Wednesday, February 25, 2026…4:10 PM ET
[4:00 PM ET closing prices for stocks; 3:50ish for commodities and bonds.]
President Trump, in a record one hour, 48-minute State of the Union address, beating last year’s record, declared the country is booming, his opponents are “crazy” and his administration is engaged in unprecedented levels of “winning,” even as polls show deep skepticism of his leadership heading into the critical midterm election.
As you’d expect, the speech was highly partisan, a defense of his policies as he grapples with a major setback on tariffs from the Supreme Court, strong opposition to his immigration enforcement tactics, and other challenges at home and abroad.
“We have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before, and a turnaround for the ages,” Trump said, while lashing out at Democrats he accused of “destroying our country.”
Trump pulled out all his showman tricks, bringing out the gold medal-winning men’s U.S. hockey team, while awarding two congressional medals of honor and a number of purple hearts.
The president has a low approval rating on his handling of the economy, but he declared, “The roaring economy is roaring like never before.”
Actually, it grew 2.2% in 2025, vs. 2.8% in 2024.
Trump claimed victory in bringing down the cost of living, pointing to gas and grocery prices, mortgage rates, and rent.
Trump blamed Democrats for high costs, saying, “You caused that problem.”
“Their policies created the high prices. Our policies are rapidly ending them,” Trump added. “We are doing really well. Those prices are plummeting.”
The president said tariffs were “saving the country” through the “kind of money we’re taking in” and implausibly said tariff revenue could one day replace the nation’s income tax, “taking a great financial burden off the people that I love.” But Trump’s new tariff approach is premised on a legal authority never before used by a president for tariffs and is likely to be challenged in court.
But, following Friday’s Supreme Court ruling, Tuesday evening, during his speech, the president referred to the tariffs’ decision as an “unfortunate ruling” and avoided attacking the justices by name.
The president repeatedly called Democrats “sick people,” criticized them for not standing to show support for his immigration policies, and told them, “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
He also accused them of voter fraud.
“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,” Trump said.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger tore into Trump on issues ranging from affordability to immigration in the Democratic response to the address.
“Small businesses have suffered. Farmers have suffered – some losing entire markets. Everyday Americans are paying the price,” she said of Trump’s tariff efforts. “And even though the Supreme Court struck these tariffs down four days ago, the damage to us, the American people, has already been done.”
Separately, President Trump claimed in the speech that Iran is working to reconstitute its nuclear program even as it negotiates with Washington, adding to speculation that he’s preparing for a fresh round of military strikes in the coming days.
Iranian officials are “again pursuing their sinister ambitions” after U.S. airstrikes devastated the country’s nuclear program last year, Trump said.
“They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon,’” he added. “We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again.”
Iran has long argued that its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes. In a social media post earlier Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country will “under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon.”
“A deal is within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority,” Araghchi said.
Before the attacks in June, Iran had enough highly enriched material to quickly craft about a dozen warheads, if orders were given to weaponize its nuclear program.
Inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency haven’t verified the state of Iran’s stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium or assessed the scope of damage dealt to enrichment facilities for more than eight months.
While negotiations are focused on the nuclear issue, Trump also pointed to Iran’s ballistic missile program, terrorist activity and support for proxies that have menaced the U.S. and its allies in the region.
—The software rally back from AI-disruption fears continued a second day.
Dow Jones +307…0.6% [49482]
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Oil (WTI) $65.45
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Bitcoin $69,191 [4:00 PM ET…rebound…up 7%…]
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Japanese 10-yr. 2.12%
Back Thursday.
Brian Trumbore
