocking the. removal of these people out of our. country. And you should be ashamed of.

yourself. And perhaps most importantly, I'm asking.

you to approve the Save America Act. to stop illegal aliens and others. who are unpermitted persons from voting. in our sacred American. >> elections. That cheating is rampant in. our elections. It's rampant. >> It's very simple. All voters must show.

voter ID. All voters must show proof of. citizenship in order to vote.

And no more crooked mailin ballots. except for illness, disability, military, or travel. None. And this should be an easy one. And by. the way, it's polling at 89% including. Democrats. 89%.

And even the new communist mayor of New. York City, I think he's a nice guy. Actually, speak to him a lot. Bad. policy, but nice guy. Just said they. want people to shovel snow. They got hit. hard. Wants them to shovel snow. But if. you apply for that job, you need to show. two original forms of ID and a social. security card. Yet they don't want identification for. the greatest privilege of them all, voting in America. No, it's no good.

>> No good. >> Because it's not a privilege. It's a. right. >> Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly. agree on the policy that we just. enunciated. And Congress should unite and enact this. common sense country legislation right. now. And it should be before anything. else happens.

And the reason they don't want to do it, why would anybody not want voter ID? One. reason? Because they want to cheat. There's only one reason. They make up all excuses. They say it's. racist. They come up with things. You. almost say, "What imagination they. have?" They want to cheat. They have. cheated. And their policy is so bad that.

the only way they can get elected is to. cheat. And we're going to stop it. We. have to stop it, Josh. And here is one more opportunity to show. common sense in government. In the. gallery tonight are Sage Blair and her. mother Michelle. In 2021, Sage was 14.

when school officials in Virginia sought. to socially transition her to a new. gender, treating her as a boy and hiding. it from her parents. Hard to believe, isn't it? Before long, a confused Sage. ran away from home after she was found. in a horrific situation in Maryland. A. leftwing judge refused to return Sage to. her parents because they did not.

immediately state that their daughter. was their son. Sage was thrown into an. all boys state home and suffered. terribly for a long time. But today, all. of that is behind them because Sage is a. proud and wonderful young woman with a. full ride scholarship to Liberty. University. Sage and Michelle, please. stand up.

and thank you for your great bravery. And who can believe that we're even. speaking about things like this? 15. years ago, if somebody was up here and. said that, they say, "What's wrong with. him?" But now we have to say it because.

it's going on all over numerous states. without even telling the parents. But surely we can all agree no state can. be allowed to rip children from their. parents' arms and transition them to a. new gender against the parents will. Who. would believe that we've been talking. about? We must ban it. And we must ban. it immediately.

Look, nobody stands up. These people are. crazy. I'm telling you, they're crazy. Amazing. Boy, oh boy. We're lucky we have a. country with people like this. Democrats. are destroying our country. But we've. stopped it just in the nick of time,

didn't we? No one cares more about protecting. America's youth than our wonderful first. lady, now a movie star. She a movie. star. Can you believe it? >> Who would have believed that? Over the. past year, she has had an incredible. impact championing AI legislation,

advancing a landmark executive order on. foster care, and helping secure $30. million to launch the Melania Trump. foster youth to independence initiative. It's a tremendous. really a tremendous thing that happened. and had a lot of bipartisan support. She. gets much better bipartisan support than. I do. I get none. She gets a lot. Someday you're going to have to tell me. how you did that. And students and educators in every.

state have joined the first lady's. efforts in the presidential AI challenge. keeping America's next generation. position to succeed and strongly succeed. in the future. Tonight, we welcome two. young people whose lives reflect the. first lady's impact. Sierra Burns and. Everest Neveront. Thank you both. And Melania, thank you. I know how hard you worked on her. Thank. you very much.

I'm very proud to say that during my. time in office both the first four years. and in particular this last year there.

has been a tremendous renewal in. religion, faith, Christianity and belief. in God. Tremendous renewal. This is especially true among young. people. And a big part of that had to do. with my great friend Charlie Kirk, a. great guy, great man.

So last year, Charlie was violently. murdered by an assassin. and martyed. Really martyed for his. beliefs. >> His wonderful wife, Erica, is with us. tonight. Erica, please stand.

All right. Cue the fireworks. And we need 1,200 sparklers and 47 Roman. candles. Go. Oh, sorry. I thought I was the control. room. Been through a lot. In Charlie's. memory, we must all come together to. reaffirm that America is one nation. under God, and we must totally reject. political violence of any kind.

We love religion and we love bringing it. back and it's coming back at levels that. nobody actually thought possible. It's. really a beautiful thing to see. Above. all, unleashing America's promise. requires keeping our communities safe. We have made incredible strides, yet. dangerous repeat offenders continue to.

be released by pro-rime Democrat. politicians again and again. We are. honored to be joined tonight by a woman. who's been through hell, Ana Zurka. In 2022, she and her beautiful daughter, so beautiful. What a beautiful young. woman. Ireina fled warn. wartorrn Ukraine to live with relatives. near Charlotte, North Carolina. And by.

the way, what's going on with Charlotte? Last summer, 23-year-old Ireina was. riding home on the train when a deranged. monster who had been arrested over a. dozen times and was released through no. cash bail stood up and viciously slashed. a knife through her neck and body. No. one will ever forget there were people. on that train. No one will ever forget. the expression of terror on Ireina's. face as she looked up at her attacker in.

the last seconds of her life. She died. instantly. She had escaped a brutal war only to be. slain by a hardened criminal set free to. kill in America. Came in through open. borders. Mrs. Zeretska. Tonight I promise you we. will ensure justice for your magnificent. daughter.

