Donald Trump proclaimed his first year in office a success at the State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, even as his presidency is dogged by low public approval ratings before November’s midterm elections in which voters could hand control of Congress back to his Democratic opponents.
The annual address to a joint session of Congress came after months of turmoil for the Republican president, including a crackdown on immigrant communities in Minneapolis that resulted in the deaths of two US citizens, and faltering progress on his campaign promise of lowering the cost of living.
But Trump maintained a triumphant tone in his speech, saying that he had inherited a country ruined by Joe Biden and quickly rebuilt it.
“Tonight, after just one year, we can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before, and a turnaround for the ages,” Trump said.
Trump defends first-year record in testy State of the Union speech
As polls show many voters think Donald Trump is focused on the wrong areas, the president sought to link himself to more recent successes, at one point bringing out the US men’s hockey team that just won gold at the Winter Olympics.
“Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it,” Trump said, before summoning the players to make a surprise appearance in the gallery of the House of Representatives chamber.
Marco Rubio delivers rare briefing to top US lawmakers on Iran amid tensions
Marco Rubio delivered a rare briefing to top US lawmakers on Iran from the White House on Tuesday as Washington deploys its largest force of aircraft and warships to the Middle East since the 2003 buildup to the Iraq war.
Donald Trump’s new 10% global tariff comes into effect
Donald Trump’s new global tariffs have taken effect at 10%, even though he had threatened a higher rate of 15% last weekend, providing “some relief” for British businesses, according to a lobby group.
US military leaders meet with Anthropic to argue against AI tool safeguards
US military leaders including Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, met with executives from the artificial intelligence firm Anthropic on Tuesday to hash out a dispute over what the government will be able to do with the company’s powerful AI model. Hegseth gave Dario Amodei, the Anthropic CEO, until the end of the day Friday to agree to the department’s terms or face penalties, Axios reported.
US congressman refuses to resign after allegations of affair with staffer
US congressman Tony Gonzales refused growing calls to resign from his fellow Republicans on Tuesday amid a furore over allegations that he had an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.
What else happened today:
The justice department sued the University of California, Los Angeles on Tuesday, alleging the university created a hostile work environment for Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff after protests against the war on Gaza broke out across campus.
US Senate Democrats are launching an investigation into whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the CBS parent company, Paramount, prevented Stephen Colbert, the network’s talkshow host, from broadcasting an interview with the Texas Democratic candidate James Talarico.
Cancellations and delays of new US datacenters have increased as the artificial intelligence boom runs up against a slate of issues, including supply chain snags, energy shortages and tariff-induced restraints.
The victorious US Olympic men’s ice hockey team visited the White House on Tuesday, although there were several notable absences.
Savannah Guthrie’s family has offered up to $1m for information leading to the return of her 84-year-old mother, Nancy, who has been missing since 1 February.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 23 February 2026.
