Fact checking President Trump’s State of the Union address

President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address of his second term.Trump focused on the economy, immigration and foreign policy. It was the longest State of the Union address in history, clocking in at 1 hour and 41 minutes.We fact-checked the State of the Union with Hearst Television’s National Investigative Unit and our partners at PolitiFact.Read PolitiFact’s full fact-check blog here. To read the full transcript of President Trump’s State of the Union address, click hereTrump makes bold jobs claim “We have more jobs, more people working today than ever before in the history of our country,” Trump said.This is misleading. Except for recessions, employment usually increases over time as the population expands.Job gains under Trump in 2025 were far smaller than in any recent nonpandemic year. Revised numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the nation gained 181,000 jobs in 2025, well below the 1.5 million to 2.5 million typical under both Trump during his first term and former President Joe Biden.— Louis Jacobson, PolitiFactTrump on IranTrump said that the U.S. military “obliterated Iran’s nuclear weapons program” in 2025, repeating a statement he made after the U.S. attacked the nation’s nuclear sites at Natanz, Fordow, and Esfahan in June.Trump told reporters Feb. 20 that he was weighing a limited military strike against Iran as it seeks a deal on its nuclear program.Joseph Rodgers, an expert on nuclear issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told PolitiFact days before Trump’s address that the United States’ June strikes were successful.It is difficult to know the extent of damage in the underground uranium enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow. However, satellite imagery suggests that neither site has resumed operations, he said. The shockwaves from U.S. bombs likely caused the centrifuges used in uranium enrichment to shatter at Natanz and Fordow.Related video below: Trump warns U.S. could strike Iran soonAt Esfahan, the strikes destroyed the essential workshops that turn enriched uranium gas into the solid metal needed for nuclear fuel or potentially for a nuclear warhead.“These strikes, coupled with Israeli targeted assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and Israeli strikes on the Arak reactor, dealt a significant blow to Iran’s nuclear enterprise,” Rodgers said.He called it a “slight exaggeration” to say the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” the program, but said the operations “crippled key elements in Iran’s nuclear fuel cycle. Iran still operates a nuclear reactor at Bushehr. However, if Iran wants to build an effective nuclear deterrent, they will need enrichment and metallurgy facilities.”— Amy Sherman, PolitiFactTrump’s health care claimsTrump said he wants to stop payments to insurance companies and “instead give that money directly to the people so they can buy their own health care, which will be better health care at a much lower cost.”In January, without offering specific details, Trump asked Congress to enact his “Great Healthcare Plan.” It called for lowering health care costs, particularly insurance premiums, by sending federal money directly to eligible Americans rather than subsidizing insurers. The White House provided no details about who would be eligible, how much money would be sent or how recipients could spend it. Experts told CNBC that without those details, it’s difficult to assess the plan’s potential impact. Healthier people might be able to find cheaper, less comprehensive health insurance policies outside the Affordable Care Act marketplace. But less financial assistance could cause people to drop their insurance. If a wave of people leaves the marketplace, that could raise coverage costs for everyone who remains. — Madison Czopek, PolitiFactTrump says administration “virtually stopped” drugs coming in by water, seaThere is no evidence that drugs coming in by sea have been “virtually stopped” by the Trump administration’s “new military campaign.”Trump didn’t detail what military campaign he was referencing, but since September 2025, the Trump administration has struck at least 41 vessels, killing about 152 people in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean. The administration hasn’t provided any evidence that the vessels it has struck were carrying drugs.There has been a drop in Customs and Border Protection drug seizures since the strikes began. But the Coast Guard — not CBP — oversees most drug seizures on water, especially in international waters. And that agency has seen a steep increase in drug seizures.The White House cites a drop in CBP drug seizures as a success, while the Coast Guard cites an increase in drug interdictions as a success, too. However, neither an increase nor a decrease in drug seizures shows how many drugs are entering the U.S. That number is unknowable, according to drug experts. Drug seizures tell us only how many drugs are stopped from entering the U.S.