How do you not stand? How do you not. stand? I'm asking this Congress to pass. tough legislation to ensure that violent. and dangerous repeat offenders are put. behind bars and importantly that they. stay there.

Starting last summer, I deployed our. National Guard and federal law. enforcement to restore law and order to. our most dangerous cities, including. Memphis, Tennessee, big success. New Orleans, Louisiana, big success. and.

our nation's capital itself, Washington. DC, where we have almost no crime. anymore in Washington DC. How did that. happen? >> In fact, crime in Washington is now at. the lowest level ever recorded. and. murders in DC this January were down. close to 100%.

from a year ago. They don't like to hear that. One of. sick people, one of the brave service. members who helped achieve this stunning. turnaround was 20-year-old West Virginia. Army National Guard specialist Sarah. Beckm.

After a 4month deployment, she. voluntarily extended her service and her. rank was going to be lifted. She was. doing so well. They were so proud of. her. But the very next day, she was on patrol. near the White House when she was. ambushed and shot in the head by a. terrorist monster from Afghanistan. Shouldn't have been in our country. And all because she wore the uniform of. our nation. She was shot. He traveled. here because he didn't like people.

wearing our uniform. He was sick and. deranged. Shouldn't have been in our. country. Sarah Beckm died in order to. defend our capital. And we are honored. to be joined by her wonderful parents, Gary and Evely. Your daughter was a true American. patriot and she will be greatly missed. She was a great person. I saw reports on. her. They've never seen anything like. it.

So sorry. Thank you very much. A great young lady. I saw reports that. were like perfect. She was perfect. Serving alongside Sarah that day was.

Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolf. The. terrorist shot Andrew in the head and no. one thought he could possibly make it. The two of them, Sarah and Andrew, both. shot. violently in the head. Neither was. expected to make it. They weren't even. given a chance except. his wonderful mother. named Melody, who I spoke to the same. night, and she was so positive. The doctors. thought that Andrew was gone, but his.

mother said, "No, no, Mr. President. Andrew will be fine. He's going to make. it. I've never seen anything like it. I. mean, he was given almost no chance.". She said, "I have no doubt, sir. He's. going to be okay." This was a. conversation that I had with her that. night with her son laying helplessly in. bed, blood all over. Everybody is praying. She said, "Sir, he. will be okay. The doctors didn't.

understand what she was saying. And. after looking at the results of the. damage done, neither did I. She was so. strong and conclusive that even Andrew's. great father felt she didn't really. understand the gravity of the situation. But she turned out to be right. Right, Melody? She turned out to be right. Heat.

Heat. Amazing.

Actually, I said, "Where does this woman. come from?" She most positive person. I've ever met. With God's help, Andrew. has battled back from the edge of death. And we're talking about the edge of. death. on his way to a miraculous. recovery. He's got a little work to do, but he's doing great. Nice to see. He's. a good-looking guy. Nice to see you. Thanks, Andrew. Thank you very much.

So, Andrew, while you're up now, I'm. going to ask a highly respected General. James Sewart to present Staff Sergeant. Andrew Wolf and the great family of.

Sarah Beckram with the award created by. our late great President George. Washington himself. It's called the. Purple Heart. Oh,

heat. We love you all. Love you.

We're proudly restoring safety for. Americans at home and we are also. restoring security for Americans abroad. Our country has never been stronger. In. my first 10 months, I ended eight wars. including Cambodia. Isn't it funny? Sick people. Cambodia and Thailand. Pakistan and India would have been a. nuclear war. 35 million people said the.

prime minister of Pakistan would have. died if it were not for my involvement. Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaian, the Congo and Rwanda, and of course the. war in Gaza, which proceeds at a very. low level. It's just about there. And I. want to thank Steve Witco and Jared. Kushner for your help. Thank you, Steve. Thank you, J.

And I also want to thank the mandate. report to Secretary of State Marco. Rubio. Thank you, Marco.

people don't like you. You know, Marco. got 100% of the votes when he was in. confirm. I think our next one was about. 54%. And some of the Democrats are now. saying, "I can't believe we approved. that guy.". >> And he said, "It's an honor that they.

feel that way." Right, Marco? You have. done a great job. Great Secretary of. State. I think he'll go down as the best. ever. Under the ceasefire, I negotiated every. single hostage. both living and dead has. been returned home. Can you believe. that?

Nobody thought it was possible. Nobody thought that was possible. Both living and dead. And those parents. who had a dead son, their boy, they'd. always tell me their boy, they wanted. him as much as though he were living. That was an amazing period of time. And. they came back and when we got all of. the living hostages back and many, many.

before them, but I always said those. last 20 are going to be very tough. But. we got many, many more. Hundreds. But I said, "Those last 20 are going to. be tough." if we got him back, but we. only got back 14 or 15 of the dead of. the 28. And believe it or not, Hamas. worked along with Israel and they dug. and they dug and they dug. It's a tough. It's a tough thing to do. Going through. bodies all over, passing up.

