State of the Union - Trump Stacked the Falsehoods So High That Even the Beams Would Have Begged for Mercy

The President of the United States stood before Congress on February 24, 2026 and spoke for one hour and 47 minutes - the longest State of the Union address in recorded history. Trump thus broke his own record from the previous year, which in turn had broken Bill Clinton’s. Anyone who speaks that long either has a great deal to say or a great deal to hide. In the case of this speech, it was both, but above all the latter.

He opened with the sentence: “Our nation is back. Greater, better, richer, stronger than ever before.” The chamber applauded. The Democrats remained silent. The justices of the Supreme Court, who had shortly before declared Trump’s global tariffs illegal, sat there like statues. Then Trump began listing his record - and anyone who listened closely noticed that this record, upon closer inspection, consists in large parts of invention.

While the second row behind him smiled blissfully, Trump stacked the falsehoods so high that even the beams would have begged for mercy.

He claimed to have secured 18 trillion dollars in investments in twelve months. That figure is nearly twice as high as what the White House itself had communicated - namely 9.7 trillion. The remainder consists of vague promises without legal commitment, including pledges from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates that together exceed their respective gross domestic products. The Peterson Institute for International Economics analyzed these pledges and found that they are largely formulated as “aspirational” - meaning neither verifiable nor enforceable. The comparison he drew to the Biden administration is also misleading: In January 2025, the Biden administration had presented nearly 800 billion dollars in traceable, concrete investment announcements with verified locations and amounts.

He said he had enacted the largest tax cuts in American history. The Tax Foundation - a conservative institute - lists them as the sixth largest, measured as a share of economic output. The tax cuts from Trump’s first term ranked eighth. Neither then nor now was it a historic record, but Trump said it anyway, and the Republican side of the chamber rose and applauded.

Core inflation was at its lowest level in more than five years, Trump announced. The PCE core index, which the Federal Reserve monitors most closely, rose to 3 percent in December - well above the 2 percent target. In December alone it increased by 0.4 percent. The Fed therefore concluded that interest rate cuts are not possible for the time being. Inflation under Biden was indeed a problem - but Trump’s claim that it was the worst inflation in the country’s history is also untrue.

“The word ‘affordability’ - that word they just used. Someone gave it to them. We are doing very well. These prices are crashing.” 🤣🤣🤣

Chicken, butter, fruit, cars, rent, hotels - everything cheaper, everything down, everything better. Overall food prices were 2.9 percent higher in January than a year earlier. Beef costs 15 percent more. December saw the largest monthly increase in food prices since October 2022. Eggs have indeed become cheaper - because of the collapse of poultry stocks due to avian flu, which had previously driven prices to explode. To book that as a political success is roughly like calling the end of a fever a personal achievement.

Medications? Down 300, 400, sometimes 600 percent, Trump told the chamber. A reduction of 100 percent would mean a medication is free. Pharmaceutical companies that publicly reached agreements with Trump continue to raise prices - for cancer drugs, heart medications, diabetes treatments. The program trumprx.gov contains 43 discounted drugs, many of which were already available as inexpensive generics. The most significant discounts concern fertility and obesity medications - precisely those categories most frequently excluded by insurance companies.

America has more people employed today than ever before - that is true. But it is also true that America has more residents than ever before. Nearly every president not governing during a recession can say that sentence - Biden could have said it as well, and the president before him too. All jobs under his administration came from the private sector, Trump added. That is almost true - but only because the government simultaneously eliminated massive numbers of positions. In less than ten months, federal employment declined by 9 percent, the largest drop since demobilization after World War II. In total, only 181,000 jobs were created in 2025 - not much for a country of 342 million people.

Trump celebrated his performance with the unrestrained enthusiasm of a child who has just discovered that half the room will clap if he simply shouts loudly enough

He said he had freed 2.4 million Americans from food stamps - a record, of course. The number of recipients did indeed decline, but November 2025 was a month with a Government Shutdown in which benefits were simply interrupted. Trump’s laws further tightened eligibility and pushed people out of the program through stricter requirements, not because they had become less needy.

He would always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid - always. What went unmentioned: Trump’s largest law of the past year contained cuts of more than one trillion dollars to the Medicaid program over the next decade - the largest reduction in the program’s history. More than ten million people are expected to lose their insurance as a result. The Congressional Budget Office has also projected that the tax changes contained in the law endanger the long-term financing of Medicare.

This was not a State of the Union address, this was a circus ring with a microphone - and at the center a president on a self-congratulation tour

No taxes on tips, none on overtime, none on pensions - that is how it sounded. What the law actually provides are deductions for tips and overtime - but those deductions expire in 2028. They are also limited to certain income thresholds. The 6,000 dollar deduction for seniors means that, according to estimates by the Council of Economic Advisers, 88 percent of those over 65 pay no taxes on their pension income - but not all of them, and retirees under 65, meaning millions of disabled people and early retirees, are completely excluded from the program.