— Maria Ramirez Uribe, PolitiFactAll Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been returnedTrump touted his role in securing a peace plan in October 2025 to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The plan includes a ceasefire, hostage release and a “Board of Peace” for rebuilding.“Every single hostage, both living and dead, has been returned home,” Trump said.This is true.As of late January 2026, all 251 hostages taken from Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, have been accounted for, with the final remains recovered from Gaza. The last 20 living hostages were released in October, and later operations recovered the bodies of the deceased.— Samantha Putterman, PolitiFactTrump repeats claim that he ended 8 wars“My first 10 months, I ended eight wars,” Trump said. This is misleading.Trump had a hand in deals that recently eased conflicts between Israel and Iran; and India and Pakistan — although some of those countries’ leaders dispute his role.The U.S. was involved in a temporary peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, but violence in the region has continued, with hundreds of civilians killed since the deal’s June signing. After Trump helped broker a deal between Cambodia and Thailand, the countries have accused each other of ceasefire violations that have led to violent skirmishes.A long-running standoff between Egypt and Ethiopia over an Ethiopian dam on the Nile remains unresolved. With Kosovo and Serbia, there is little evidence a potential war was brewing.The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan joined Trump at the White House on Aug. 8 to sign a joint peace declaration after nearly 40 years of conflict. The deal, brokered by Trump, is not a final peace agreement, but represents a move in that direction, foreign policy experts said.In October 2025, Trump initiated a peace plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The plan includes a ceasefire, hostage release and a “Board of Peace” for rebuilding.The plan, which continues to be tested with accusations of ceasefire violations, shifted into its second phase intended to focus on demilitarization and reconstruction. The U.S. continues to hold peace talks to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, with no breakthrough yet despite Trump’s promise to end the war in 24 hours.— Samantha Putterman, PolitiFactTrump claims majority support for voting legislationWhile speaking about the SAVE America Act, Trump said, “It’s polling at 89% including Democrats.”The White House didn’t immediately respond to our question about the poll he was citing, but the president recently referred to an August Pew Research Center survey that found that 83% of American adults support requiring voters to show government-issued photo ID to vote, including 71% of Democrats and 95% of Republicans.Surveys for years have shown broad support for voter ID. But surveys typically don’t capture nuances and they often present voter ID as a yes or no choice. For example, the Pew survey asked if people supported “requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote.” It did not ask if they supported requiring mail ballot voters to submit a copy of their ID along with the mail ballot, a provision in the SAVE America Act, which passed the House Feb. 11. The survey also didn’t ask about the documentary proof of citizenship requirements in the legislation.Most states already have some form of voter ID requirement.— Amy Sherman, PolitiFactTrump says “Washington, DC, is now one of the safest cities in the country”There’s a lag in city-by-city crime data that makes it hard to draw comparisons. But the crime rate in Washington, D.C., has been trending down, according to Metropolitan Washington police data.Police data shows violent crime — which includes murders, rapes, aggravated assaults and robberies — down by 28% compared to a year earlier. So far in 2026, there have been nine murders, compared to 26 by this time in 2025 — a 65% decrease. Despite the sharp decline, crime is still very present within the district.In August, Trump federalized D.C. police and deployed the National Guard to the city. According to CNN, crime was down by 21% after 21 days of the takeover. However, at the time the takeover was announced, crime was already down by 7% overall, with violent crime falling by 26%, the lowest it has been in 30 years, according to the Justice Department.In addition, Washington, D.C.’s mayor announced an 87% drop in carjackings during the takeover’s first 20 days, compared to the same 20 days the year before. Carjackings had also been declining before the takeover, as Washington had a 64% drop from July 2024 to July 2025.— Zoe Weyand and Louis Jacobson, PolitiFactRelated video below: Trump’s D.C. takeover of local police ends as emergency declaration expiresTrump touts natural gas production“Natural gas production is at an all-time high because I kept my promise to drill baby, drill,” Trump said.His claim about production is accurate, though it has been rising steadily since the pandemic, under both Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden.Natural gas production was higher in 10 of the 11 months of 2025 compared to the same months in 2024.The number of rigs being used for natural gas production — a common metric of drilling intensity — was 133, up from 99 when Trump took office.