100 bodies sometimes for each one that. they found. Tough job. And uh they. finally got it back to 27. And then. Steve and Jared, they got it back to 28. They found all 28. Nobody thought that. was possible, but we did it. And I. remember the family of the 28th. They. were so grieved, but they were so happy. As happy as it's possible to be. They.

had their boy back. The mother said, "Sir, we have our boy back." What a. period of time that was. But we got them. all back. So, thank you both very much. Take care. And we're working very hard to end the. ninth war, the killing and slaughter. between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000.

soldiers are dying each and every month. Think of that. 25,000. soldiers are dying a month. A war which. would have never happened if I were. president. Would have never happened. As. president, I will make peace wherever I. can. But I will never hesitate to. confront threats to America wherever we. must. That's why in a breakthrough. operation last June, the United States. military obliterated Iran's nuclear.

weapons program with an attack on. Iranian soil known as Operation Midnight. Hammer. For decades, it had been the policy of. the United States never to allow Iran to. obtain a nuclear weapon. Many decades.

since they seized control of that proud. nation 47 years ago, the regime and its. murderous proxies have spread nothing. but terrorism and death and hate. They've killed and maimed thousands of. American service members and hundreds of. thousands and even millions of people. with what's called roadside bombs. They. were the kings of the roadside bomb. And we took out Solommania. I did that. during my first term. Had a huge impact.

He was the father of the roadside bomb. And just over the last couple of months. with the protests, they've killed at. least it looks like 32,000 protests. 32,000 protesters in their own country. They shot them and hung them. We stopped.

them from hanging a lot of them with the. threat of serious violence. But this is. some terrible people. They've already. developed missiles that can threaten. Europe and our bases overseas. And. they're working to build missiles that. will soon reach the United States of. America. After Midnight Hammer, they were warned to make no future. attempts to rebuild their weapons. program, in particular nuclear weapons.

Yet they continue. They're starting it. all over. We wiped it out and they want. to start all over again and at this. moment again pursuing their sinister. ambitions. We are in negotiations with. them. They want to make a deal but we. haven't heard those secret words. We. will never have a nuclear weapon. My preference.

My preference is to solve this problem. through diplomacy. But one thing is certain. I will never. allow the world's number one sponsor of. terror, which they are by far, to have a. nuclear weapon. Can't let that happen.

And no nation should ever doubt. America's resolve. We have the most. powerful military on earth. I rebuilt. the military in my first term. We're going to continue to do so. Also, we just approved a trillion dollar. budget. We have no choice. We have to be. strong. because hopefully we will seldom have to. use this great power that we built.

together. It's really called peace. through strength and it's been very very. effective. So thanks to Republican in Congress, we're investing that record number of. dollars. Have no choice in the United. States armed forces. Also creating a lot.

of jobs. But we're not even doing it for. that reason because as I said, we have. more jobs, more people working today. than ever before in the history of our. country. And NATO countries, our friends. and allies, they are they're our friends. and they're our allies have just agreed. at my very strong request. to pay 5% of GDP for military defense. rather than the 2% which they weren't. paying. We were paying for almost all of. them. Now they're paying five as opposed to.

not paying for. and getting that 5% was something which. everyone said would never be done could. not happen. We got it really easily one. meeting and uh big difference between 2%. that's not paid. We were paying the. freight of many of them. Very few were. paid up. Now 5% then they're paid. And. everything we send over to Ukraine is.

sent through NATO. And they pay us in. full. >> They pay us totally in full. Every. branch of our armed forces is setting. records for recruitment. This is so. exciting. And every service member. recently. And every service member recently.

received a warrior dividend of $1776. >> You know, they put it on my desk. We got. the money from tariffs and other things. A lot of money we have. We have much. more money than people understand. Have. to rebuild that program a little bit, but it won't take long. But we got the. money and it was $1,775.

And I they wanted my approval. And I. said, "What's the number?" $1,75. I said, "Wait a minute. For one more. dollar, we can have 1776. It's going to. figure that." I never asked anybody if. we could afford it. One more dollar. I. said 1776. And I said, "That's good." And I'll tell. you what, our military, that was four. months ago, our military, I never see a. person in the military that doesn't. thank me for it. So, we're honored to do. it. They deserve it. And uh we call it.

1776. It was great. And we love our. military. We love our law enforcement. We love our firemen. >> Just to be clear, that 1776 was just. taken out of their their housing. allowance and given to them. It's just. taking it's just giving it a different. name. It would have been their money. anyway, but Trump wants to give himself. credit for something that was already. going to these service members. We're also restoring American security.

and dominance in the Western Hemisphere, acting to secure our national interests. and defend our country from violence, drugs, terrorism, and foreign. interference. For years, large swasts of. territory in our region, including large. parts of Mexico, really large parts of. Mexico, have been controlled by. murderous drug cartels. That's why I. designated these cartels as foreign. terrorist organizations. And I declared.

illicit fentinol as a weapon of mass. destruction. And with our new military campaign, we. have stopped record amounts of drugs. coming into our country and virtually. stopped it completely coming in by water. or sea. You probably noticed that. we very seriously damaged their fishing.

industry. Also, nobody wants nobody. wants to go fishing anymore. We've also taken down one of the most. sinister cartel kingpins of all. You saw. that yesterday. in January. In January, elite American warriors.

carried out one of the most complex, spectacular feats of military competence. and power in world history. No one's. seen anything like it. Foreign leaders, I won't tell you who, called me and they. said, "Very impressive." Very, they couldn't believe. They all watched. They saw what happened. This is a. different fighting force than we had. years ago when we fought to Thai. You know, it's a great fighting force. I'm so proud of it. Look at Space Force.