The tariffs would be paid by foreign countries - that is one of Trump’s favorite claims, and it is false. American importers pay them. The Supreme Court confirmed this in its ruling last week - the same ruling Trump described before Congress as “unfortunately wrong,” while the four justices present, including Roberts, Kagan, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, sat with unmoving expressions. The government must now repay more than 100 billion dollars to companies. Tariffs could eventually replace the income tax, Trump continued. In 2024, the government collected 2.4 trillion dollars in income taxes. The tariffs generated around 300 billion - and about half of that must be refunded.

US gas production is at an all-time high, Drill baby drill works. That is true, but: The Biden administration had also recorded record oil and gas production levels, with new highs in 2024. At the same time, Trump’s decision to cut nearly all federal subsidies for renewable energy has led, according to the advocacy group Climate Power, to 354 clean energy projects being canceled, delayed, or facing layoffs.

His fraud elimination program would balance the federal budget “overnight.” The deficit in 2025 was around 1.8 trillion dollars. The Government Accountability Office estimates the annual damage from fraud in federal agencies at 233 to 521 billion dollars. Even if one takes the upper figure and assumes that all fraud could be completely eliminated - which is unrealistic - the deficit would not be balanced but reduced by one third. Trump appointed JD Vance to lead a new “war on fraud.” So far, Trump’s anti-fraud measures have mainly resulted in states with Democratic leadership that sue being punished with budget cuts.

Iran’s nuclear program had been wiped out by “Operation Midnight Hammer.” The official national security strategy of the White House from November 2025 phrased it more cautiously: The strikes had “significantly weakened” the program. Intelligence officials report that some underground facilities were destroyed, but deeper laboratories survived. Iran has not resumed uranium enrichment at the affected sites - but the program is not eliminated. That is one of the reasons why Trump is considering new strikes. Iran had also “never” said it did not want nuclear weapons, Trump claimed. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had written exactly that on his Twitter account just hours before the speech. The problem was never what Iran says - but the evidence gathered over years that it tested components for a weapon. Trump did not draw that distinction before Congress.

He prefers diplomacy, he wants to negotiate with Iran. American negotiators were to meet with Iranian representatives in Geneva the following day, Wednesday. What went unmentioned: For more than an hour, Trump did not mention a single American allied nation in Europe, Asia, or the Middle East before Congress. No NATO partners, no Asian allies, no friends. The world he described before Congress is a world of enemies, challenges, and American strength - without allies, without alliances. The speech took place on the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He is working “very hard” to end the war, Trump said. During the campaign, he had promised to end it within 24 hours of taking office. The war continues.

International law is not an instrument of moral judgment. It is a framework designed to limit violence. If it is ignored at this point, it loses its binding force precisely where it is needed most. The question that remains is therefore not how one judges Nicolas Maduro. The decisive question is whether the international order still upholds the claim of law against the temptation of strength.

Venezuela is now a “friend and partner” of the United States - without mentioning how that came about: through a US military operation in which Nicolás Maduro was captured. Immediately afterward, Trump awarded Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover the Medal of Honor - Slover had been wounded in that operation. Almost all representatives and senators rose. The justices of the Supreme Court remained seated.

“I ended eight wars, including Cambodia. Isn’t that strange?”

He claims to have ended eight wars. Eight. One has to pause at that number — not because of its size, but because of its audacity. It is worth going through each case. Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo: In June, both countries signed a peace agreement under U.S. mediation. In July, fighting resumed. The agreement exists on paper; the conflict exists on the ground. Thailand and Cambodia: After U.S. trade pressure, both countries agreed to a ceasefire in the summer. In November, Thailand suspended the peace talks; in December, new clashes followed. Again, a ceasefire on paper, fighting in reality. Israel and Hamas: The ceasefire took effect in October. Since then, despite the agreement, clashes and attacks have continued. According to Palestinian sources, around 600 people in Gaza have been killed in Israeli air and artillery strikes, while armed groups from Gaza, including Hamas, have resumed firing rockets into Israeli territory.

India and Pakistan: After fighting broke out in the spring, Trump claimed he had brought about de-escalation. India explicitly disputed Trump’s portrayal of his own role. Serbia and Kosovo: To list this as a concluded conflict is remarkably bold. Serbia and Kosovo have signed no peace agreement. There are economic agreements from Trump’s first term, but Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, and Serbia still does not recognize it. Ethiopia and Egypt: Trump offered to mediate a decades-old dispute over water rights and a Nile dam. The dispute remains unresolved. The dam was opened in September - despite Trump’s diplomacy, not because of it. Azerbaijan and Armenia: Here the picture is somewhat brighter. Both sides thanked Trump for his mediation, and there is an agreement that points toward lasting peace. The strongest example on the entire list - but even here the durability remains to be seen. Israel and Iran: After twelve days of fighting, Trump brokered a ceasefire, and neither Israel nor Iran publicly disputed his role as mediator. But this peace too is fragile, and Trump is already considering new strikes on Iran - which raises the question of what exactly he means by “ended.”

Eight wars ended - that is the statement of a man who either does not know the difference between a signed agreement and an actually ended conflict or deliberately blurs it. Most likely it is both.