— Louis Jacobson, PolitiFactTrump on grocery prices”The price of eggs is down 60%,” Trump said. “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.”This needs more context.While prices for some items like eggs and butter have dipped, overall grocery prices are still up. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, food-at-home prices rose 2.2% over the past year.Specifically, ground beef is up 17.2%, chicken is up 1.1%, and fruits and vegetables are up 0.8%.— Kelley Kosuda, Hearst’s National Investigative UnitTrump claims massive drug price reductionsTrump said he’s ending the “wildly inflated cost of prescription drugs like it’s never happened before,” dropping prices for Americans to some of the lowest in the world, with differences as high as “300, 400, 500, 600% and more, all available right now at a new website called TrumpRX.gov.”This exaggerates Trump’s success so far. The newly launched TrumpRx.gov website provides some significant discounts, but they are largely limited to drugs for weight loss and fertility that many Americans have to pay for out of pocket because insurance plans often offer limited or no coverage. For example, the site offers Cetrotide, a medication used as part of fertility treatments, for $22.50, down from $316.12 — a 93% discount. It also offers Wegovy pills for as little as $149 a month, down from $1,349 — an 89% discount.Other pharmacies or websites sell generic versions of 20 of the 43 drugs on Trump’s website, often atlower prices. Plus, the website says these discounts are currently “only available for cash-paying patients,” not people using their insurance.A White House official told PolitiFact the administration plans to extend the website’s benefits to people using insurance through congressional passage of Trump’s healthcare plan.This is not quick or assured; the House and Senate would need to pass the package, requiring unified Republican support in a tight Congress. There’s another complication: A 100% drop in a drug’s price means it would cost $0. Prices slashed by 300% to 900% would mean drug manufacturers are paying people who are obtaining medications, instead of the other way around. That isn’t happening, nor is it ever expected to.— Madison Czopek and Samantha Putterman, PolitiFactTrump cites dollar figure in Minnesota fraud schemesTrump said that, in Minnesota, Somalis “have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer,” then said “the number is much higher than that.”That number is not reflected in criminal charges filed since 2022, but investigations remain underway.Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said in December that state-run Medicaid programs being audited had billed $18 billion since 2019 and “half or more” were possibly fraudulent — not that all $18 billion were.About 100 defendants, the majority of them Somali, have been charged for defrauding federal programs for feeding children, housing and serving people with autism spectrum disorder. Most charges against them were filed during the Biden administration. — Amy Sherman, PolitiFactTrump’s statements on food stampsTrump said, in one year, his administration “lifted 2.4 million Americans, a record, off of food stamps.”The number refers to Americans who are projected to lose their benefits following the passage of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act — not necessarily people who were able to afford to be off them.An August 2025 Congressional Budget Office analysis found that around 2.4 million Americans would lose access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as food stamps, after the law expanded work requirements.SNAP has required certain able-bodied adults to work to receive benefits for longer than three months, but the law expanded work requirements, mandating that parents of dependent children ages 14 and older work, volunteer or participate in job training at least 80 hours a month. The law also requires adults ages 55 to 64, veterans, people experiencing homelessness and people who were formerly in foster care to meet the new requirements, while exempting Native Americans.About 42 million low-income people receive benefits through SNAP, receiving an average individual monthly benefit of about $190, or $356 per household. Recipients can use the benefits to buy fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy products, bread and other foods. The majority of SNAP households live in poverty. — Samantha Putterman, PolitiFactTrump accountsWith $1,000 from the government to start a Trump account, accountholders could see their investment “grow to over $100,000 or more by the time they turn 18,” the president said.This growth is not guaranteed over decades, and it almost certainly wouldn’t happen in 18 years.For newly launched “Trump accounts,” babies born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, will receive $1,000 in seed money from the federal government. Parents can make additional deposits but aren’t required to.An investment calculator maintained by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission shows that $1,000 could grow to about $6,000 after 18 years — far less than the $100,000 Trump cited.The historical annual average gain for the U.S. stock market is about 10%, but that rate of gain is not assured. Management fees also could eat into any gains.Even a modest 2% inflation rate would take a big bite out of the final amount.Finally, the amount in the account would decline further upon withdrawal because of taxes.