Space Force is my baby. As we did that, my baby. It's becoming so important. and America's armed forces overwhelmed. all defenses and not only defeated a.

enemy good fighters. to end the reign of outlaw dictator. Nicholas Maduro and bring him to face. American justice. >> And this was an absolutely colossal. victory for the security of the United. States. And it also opens up a bright. new beginning for the people of. Venezuela. We're working closely with.

the new president of Venezuela, Deli. Rodriguez, to unleash extraordinary. economic gains for both of our countries. and to bring new hope to those who have. suffered so terribly. They really did. suffer. With us tonight is Alejandro. Gonzalez. She grew up in a tight-knit. Venezuelan family and was especially. close to her beloved uncle Enrique. But after Enrique ran for office and. opposed Maduro, he was kidnapped by. Madura security forces and thrown into.

the regime's. really infamous prison in Caracus. Alejandro feared she would never see her. uncle again. She feared for her own life. also. But since the raid, we have worked. with the new leadership and they have. ordered the closure of that vile prison. and released hundreds of political. prisoners already. with more to come. Alejandra, I'm pleased to inform you. that not only has your uncle been. released, but he is here tonight. We.

brought him over to celebrate his. freedom with you in person. Enrique, please come down. Heat. up here.

Thank you, Enrique. Have a good time. Nice to have you back, Enrique. There were many heroes on that January. raid to capture Maduro. Really great.

heroes. It was very dangerous. They knew we were. coming. They were all set. But the deeds. of one warrior that night will live. forever in the eternal chronicles of. military valor. Chief warrant officer 5 Eric Slover. planned the mission and was the flight. lead in the cockpit of the first. helicopter. a big, beautiful, powerful helicopter.

with a massive shinook carrying, as you. can imagine, many, many American war. fighters. Wearing the dog tags his wife Amy had. blessed with holy water before he left. She knew it was going to be a rough one. Eric steered the Chinook under the cover. of night and descended swiftly upon. Madura's heavily protected military. fortress. This was a major military. installation.

protected by thousands of soldiers and. guarded by Russian and Chinese military. technology. How did that work out? Not. too quick. While preparing to land, enemy machine. guns fired from every angle. And Eric. was hit very badly in the leg and hip. One bullet after another. He absorbed. four agonizing shots, shredding his leg. into numerous pieces. And yet, despite. the fact that the use of his legs was.

vital to successful helicopter flight, legs are the most important part of. flying a helicopter. To deliver the many. commandos who would capture and detain. Maduro was the only thing Eric was. thinking about. Then even as he was. gushing blood which was flowing back. down the aisle, helicopter lands at a. steep angle. The machine gun stood right. in front of him. They were right in. front of him. Two machine gunners who.

escaped the wrath of the previous. planes. Eric maneuvered his helicopter with all. of those lives and souls to face the. enemy and let his gunners eliminate the. threat. Turn the helicopter around so. the gunners could take care of business. saving the lives of his fellow warriors. from what could have been a catastrophic. crash deep in enemy territory. Only after safely landing the helicopter. with all the warriors aboard in the.

exact right spot which was vital to the. mission, we probably would have had to. maybe cancel the mission if that didn't. happen. Eric told his co-pilot, also wounded, but not as gravely, to take over. I'm. about ready to pass out. The success of the entire mission and. the lives of his fellow warriors hinge. on Eric's ability to take. searing pain. It was unbelievable what's.

happened to his legs of the bullets and. keep on flying and landing and people. knew what was happening. Everybody in. the back of the helicopter knew because. they saw the blood pouring down the. aisle. Chief Warrant Officer Slover is still. recovering from his serious wounds, but. I'm thrilled to say that he is here. tonight with his wife Amy. Eric and Amy, come on in.

Heat. up here. So, we have a surprise. for Eric and Amy. In recognition of. Eric's actions above and beyond the call. of duty,

I would now like to ask General Jonathan. Braa. to present Chief Warrant Officer Slover. with our nation's highest military. award, the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Heat up. here. Heat.

Heat. Well, thank you very much, Eric and Amy.

Great to get to know you. I met with. them and with a lot of their fellow. warriors at Fort Bragg recently. You. notice the name Fort Bragg. We have it. back. We brought it back. We won the. first world war with it, the second. world war with it, and then they decided. to change the name. So, we changed it. back. Everybody wanted to change back, too. And 10 of Eric's fellow warriors from. that incredible night of victory will. also be receiving medals at a private.

ceremony that will soon be held at the. White House. And Eric will do that. Thank you, Eric. That's a big one.

Tonight, we've celebrated many truly. extraordinary American patriots, but. there is one last living legend to honor. before we go. He is one more heroic. American aviator. Navy fighter pilot. Royce Williams served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, flying more than 220. missions. In the skies over Korea, 1952, Royce was in the dog fight of a.

lifetime. Legendary dog fight. Flying. through blizzard conditions, his. squadron was ambushed by seven Soviet. fighter planes. It was his first aerial. combat of the war and despite being. massively outnumbered and outgunned, Royce led the take down of four enemy. jets and almost destroyed the others, vanquishing his adversaries while taking. 263 bullets to his own plane and being. seriously hurt. His story was secret for.

over 50 years. He didn't even want to. tell his wife, but the legend grew and. grew. But tonight, at 100 years old, this. brave Navy captain is finally getting. the recognition he deserves. He was a. legend long before this evening. Royce, please stand up. And I will ask the. first lady of the United States to. present Captain Royce Williams with his. Congressional Medal of Honor.

