A protest involving frogs is forming in Washington D.C. to coincide with President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday. Read more:

An hour into his speech, President Trump assailed Democrats on immigration and crime, and pushed Republicans to pass stricter voter identification laws. The president spent the opening portion of his remarks on economic policies, including tax cuts, and dismissed Democrats’ focus on the issue of affordability. Just days after the Supreme Court struck a blow to his signature tariff policy, Mr. Trump called the ruling “totally wrong” and said he would create an “even stronger” solution. Live Chat Anton Troianovski Trump talked about the wars he had solved, or claimed to solve. He thanked Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, his peace envoy and longtime friend — two men who have driven the administration’s diplomacy despite their lack of diplomatic experience. Zolan Kanno-Youngs Trump’s strategy to reclaim support over his immigration agenda appears centered on spotlighting the families who have lost relatives to crimes committed by immigrants. Trump has often seized on crimes committed by migrants as a way to build support for his immigration policies, part of a history of inflating immigrants’ criminality. In Trump’s first term, Stephen Miller, the architect of the president’s immigration agenda, directed government officials to publicize more crimes committed by immigrants in official government press releases. Their strategy comes down to using the actions of individuals to paint a negative portrait of entire communities. But he has found political success in this approach, particularly after Americans became increasingly frustrated with the Biden administration’s immigration policies and the record number of illegal crossings during those years. But Trump’s comments often ignore that for the past 150 years, immigrants overall have been less likely to commit crimes than people born in the United States, a 2023 study concluded. Mr. Trump has long promised to avoid major changes to Medicare and Social Security, and his record largely matches his rhetoric on those programs. Trump has spent his speech highlighting the stories of several people who have experienced unimaginable suffering, and then turning them into political props as he checks to see if Democrats have reacted to his satisfaction. He recounted the murder of Iryna Zarutska, a woman who was stabbed to death on a train last year in graphic detail. Zarutska’s mother was in the chamber, weeping as he spoke. Trump finished telling Zarutska’s story and turned immediately to the Democrats. “How do you not stand,” he said. Inflation has eased for many grocery staples, including eggs, but food prices overall are still 2.9 percent higher compared with the same time last year, according to January data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While Mr. Trump has announced some voluntary deals with pharmaceutical companies to lower the prices they charge consumers who buy drugs directly, his policies so far have not lowered most drug prices for most people. More than an hour into the speech, Trump has made no mention of the fact that much of the American Navy and Air Force are poised off of Iran, or that today is the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine. The contrast between his focus on foreign policy in the Oval Office and his downplaying it before Congress reflects the advice he is getting: Focus at home, and on affordability. Erika Kirk is sitting up with the Trump children and their spouses. Trump is calling Charlie Kirk a “martyr” for his beliefs. He condemned political violence “of any kind,” and many Democrats got up to clap. It’s been five years since a pro-Trump mob ransacked this building after the president refused to concede the election. Mr. Trump’s signature domestic policy law, which he signed last year, creates deductions for tips and overtime, but those breaks are temporary. And its tax reductions for Social Security benefits are even more limited. Mr. Trump is right that record numbers of migrants entered the United States under the Biden administration, particularly in the fiscal years 2022 and 2023. But his most repeated statements warning about the level of illegal immigration and characterizing unauthorized migrants as criminals taking advantage of government handouts are inaccurate. They also wrongly describe federal data. Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed that 11,088 convicted murderers have entered the United States. But he appears to be citing federal data about noncitizens who entered the country over multiple administrations, including his own first term. The magnanimous version of Trump I mentioned earlier has left the chamber. The combative one is here, bouncing between attacks on Democrats and more scripted fare, including highlighting Melania Trump’s work on foster care and A.I. initiatives. The effect is jarring. Trump just called his wife, Melania Trump, a “movie star.” Amazon paid Ms. Trump’s production company $40 million for the rights to “Melania,” the movie it released earlier this year. Trump’s jab at Omar and Tlaib was, frankly, tame compared with what he says about them in rally settings. For years, he has demonized and dehumanized Omar with racist and xenophobic attacks, venting that she should “go back” to her country, referring to her as “garbage,” and mocking her hijab by calling it a “little turban.” Some Democratic congresswomen donned the same color for the president’s State of the Union address, while dozens of other