He said he was deporting illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds in record numbers. The figures show that of the people arrested between January 20 and October 15, only 7 percent had a conviction for a violent crime. Under 30 percent, some statistics show 37 percent, had any prior record, mostly traffic offenses or driving under the influence. One third had no charges at all. In large cities with particularly publicized operations, more than half of those arrested had no criminal background whatsoever. Of those deported, around 21 percent had no charges, 11 percent had convictions for violent crimes.

11,088 convicted murderers had entered the country - that was the number Trump threw into the room. It comes from federal data spanning multiple presidencies, including Trump’s first term. He named Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib before Congress and admonished them. Omar shouted: “You are lying.” Trump replied: “You should be ashamed.” Crime in Washington was at the lowest level in history, murders had declined by nearly 100 percent. In fact, there were two homicides in January, and the murder rate fell by 40 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year - a real decline, but one that reflects the nationwide trend in major cities. A 2025 analysis by SmartAsset ranked Washington 40th out of 50 major cities in safety.

Trump, pointing at the Democrats: “These people are crazy. I’m telling you, they’re crazy.”

Then came Minnesota. Members of the Somali community had allegedly stolen an estimated 19 billion dollars in taxpayer funds, Trump declared before Congress. There is indeed fraud in state-funded programs in Minnesota - federal indictments have been filed, most of the defendants are of Somali origin, most of them American citizens. Proven fraud amounts to the mid to high hundreds of millions. A preliminary estimate suggests that more than half of 18 billion dollars spent in certain programs since 2018 may have been stolen - but that is not a finalized assessment and not a verified figure. Somali and Somali American community leaders in Minnesota have warned for months that the actions of individuals could be used to defame an entire population group. Trump has fulfilled their fears. In December he had said he did not want Somalis in America and had called them “garbage.” In Davos he repeated similar remarks and was booed. In a speech before Congress - the highest stage of American public life - he continued. When asked by a journalist whether his own statements did not trouble him, Trump replied: “I don’t care.”

Elections in America were riddled with massive fraud - everywhere, everywhere, everywhere, Trump repeated multiple times. His own Department of Homeland Security during his first term had forwarded about 10,000 cases out of 49.5 million voter registrations for further investigation due to possible non-citizenship - that equals 0.02 percent of the entries reviewed. In Georgia, a state Trump lost in 2020 and has since obsessively watched, the Secretary of State in 2024 found 20 non-citizens among 8.2 million registered voters. Nine of them had ever voted. Trump used this portrayal to publicly pressure Senator John Thune, the Senate Majority Leader, to push the Save America Act through the Senate - a law that would, among other things, require proof of citizenship for voter registration and has so far failed due to the filibuster hurdle. “We have to stop this, John,” Trump said directly toward Thune.

“In my first year of the second term - actually it should be my third term, but strange things happen.”

Casually and with a smile, Trump remarked that he was actually in his third term - strange things happen. On January 6, 2021, a mob he had incited stormed the Capitol to prevent certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Trump has never stopped lying about the 2020 election. In his second term he has appointed staff and nominated judges who largely do not recognize Biden’s victory. He has used federal agencies to investigate election infrastructure in states he lost.

Outside the Capitol, dozens of Democratic representatives and senators organized a counterprogram on the National Mall - the “People’s State of the Union.” Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut was the first on stage. He said: “This union is in crisis.” Governor Abigail Spanberger of Virginia delivered the official Democratic response.

Inside the chamber, at the beginning of the speech, Representative Al Green of Texas silently held up a sign reading: “Black people are not apes!” - a direct reference to a racist video Trump had shared on his social media channels earlier this month depicting Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes. Representative Steve Scalise attempted to snatch the sign. Republican Senators Markwayne Mullin and Roger Marshall stood in front of it to block it from the camera view. Representative Troy Nehls made several attempts from the aisle to grab it. Green was escorted out of the chamber by security personnel, accompanied by chants of “U.S.A.!” Trump said “Thank you” and continued speaking.

Green was escorted out of the chamber by security personnel, accompanied by chants of “U.S.A.!”

When Trump finally addressed corruption in Congress and mentioned lawmakers trading stocks based on insider information, the Democrats who had until then sat silently rose and shouted: “What about you?” Trump replied: “Can Nancy Pelosi stand up?” Trump and his family have in the meantime earned millions of dollars through business dealings related to the presidency - a break with the practice of previous presidents who kept themselves removed from such interests. The stock trading ban bill that Republicans in Congress are advancing contains, according to Democrats, loopholes allowing lawmakers to keep existing stock holdings, sell with seven to fourteen days’ notice, reinvest dividends into new stocks, and allow family members to trade freely.

Elon Musk, who had sat in the gallery next to Trump’s children the previous year, was not present this time. Connor Hellebuyck, the Canadian goaltender to whom Trump devoted one of the longest ovations of the night, had stopped 41 shots - not 46, as Trump claimed. But that is actually the smallest lie of the evening.

One hour and 47 minutes. Longer than ever before. Sometimes the only thing that is truly accurate about a speech is its length.