Heat. up.

Heat. up.

Heat. Heat.

Heat.

Thank you, Royce. And thank you, Eric. I've always wanted the Congressional. Medal of Honor, but I was informed I'm. not allowed to give it to myself, and I. wouldn't know why I'd be taking it. But. if they ever open up that law, I will be. there with you someday. But you know that's our highest honor, Congressional Medal of Honor. And that's. a big thing. And it's an honor to be in.

the same room with you. Thank you both. very much, Eric. Thank you. Thank you. 250 years is a long time in the life of. a nation. But in another sense, it's.

really a mere moment in the eye of. history. Two of the gentlemen we met in. the gallery this evening took their. first breaths one century ago. 100 years. before that on July 4th, 1826, the. author of the Declaration of. Independence, brilliant. Thomas. Jefferson drew his last breath. Just a. single long human lifespan separates the. giants who declared and won our.

independence from the heroes who stand. among us tonight. Everything our nation. has done, everything we have achieved. has been the work of those few great. lifetimes. In those brief chapters, Americans built. this nation from 13 humble colonies into. the pinnacle of human civilization and. human freedom. The strongest, wealthiest, most powerful, most. successful nation in all of history. Americans ventured out across the.

daunting and dangerous continent. We. carve paths through an unforgiving. wilderness, settled a boundless. frontier, and tamed the beautiful but. very, very dangerous wild west. From empty marshes and wide open plains, we raised up the world's greatest. cities. Together, we mastered the. world's mightiest industries and. shattered history's monstrous tyrannies.

And we liberated millions from the. chains of fascism, communism, oppression, and terror. Americans lifted. humanity into the skies on the wings of. aluminum and steel. And then we launched. mankind into the stars on rockets. powered by sheer American will and. unyielding American pride. We wired the globe with our ingenuity. We captivated the planet with American. culture. And now we are pioneering the.

next great American breakthroughs that. will change the entire world. All of this and so much more is the. enduring legacy, unmatched glory of the. hardworking patriots who built and. defended this country, and who still. carry the hopes and freedoms. on all of humanity's backs. For years, they were forgotten, betrayed, and cast. aside. But that great betrayal is over, and they will never be forgotten again.

Because when the world needs courage, daring, vision, and inspiration, it is. still turning to America. And when God. needs a nation to work his miracles, he. knows exactly who to ask. There is no. challenge Americans cannot overcome. No. frontier too vast for us to conquer, no. dream too bold for us to chase, no. horizon too distant for us to claim. For.

our destiny is written by the hand of. Providence. And these first 250 years. were just the beginning. From the rugged. border towns of Texas to the heartland. villages of Michigan. From the. sun-kissed shores of Florida to the. endless fields of the Dakotas and from. the historic streets of Philadelphia, to. right here in our nation's capital, Washington DC, the golden age of America.

is upon us. The revolution that began in. 1776, has not ended. It still continues. because the flame of liberty and. independence still burns in the heart of. every American patriot. And our future. will be bigger, better, brighter, bolder, and more glorious than ever. before. Thank you. God bless you and God. bless America.

Okay. Heat up. here.

Thank you. That was agonizingly long. Uh two hours.

was the length of. this speech or just shy of two hours. Um. I will be sticking around here for those. who are watching to. cover the Democratic response which has. been which is being given by Abigail. Spanberger. So if you'd like to see. that, just stick around and I'll make. sure that that plays next. In the meantime, I do want to note that. I believe.

Trump fell for one particular trap that. was laid. And in fact, not just not just laid, but. that he himself has taken advantage of. And that is him coming in with this idea. that America's winning. We've never won. so much. People are going to be begging, please stop winning. We're the hottest. country in the world. When you have. rhetoric like that in a country where. people are not winning, like expenses. are even higher, health care costs are.

higher, uh food is more expensive, housing is more expensive. If you had. ACA coverage, that's gone down. Uh if. you enjoyed Medicaid, that's been. stripped. Uh so much that Trump promised. to do, he's delivered the polar. opposite. And so when you have a country. where he ran on this idea that he was. going to make life more affordable and. fix all of the problems that the. Democrats were causing and then instead. just exacerbates those problems, for him.

to come forward and say that we are the. strongest country in the world is. exactly the thing that plagued the. Democrats for so long leading to a. defeat in the House, the Senate, and the. White House in 2024. Just two years ago, Democrats did the thing that Trump is. doing right now where he goes out and. pretends like everything is great and. and tries to convince you not to believe. your lying eyes. But we have eyes. We.

can see grocery bills. We can see. utility bills. We can see our mortgages. and our rent and our housing costs and. health care costs. And all of that stuff. lands in a way that that shows that. Trump is perfectly content to just. gaslight people right to their faces. And so. if he was able to come out and say. there's more work to be done, you know, he could he could lie his ass off, say, "We inherited a mess and there's more. work to be done and we're getting. there." But instead, he just said.