— Louis Jacobson, PolitiFactRelated video below: What’s the ROI on an initial $1,000 Trump Account investment?Trump repeats claim that countries are sending people from prisons, mental institutionsTrump said that under former President Joe Biden, millions and millions of people poured into the U.S. from prisons and mental institutions. That is false. There is no evidence that countries are emptying their prisons, or that mental institutions are sending people to illegally migrate to the U.S.Trump also said during Biden’s administration, 11,888 murderers came into the U.S.That’s false. A 2024 Immigration and Customs Enforcement letter said there are 13,099 noncitizens convicted of homicide who are not in immigration detention. But that data goes back four decades; it does not only cover the Biden administration. — Maria Ramirez Uribe, PolitiFactTrump says we’ve hit a “record high in the stock market”Common stock market metrics have hit multiple highs during Trump’s second term, but this needs context.Both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average have risen consistently since dipping after “Liberation Day,” when Trump announced tariffs for nearly every country in April 2025. In the days before his 2026 State of the Union address, the S&P was up by about 14% compared to the start of Trump’s second term and the Dow was up by about 13%, even accounting for the “Liberation Day” dip.However, stock market gains in other countries have been even stronger, including the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Taiwan, Canada, Mexico, Italy and Brazil.— Louis Jacobson, PolitiFactTrump says tariffs are “paid for by foreign countries”That’s false.U.S. businesses pay import taxes to the federal government. In the past, foreign companies sometimes lowered their prices to absorb some of the tariffs. But studies showed that during the first Trump administration, tariffs “were passed almost entirely through to US firms or final consumers,” the Tax Foundation concluded.Trump’s tariffs harmed farmers who struggled to sell their crops and faced rising prices for equipment and supplies. Trump also said that tariffs could replace income taxes. But we previously found that his tariff math did not add up. — Amy Sherman, PolitiFactRelated video below: Will you get a refund after Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s boldest tariffs?Trump says he signed “the largest tax cuts in American history”This is mostly false.When factoring in that Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill extended 2017 tax cuts that otherwise would have expired — which tax experts say is a plausible way of characterizing it — then the tax savings from Trump’s 2025 law rank third on the list of biggest tax cut laws since 1980, following bills signed in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and in 2012 by President Barack Obama.However, the bottom-line impact on Americans’ tax liability starting in 2026 won’t be as dramatic as the historical tables suggest. Americans are already paying the lower tax rates that began in 2017 and the 2025 law saved from expiration.The primary reductions taxpayers will see from the 2025 law will be from new, more limited tax breaks, such as for income from tips and overtime and for Americans 65 and older.— Louis Jacobson, PolitiFactTrump says US just received more than 80 million barrels of oil from VenezuelaThe federal Energy Information Administration has not released 2026 data on how much oil the U.S. has imported from Venezuela. Based on 2025 data, 80 million barrels of oil are equivalent to about six days of U.S. oil production.The Trump administration struck a deal with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez in January to export up to $2 billion of Venezuelan crude oil to the U.S.Before the deal, there were about 30 million to 50 million oil barrels in inventory in Venezuela as a result of the U.S. naval blockade on Venezuela, Alejandro Grisanti, a Venezuelan economist and director of the consulting firm Ecoanalítica, said.TankerTrackers, an online service that tracks and reports shipments of crude oil from multiple countries, recorded that 7.54 million barrels of crude oil departed Venezuela from Jan. 3 through Feb. 5 for the U.S. in tankers operated by Chevron. It reported Venezuela has exported half the amount of oil Trump said.Vitol and Trafigura, oil trading houses that the U.S. granted licenses to sell and market Venezuelan oil, exported some 12 million barrels in January, most of which went to storage terminals in the Caribbean, according to Reuters.