Read NPR’s annotated fact check of President Trump’s State of the Union : NPR
President Trump gestures as he addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2025.
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President Trump is set to deliver the first official State of the Union address of his second term Tuesday evening. The speech, scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET, gives Trump a chance to tout his accomplishments and outline his agenda for the second year of his administration.
It comes at a time when Americans are divided over whether Trump’s first year has been a success. A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll shows that six in 10 people think the country is worse off than last year and a majority think the state of the union is not strong.
Reporters from across the NPR newsroom will fact-check his speech and offer context — on topics including immigration, the economy, tariffs, trade and foreign policy.
Follow us here as the speech – which he said will likely be long – unfolds tonight.
A “turnaround for the ages”
TRUMP: “When I last spoke here 12 months ago, I had just inherited a country in crisis with a stagnant economyinflation at record levels…”
The U.S. economy was in good health before President Trump returned to the White House for his second term. Indeed, in October 2024, The economist had described the American economy as “the envy of the world“, because he bounced back from the pandemic recession in better shape than most of his peers. To be sure, many Americans were frustrated by the high cost of living, and that discontent contributed to Trump’s victory the following month. However, costs continued to climb over the last year, and that dissatisfaction is now weighing on Trump’s own approval rating. Nearly six in ten Americans say the country is worse off now than it was a year ago, according to the last NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll.
— Scott Horsley, Chief Economic Correspondent
Inflated claims about inflation
TRUMP: “The Biden administration and its allies in Congress have given us the worst inflation in the history of our countrybut within 12 months, my administration brought core inflation to the lowest level in more than five years, and in the final three months of 2025 it fell to 1.7%. »
Inflation has slowed in recent months. But the cost of living continues to rise faster than most people would like. Some items became cheaper last year, like gasoline and eggs. But housing, groceries, electricity and natural gas have all become more expensive.
Inflation hit a four-decade high of 9.1% in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent prices up around the world. By the time President Joe Biden left office, inflation had fallen to 3%. It fell to 2.3% last April, before rebounding to 3% in September.
Trump’s tariffs have raised the price of some imported goods, but their effects on the overall cost of living have been limited. Annual inflation fell to 2.4% in January. (A separate measure of inflation, closely watched by the Federal Reserve, shows prices continuing to rise at about the same rate as a year ago.)
— Scott Horleychief economic correspondent
Sotck exchange
TRUMP: “The stock market has hit 53 all-time highs since the election. Think about that – in one year – increasing pensions, 401(k)s and retirement accounts for millions and millions of Americans, they’re all winning. Everyone is up, way up.”
The stock market has seen big gains over the past year, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassing 50,000 for the first time earlier this month. In 2025, the S&P 500 index jumped 18%, following a 24% gain in 2024. The stock market rally has given a boost to many people’s retirement savings. However, we must not forget that the shareholding is very concentrated. The richest 10% of families own 87% of all stock market wealth, while half of Americans own few or no stocks.
— Scott Horsley, Chief Economic Correspondent
Do we have the strongest and safest border yet?
TRUMP: “After four years in which millions upon millions of illegal aliens poured through our borders without any oversight or control, we now have the strongest, most secure border in American history, by far.”
This is partly true.
It is not true that there were zero crossings; for example, there was 237,538 in 2025according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. But Border Patrol encounters with migrants entering the United States from Mexico have fallen to their lowest level in more than 50 years, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of federal government statistics.
While it is true that there were a historic number of crossings under the Biden administration, it is false to say that the border was wide open to people who could cross it unchecked: in the last year of his administration, President Biden significantly tightened controls.
— Jasmine Garsdimmigration correspondent