everything is great. We're the strongest. we've ever been. This is the golden age. No one's been better. It's all thanks to. me. Everything is cheaper. We've done. We've done our job. Promises made. Promises kept. Mission accomplished. And. you have people at home who are like, "No, this is not mission accomplished. I. My dollar goes goes less far than it. ever has. My health care expenses are. more expensive than they've ever been. My grocery bill is higher than it ever. was." then they can see that this guy is.

just a con artist who exploited their. pain. to win the election and had no intention. of actually fixing any of this stuff. And I think that it's not just bad for. him. It's also the fact that the rest of. the Republican party that's emboldened. him, that's given him cover is going to. be responsible for this stuff when they. have to go to voters in November of this. year and explain why they should get to. retain power when they've done nothing. to deliver for their constituents. and. in fact only delivered for a president.

who's in turn only helped himself. This. entire presidency has been a gift to. Donald Trump. When you think about who is benefiting. from what Trump is doing, it's not. normal people. It's it's it's him. When. you think about who benefits from his. vindictive prosecutions, it's him. When. you think about who's doubled their net. worth to the tune of an extra $3. billion, it's him. Over and over and over, we see. the obvious truth here, which is that. the only thing that this presidency is.

is helpful for is is one guy, and his. name is Donald Trump. That's the only. person benefiting. That's the only. person getting rich. That's the only. person uh um who who whose life is. marketkedly better. Let me make sure that I can get the. Democratic response.

I presume the response will be here uh. on C-SPAN. So as soon as uh as soon as I. have. that I will make sure. let's see what he has. >> conversation with our. >> All right. So, as soon as we have uh. have some information here, I believe. I'm watching. I've got a few screens. going, so I'll make sure that we don't. miss uh anything on the Democratic.

response side. But I do think. that it's going to be a major problem. for Trump when he comes out and tells. everybody not to believe their lying. eyes and everything's doing great and. their costs are down and we've solved. it. We've fixed it. Nothing to be upset. about anymore because people know. better. I mean, Trump is the beneficiary. of that exact that exact phenomenon. where you have Democrats who spent the.

entirety of the 2024 campaign trying to. convince people that because some of. these macroeconomic metrics were doing. well, that the stock that said the stock. market was performing well and hitting. record highs, that job growth was. surging, that uh that uh you know I I. don't know, I can't even remember off. the top of my head what what some of. these macroeconomic factors that were. doing well were. that all of these. macroeconomic factors were there, that. somehow that meant that people's. individual finances were doing well, and.

that clearly wasn't the case. That was. proven uh in a big way in the 2024. election. And now Trump is doing the. exact same thing. So, the trap that he. benefited from uh in the 2024 election, he's now fallen into himself right on. right in time for midterm elections uh. to prove a major rebuke for him and his. party. And so, uh, so I think that in. that instance, he, uh, he is probably. going to regret a lot of the things that.

he said, um, during this during this. speech because I think it's a way that. you poke people in the eye and prove to. them that you're not actually interested. in what they're contending with. You're. just interested in basically filating. yourself so that you can feel good and. uh, and and massage your ego. that and. and at the end of the day that is what. Trump's priority was here. There were also a couple of uh notable. instances. One, you remember when he said uh we've.

lifted 2.4 million Americans a record. off of food stamps? Yeah, that's not. something to brag about. All that means. is that you've stripped food assistance. away from over two million Americans. like lifting them off food stamps to try. and frame it like you've somehow like. delivered delivered something for them. You you just gutted $186 billion worth. of food assistance for the lowest income. Americans so that you can try and offset. a tax cut that would overwhelmingly. favor millionaires and billionaires. It. was a transfer of wealth from the poor.

to the rich. In fact, the one big. beautiful bill was the biggest transfer. of wealth from the poor to the rich in. the history of the United States. And so. the notion that Trump will go out and. say that they've lifted people off of. food stamps when all they did was just. cut food assistance is is so. disingenuous and oozing in bad faith. that that I it's hard to believe that. like he can say it with a straight face. and and still pat himself on the back. for it.

There was another moment that I thought. was particularly interesting. where Trump was complaining about. corruption. and like. this dude has profited to the tune of. like a billion and a half dollars since. he became president. He has doubled his. net worth. He has a cryptocoin that's. basically just allowing him to launder. money from foreign nations and pad his.

bottom line and he has the audacity to. come out and and say that like. corruption is an issue and try and take. uh oh here we go. I think this is the. democratic response. >> task of governing themselves. Before. there was a Declaration of Independence, a Constitution, or a Bill of Rights, there were people in this room. The. people who served here ultimately. dreamed of what a new nation unlike.

anything the world had ever seen could. be. The United States was founded on the. idea that ordinary people could reject. the unacceptable excesses of poor. leadership, band together to demand. better of their government, and create a. nation that would be an example for the. world. And this year, as we celebrate 250 years. since America declared our independence.

from tyranny, I can think of no better. place to speak to you as we reflect on. the current state of our union. Tonight, as we watched our nation's lawmakers. gather for a joint session of Congress, we did not hear the truth from our. president. So, let's speak plainly and. honestly and let me ask you, the. American people watching at home, three. questions. Is the president working to.

make life more affordable for you and. your family? Is the president working to. keep Americans safe both at home and. abroad? Is the president working for. you? As I campaigned for governor last. year, I traveled to every corner of. Virginia and I heard the same pressing. concern everywhere. Costs are too high. in housing, health care, energy, and. child care. And I know these same.