— Maria Briceño and Maria Ramirez Uribe, PolitiFactRelated video below: Trump asks oil giants for $100B to restart Venezuela’s oil industryTrump touts low gas pricesTrump said gasoline is “now below $2.30 a gallon in most states, and in some places, $1.99 a gallon.”Looking at statewide averages, he’s wrong — not one state has an average below $2.30 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association.The state with the nation’s lowest average price on Feb. 24 is Oklahoma, at $2.37 a gallon, according to the. Arkansas, Kansas and Mississippi are the other states with average prices at or below $2.50 a gallon. Another nine states had gasoline between $2.50 and $2.60 a gallon.Those are statewide averages, so some individual stations will be lower. According to GasBuddy, a gasoline price app, Oklahoma had two stations on Feb. 23 that were charging $1.99 a gallon, as were three in Kansas and two in Texas. But that’s a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands of stations nationally.In his address, Trump said, “When I visited the great state of Iowa just a few weeks ago, I even saw $1.85 a gallon for gasoline.” However, a woman attending the speech fact-checked him; it was $2.69 a gallon at the station outside the venue, the the state average at the time was $2.57 a gallon, and GasBuddy found just four stations in the state selling for less than $2 a gallon.Gasoline prices have fallen during Trump’s second term, from $3.11 a gallon when he was inaugurated to $2.92 the week of Feb. 16, 2026. (Prices have risen for the past five weeks, but they remain lower than where they were for his second inauguration.) — Louis Jacobson, PolitiFactTrump blames Biden for housing woesTrump said that​ “low interest rates will solve the Biden-created housing problem.”The U.S. housing shortage predates Biden.The main factor affecting housing affordability is a home shortage caused by years of underbuilding and restrictive zoning. An interest rate surge exacerbated the problem.The number of new homes built has plunged since the 2008 recession, resulting in a shortage of about 4.7 million homes, we found in 2025.The construction slowdown never returned to pre-recession levels, Chloe East, a University of Colorado Boulder associate economics professor, previously told PolitiFact. During the pandemic, supply chain shortages and high interest rates caused people to refrain from selling their homes, stalling the market while remote work increased housing demand.— Amy Sherman, PolitiFactRelated video below: Get the Facts on mortgage ratesTrump says flow of fentanyl is down 56%This needs context.On average, U.S. Customs and Border Protection fentanyl seizures have dropped by about half during the first year of Trump’s second term in office compared with former President Joe Biden’s last year in office.However, fentanyl seizures only tell us how much fentanyl is stopped from entering the U.S. It doesn’t show how many drugs are being sent to the U.S. or how many are making it in. It’s impossible to know whether fentanyl in the U.S. has dropped by 56%, as Trump said.— Maria Ramirez Uribe, PolitiFactDeclining murder rate“Last year, the murder rate saw its single largest decline in recorded history,” and is at “the lowest number in over 125 years,” Trump said.He’s right about the largest decline, but the lowest in 125 years is an exaggeration. Experts expect that when the final 2025 murder rate, as defined by the FBI, is released later this year, it likely will be the lowest in at least 65 years. The 2025 drop of about 20% is likely to become the largest one-year decline ever recorded, experts say.Whether it is the lowest in 125 years is less certain. That’s because the data collected between 1930 and 1960 is not comparable to later data, and the data from 1900 to 1930 includes all homicides, not just murders. (A killing in self-defense, for instance, is a homicide but not murder.)— Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact Closer look at inflation“I inherited … inflation at record levels,” Trump said.This is inaccurate.Under former President Joe Biden, year-over-year inflation peaked at about 9%, which was the highest in around 40 years, not of all time.But by the time Biden left office and Trump took over in 2025, inflation had cooled to 3%.Trump added that “inflation is plummeting.”While inflation has eased somewhat during Trump’s second term, “plummeting” would be an exaggeration.The year-over-year rise in prices for January 2026 was about 2.4%. That’s lower than the year-over-year rate when he took office, but it had already fallen from that 9% peak in the summer of 2022. The Federal Reserve aims to keep inflation about 2% year-over-year.— Louis Jacobson, PolitiFactTrump touts foreign investment”In 12 months, I secured commitments for more than $18 trillion pouring in from all over the globe,” Trump said.The $18 trillion figure is false. According to the White House’s “Major Investment Announcements” webpage, which tracks private and foreign investments in the U.S., the total is $9.7 trillion. — Kelley Kosuda, Hearst’s National Investigative Unit