Democrats boycotted the event.Credit...Eric Lee for The New York Times The message might be different, but the color was once again white for some Democratic women in the House on Tuesday night. Nearly a decade after they first wore white to President’s Trump address to a joint session of Congress in 2017, a clutch of Democratic congresswomen donned the same color for the president’s State of the Union address, while dozens of other Democrats boycotted the event. Critics of the bill, which has passed the Republican-led House, say such a law could disenfranchise millions of voters, including women whose married names don’t match their passports or birth certificates. The president asked Congress to pass the bill on Tuesday night during his speech, calling it “country-saving,” and saying legislators should take it up “before anything else happens” and accusing Democrats of “wanting to cheat.” The white duds on Tuesday were not the only form of protest to the president’s speech: Dozens of Democratic lawmakers declined to attend the address, with some attending alternative rallies. “I’m not going to show up,” said Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, of the president’s address, “and pretend everything’s normal.” In 2024, during the Biden administration, congresswomen also wore white to signal support for women’s reproductive rights. Richard T. Ford, the author of “Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History,” said that “although it’s always useful to make any collective show of opposition,” such symbolism can become “less effective when used repeatedly.” “Unless,” he added, “it is meant to convey the same objection.” That same objection, of course, could be to the president himself, who has a long and well-documented history of disparaging remarks toward women. The chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, Representative Teresa Leger Fernández, a New Mexico Democrat, told CBS News that the color choice for the State of the Union address “depends on where we’re at in the moment.” On Tuesday, however, Ms. Fernández — who wore white to an event for survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse — didn’t attend to see the display from her caucus at the president’s address. She, like many other Democrats, said she’d be skipping it altogether. For a large portion of this speech, Trump has focused his gaze toward the Republican side of the chamber, basking in their applause and largely avoided making eye contact with Democrats, who occasionally shouted or shook their heads in disapproval. But as he sinks into immigration, crime, election security and gender-related issues, he is directing more of his remarks at Democrats in the room. “These people are crazy, I’m telling ya, they’re crazy. 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.” It is implausible that all fraud in government programs would balance the federal budget. The federal deficit was $1.8 trillion in 2025. A 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office estimated that the federal government lost $233 billion to $521 billion to fraud annually, including schemes that were undetected. Eliminating all fraud in government programs across the country would reduce the federal deficit by a third. Trump is calling for a ban on schools allowing students to socially transition — change their name, pronouns, or gender expression — without parental consent. Trump, advancing his false claims of voter fraud, accused Democrats of cheating to win elections. The pressure is on Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Republican majority leader, to overturn the filibuster to move the Save America Act through the Senate. “We have to stop it, John,” Trump just said, increasing that pressure. Trump appears newly energized after Democratic lawmakers were shouting at him and he is speaking about his false claims of election fraud, which he has espoused for years. “This should be an easy one,” he said of legislation opposed overwhelmingly by Democrats. Mr. Trump lost the 2020 election to Joseph R. Biden Jr. On Jan. 6, 2021, he urged on supporters at a rally before they stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of Mr. Biden’s victory. In the years since, Mr. Trump has continued to lie about details big and small related to the 2020 election. In his second term, the president has appointed aides and nominated federal judges who have by and large refused to acknowledge that Mr. Biden was the fair winner of the election. He has also used the power of the federal government to investigate the voting apparatuses in battleground states where Mr. Biden defeated him. Mr. Trump has indeed opened up millions of acres of public lands and waters to oil and gas production. And U.S. production hit new highs in 2025 and is continuing to rise, with forecasts expecting further growth in 2026. But the Biden administration also oversaw record-setting U.S. oil and natural gas production, with 2024 seeing record highs at that time in both. At the same time, Mr. Trump’s decision to eliminate virtually all federal assistance for renewable energy has led to 354 clean-energy projects being canceled or delayed, or laying off workers, according to Climate Power, an advocacy group that tracks that data.

President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address is likely to be a test run of the message Republicans will give to voters in November’s elections for control of the House and the Senate

The president says he has overseen a "turnaround for the ages", as polls suggest voters are souring on his second-term agenda.