conversations are being had all across. this country because since this. president took office last year, his. reckless trade policies have forced. American families to pay more than. $1,700 each in tariff costs. Small. businesses have suffered, farmers have. suffered, some losing entire markets. Every day, Americans are paying the. price. And even though the Supreme Court. struck these tariffs down four days ago,

the damage to us, the American people, has already been done. Meanwhile, the. president is planning for new tariffs, another massive tax hike on you and your. family. And Republicans in Congress, they remain unwilling to assert their. constitutional authority to stop him. They're making your life harder. They're. making your life more expensive. They're. even making it more difficult to see a. doctor. Rural health clinics in Virginia.

and across the country are already. closing their doors thanks to the. so-called one big beautiful bill. championed by the president and. Republicans in Congress. And tonight, the president celebrated this law, the. one threatening rural hospitals, stripping health care for millions of. Americans and driving up costs in energy. and housing, all while cutting food. programs for hungry kids. But here in.

Virginia, I am working with our state. legislature to lower costs and make the. Commonwealth more affordable. And it's not just me. Democrats across. the country are laser focused on. affordability in our nation's capital. and in state capitals and communities. across America. In the most innovative. and exceptional nation in the history of. the world, Americans deserve to know. that their leaders are focused on.

addressing the problems that keep them. up at night. problems that dictate where. you live, whether you can afford to. start a business, or whether you have to. skip a prescription in order to buy. groceries. So, I'll ask again, is the. president working to make life more. affordable for you and your family? We. all know the answer is no. I grew up in. a house of service. My mother was a. nurse and my father was a career law.

enforcement officer. I began my career. by following in my father's footsteps as. a federal agent working moneyaundering. and narcotics cases. I worked side by. side with local and state police to keep. our community safe and to uphold and. enforce the law. Law enforcement. officers across the country know that it. is a unique responsibility to do the. serious work of investigating crimes, comforting victims, and making arrests.

It's about building trust and that. requires an abiding sense of duty and. commitment to community. And yet our. president has sent poorly trained. federal agents into our cities where. they have arrested and detained American. citizens and people who aspire to be. Americans. And they have done it without. a warrant. They have ripped nursing. mothers away from their babies. They. have sent children, a little boy in a.

blue bunny hat, children to faroff. detention centers. And they have killed. American citizens in our streets. And. they have done it all with their faces. masked from accountability. Every minute spent sewing fear is a. minute not spent investigating murders, crimes against children, or the. criminals defrauding seniors of their. life savings. Our president told us. tonight that we are safer. because these agents arrest mothers and.

detain children. Think about that. Our. broken immigration system is something. to be fixed, not an excuse for. unaccountable agents to terrorize our. communities. After working in law enforcement, I. continued my career of service as a CIA. officer, working undercover to protect. the United States and our allies from. global threats, terrorism, nuclear.

weapons, and the aggression of. adversarial nations around the globe. But as the president spoke of his. perceived successes tonight, he. continues to seed economic power and. technological strength to Russia, bow. down to to China, bow down to a Russian. dictator, and make plans for war with. Iran. Here's the truth. Over the last. year, through Doge, mass firings, and. the appointment of deeply unserious.

people to our nation's most serious. positions, our president has endangered. the long and storied history of the. United States of America being a force. for good. So, I'll ask again, is the. president working to keep Americans. safe, both at home and abroad? We all. know the answer is no. In his speech tonight, the president did. what he always does. He lied. He. scapegoed. And he distracted. And he.

offered no real solutions to our. nation's pressing challenges. So many of. which he is actively making worse. He. tries to divide us. He tries to enrage. us, to pit us against one another, neighbor against neighbor. And sometimes. he succeeds. And so you have to ask, who. benefits from his rhetoric, his. policies, his actions, the short list of. laws he's pushed through this Republican. Congress? Somebody must be benefiting.

He's enriching himself, his family, his. friends. The scale of the corruption is. unprecedented. There's the cover up of. the Epstein files, the crypto scams, cozying up to foreign princes for. airplanes and billionaires for. ballrooms, putting his name and face on. buildings all over our nation's capital. This is not what our founders. envisioned. Not by a long shot.

So, I'll ask again, is the president. working for you? We all know the answer. is no. But here's the special thing. about America. On our 250th anniversary, we know better than any nation what is. possible. When ordinary citizens, like. those who once dreamed right here in. this room, reject the unacceptable and.

demand more of their government. We see. it in the determination of students. organizing school walkouts all across. the country whose voices are becoming so. powerful that the governor of Texas. seeks to silence them. We see it in the. bravery of Americans in Minnesota. standing up for their communities. from. peacefully protesting in subzero. temperatures to carpooling children to. school so that their immigrant parents.

are not ripped away from them in the. parking lot. As a mother of three. school-aged daughters, I am inspired by. their bravery, but I am sickened that it. is necessary. And Americans across the. country are taking action. They are. going to the ballot box to reject this. chaos. With their votes, they are. writing a new story, a more hopeful. story. In November, I won my election by.

