For a total of 108 minutes, President Donald J. Trump spoke the longest State of the Union address in history on Feb. 24, 2026. Superseding his own last record of one hour and 20 minutes, he took his time to explain how the U.S. has entered “the golden age of America.” Consistently, for the almost two hour address, Trump was met by thunderous standing ovations from the Republican side of the House, and mostly vacant seats from the Democratic side of the House. 

Prior to the speech, Trump said he had already delivered on all of his campaign promises in his first term of presidency. An analysis from PolitiFact identified that 19% of those pledges have been fulfilled. The domestic agenda Trump discussed – of which he did pursue within his first year – included enforcing hardline immigration policies, withdrawing from international organizations, signing a Republican-backed tax, and signing spending laws as well as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Early on in his speech, Trump quickly highlighted his economic policies, suggesting that the economy was stronger than ever and because of him. 

“Our nation is back – bigger, better, richer, and stronger than ever before,” Trump said.

Fact checkers noted that he took credit for improvements that were already underway stating that economic growth continued during the past year. However, it was stated, those trends – like job growth and GDP expansion – started before his presidency. 

According to an ABC News/Washington Post/Iposos poll 57% of Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy and 65% disapprove of his handling of inflation. In the Democratic Party’s official response to his speech, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger emphasized the burden of rising costs on American families. 

“My administration has driven core inflation down to the lowest level in more than five years,” Trump said.

Inflation, which reached as high as about 9% in 2022 and remained above 5% in 2021, has since fallen to around 2.4%, a level close to the Federal Reserve’s target. One significant action Trump made within the past year included his tariffs on foreign industries to promote American industries. 

“One of the primary reasons for our country’s stunning economic turnaround… were tariffs. I used these tariffs, took in hundreds of billions of dollars to make great deals for our country,” Trump said. 

His administration imposed large tariffs on foreign goods, especially targeting strategic industries. However, some tariffs were challenged in court, and economists remain divided on whether they helped or hurt consumers and businesses. After causing much controversy on Monday Feb, 23, the Supreme Court struck down most of the president’s global tariffs. Many believe these tariffs caused prices for produce and other normal goods to soar.

He made little mention of immigration, and the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. This is even as it’s only been a couple weeks after Minnesota’s largest cities became huge protesting hubs between immigration officers and protestors, resulting in the deaths of two people. 

Turning to foreign policy, Trump said that the U.S. military “obliterated Iran’s nuclear weapons program” in 2025, referring to when the U.S. attacked the nation’s nuclear sites at Natanz, Fordow, and Esfahan in June. 

“One thing is certain…” Trump said during one part of his speech, “…I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror — which they are, by far — to have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump’s address occurred the night before the U.S.-Israeli joint mission which killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump emphasized a “peace through strength” foreign policy, discussing challenges, tensions involving Iran and broader national security concerns.

Along with foreign policy involving Iran, Trump highlighted his role in securing a peace plan in October 2025 to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. As of late January 2026, all 251 hostages taken from Israel by Hamas militants on Oct 7, 2023 have been accounted for, including the final remains of hostages who were killed. 

Overall, nearly one-third of the promises President Trump made have been stalled from inaction in Congress, roadblocks from the courts or lack of White House initiative. At the same time, nearly a quarter of Trump’s promises have been kept in whole or in part as he marks one year of his second term. 

After the 108 minute speech was finished, Nick Beauchamp, an associate professor of political science at Northeastern University described his speech as, “[a] loosely connected sequence of personal stories, dozens of which involved descriptions of war and violence, and most ending with medals.”