Record-Breaking 108-Minute Trump State of the Union: "Showmanship Over Facts"

Boasting of First Year of Second Term
Foreign Media: "Not Factual or Lacking Evidence"
Also Criticized as "Defensive on Unpopular Policies"

President Donald Trump is raising his fist during the State of the Union address at the Capitol in Washington D.C. on the night of the 24th (local time). Reuters and Yonhap

President Donald Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address in U.S. history at 108 minutes on the night of the 24th (local time), but the speech drew a flood of harsh criticism. Major foreign media outlets assessed that the address contained numerous claims that were factually incorrect and was dominated by "political messaging." Some also pointed out that he adopted a defensive stance on unpopular policy issues such as high inflation.

The main point that major foreign media such as the Associated Press (AP), the Washington Post (WP), the New York Times (NYT), and CNN commonly focused on was that many of President Trump's claims were at odds with the facts or lacked sufficient basis.

As he boasted about his achievements over the past year, President Trump front-loaded the speech, which was expected to draw high viewership, with statements about easing inflation, rising incomes, and an economic boom. In particular, he claimed, "I inherited a nation in crisis with a stagnant economy." In reality, however, the U.S. economic growth rate in 2024, the final year of the Biden administration, was recorded at 2.8%. AP noted that this figure was about 0.6 percentage points higher than the 2.2% recorded in 2025, the first year of Trump's second administration.

President Trump also stressed that "incomes are surging and the economy is booming like never before." In fact, real income for Americans in 2025 increased by only 0.9% from the previous year, a marked slowdown from the 2.2% recorded in 2024 under President Biden. Trump further claimed, "I have secured firm commitments that more than 18 trillion dollars will be poured in from around the world," but this figure differed significantly from the finalized amount of 9.6 trillion dollars posted by the White House.

On tariffs, he said, "Tariff revenue is saving our country," but AP pointed out that "tariffs are not sufficient to cover the annual fiscal deficit," adding, "The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that Trump would generate 3 trillion dollars in tariff revenue over 10 years (300 billion dollars per year), which is not enough even to offset the 4.7 trillion dollars in tax-cut costs." In fact, last year the U.S. annual fiscal deficit reached 1.78 trillion dollars.

CNN commented, "We no longer believe the White House drafts the (State of the Union) address based on facts," and criticized that "it is simply trying to write the speech to fit the record that President Trump likes to repeat." AP likewise rebuked that "over the past year, President Trump has repeatedly boasted of his record and mocked his predecessor based on misinformation, and he did so once again in the State of the Union address."

The Washington Post also took aim at what it described as President Trump’s defensive posture on issues that are unpopular with Americans. It pointed out that, on the problem of high inflation, widely seen as a key factor in former President Joe Biden’s defeat in the U.S. presidential election, Trump failed to present a clear solution and instead shifted the blame to the previous administration. The French daily Le Monde further noted that, with the exception of Iran, he omitted mentions of regions where military tensions are rising or that are geopolitical flashpoints, such as North Korea, Ukraine, and Taiwan.

A CNN poll conducted by SSRS immediately after President Trump’s State of the Union address found that about 64% of respondents gave a favorable overall assessment, but negative responses were high regarding price stability. To the question, "How much is President Trump focusing on the economy and prices in the State of the Union address?" nearly half, or 45%, answered "too little," and 40% said they "do not believe the president will stabilize prices."

AP, meanwhile, described scenes in which President Trump paid tribute to the men’s ice hockey team that won an Olympic gold medal and to war heroes as "a media-strategy calculation intended to overlay a positive tone on the speech." It also assessed that Trump displayed his side as a "producer," staging moments such as awarding medals in order to stir patriotic sentiment.