15 points. And we won 13 new seats in our state. legislature. because voters decided they wanted. something different. Our campaign earned. votes from Democrats, Republicans, independents, and everyone in between. Because they knew as citizens they could. demand more, that they could vote for. what they believe matters, and that they.

didn't need to be constrained by a party. or political affiliation. This is happening across the country. New Jersey elected Mikey Cheryl as. governor in a doubledigit victory. Democrats flip state legislative seats. in places like Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, and Texas. The list goes on. and on. Ordinary Americans are stepping. up to run in the spirit of our.

forefathers. They are running to demand. more and to do more for their neighbors. and communities. I know the story well. I first ran for office in 2018 alongside. dozens of other Democrats who did the. seemingly impossible, flipping 41 seats. in Congress. In my case, I was the first. Democrat elected in 50 years, swinging. our district 17 points. Those who are.

stepping up now to run will win in. November because Americans, you at home, know you can demand more. And that we. are working to lower costs. We are. working to keep our communities and our. country safe and we are working for you. In his farewell address, George. Washington warned us about the. possibility of quote cunning, ambitious,

and unprincipled men rising to power. But he also encouraged us, all. Americans, to unite in a common cause to. move this nation forward. That is our. charge once more. And that is what we. are seeing across the country. It is. deeply American and patriotic to do so. And it is how we ensure that the state. of our union remains strong, not just. this year, but for the next 250.

years as well. Because we, the people, have the power to make change, the power. to stand up for what is right, the power. to demand more of our nation. May God bless the Commonwealth of. Virginia and may God bless the United. States of America.

>> And that was Democratic Governor Abigail. Spanberger of Virginia talking in. Williamsburg. The Democratic response. she went about. All right, let's actually go here. So, I think that wraps it up for uh for. this evening in terms of uh what we uh. what we could expect from both sides. Uh. and I think that that Abigail. Spanberger's point was was clear that.

while Donald Trump tries to convey. himself as some, you know, uh uh uh. grand savior who swooped in and saved. us, the reality is that people can feel. what they can feel. People recognize. what their costs are right now. They can. look at their grocery bills. They can. look at their utility bills. They are. not going to allow themselves to be. gaslit by a president who is hellbent. who is hellbent on trying to frame. himself as some white knight who swooped.

in and saved everything. Um he has no. adherence to reality here. And so his. sole priority is just making sure that. he can frame himself uh as again some. champion. But but the reason that all of. these um issues have not been solved is. largely because of him. Like he came. into office promising that costs were. going to go down, that he was going to. make everybody's life more affordable. And then he launched a trade war which. he claims other countries are paying.

for, but it's a it's a consumption tax. It's a tax on Americans. it's imposed on. on uh on American companies who import. foreign goods and those American. companies are going to pass those costs. on to consumers which we pay. And so all. of those costs have gone up. Uh the one. big beautiful bill sent uh sent uh um. gutted health care in this country, took. uh uh Medicaid away from 17 million. people, cut uh ACA subsidies from 24. million Americans, cut food assistance. to the tune of $186 billion. So, that's.

not going to help anybody uh in terms of. getting prices under control. But that. none of that matters for Trump because. he will go up there regardless of how. people feel and claim that he's fixed it. because that's his whole shtick. He just. wants to take credit and none of the. blame. But the problem is he's going to. send his fellow Republicans out onto the. campaign trail five minutes from now and. they have to either distance themselves. from Donald Trump when he says. everything is perfect and I've fixed it. all or hug Trump as their want to do and.

basically show their own constituents. that they are woefully out of touch with. them. in fact so out of touch that doing. what they're doing right now is what. sent all of these Republicans into the. majority in the first place because they. didn't appreciate the Democrats didn't. appreciate how much people were hurting. in the leadup to the 2024 election. So. now Trump has put his own party between. a rock and a hard place. If they. stay with if they stay with Trump, if. they hue closely to Trump, then they're.

going to look crazy in the eyes of their. constituents. But if they don't, if they. bail on Trump, then he's going to attack. them, probably primary them, and send. somebody else that's going to take their. jobs. And so they are in a miserable. position right now. But of course, Trump. doesn't care about that as long as he. can present himself as the savior. Because at the end of the day, that's. what this is about. He is in office not. to help Americans, not to add jobs or. lower costs or make sure that more. people have health care. He is there to. heap rewards and praise and love and.

adoration onto himself. That's his. priority. This is about him, not you. Lest do you think for a moment Trump. gives a flying about regular people. in this country. He is there to heap. more praise onto himself to slap his. name on more things to erect statues. after him to name streets after him to. try and get airports named after him. This is the Trump show. everybody else. is a non-player, is a NPC in this game. where Trump where Donald Trump is number.

one and you either show him complete. loyalty or you are persona non gratada. in today's GOP. And that's a lesson that. these other Republicans are going to. have to learn the hard way when he sends. them out onto the campaign trail now and. they have to figure out how they're. going to square this impossible uh this. impossible lesson right now where they. can pretend like what he's saying is. legitimate and uh and say it to a. population of Americans who know that we. are not the hottest country in the world.

and that people are not doing better. He. has not saved everything and life is not. more affordable. So, with that said, I. think I will leave it there that I'm. going to try to figure out how to claw. back those two hours of my life. Um, in. the meantime, thank you to everybody for. tuning in. If you're not yet subscribed. to this channel, it is completely free. to subscribe. Um, don't don't need any. um any membership or anything like that. So, if if you'd like to support my work. and check out more live streams as well.

as my breaking news videos, my. interviews, whatever it may be, the best. way to do that is to subscribe. You can. hit the subscribe button right here on. the screen. Thank you so much for tuning. in. I appreciate it. I'll see you for. the next one.

Heat. Heat.

Hey,