President Donald Trump will deliver the 2026 State of the Union tonight, February 24, starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Faytuks Network is kicking off live coverage ahead of the speech with updates, key lines in context, and what it signals for the months ahead.
Expect a heavy focus on the economy and the White House pitch to “working families,” along with a familiar emphasis on law and order, the military, and immigration enforcement. Trade will also likely be in the spotlight after recent legal turbulence around tariffs, and the administration is expected to frame the address as a broader argument that the United States is being “respected again” abroad. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic Response.
The Latest
“Is the President working to make this country a better place? We all know the answer is no.” – Gov. Spanberger
The State of the Union has ended.
President Trump has awarded Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover, who helped lead the operation to capture Nicolas Maduro, and Retired Captain Royce Williams, a naval aviator during the Korean War and the Vietnam War, the Congressional Medal Of Honor at the State of the Union.
“NATO countries are friends and allies… [they] have just agreed, at my very strong request, to pay 5% of GDP for military defense rather than the 2% which they weren’t paying. We were paying for almost all of NATO. Now they’re paying five as opposed to.”– President Trump
“No nation should ever doubt America’s resolve. We have the most powerful military on Earth. I rebuilt the military in my first term. We’re going to continue to do so. Also just approved $1 trillion budget. We have no choice. We have to be strong. Because hopefully, we will seldom have to use this great power that we built together. It’s really called peace through strength.”– President Trump
Bipartisan support after Trump’s Iran remarks, as both sides of the aisle rise to applaud.
“And just over the last couple of months with the protests. They’ve killed at least it looks like 32,000 protests, 32,000 protesters in their own country. They shot at them and hung them. We stopped them from hanging” – President Trump
“For decades, it had been the policy of the United States never to allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. Many decades. Since they seized control of that proud nation 47 years ago, the regime and its murderous proxies have spread nothing but terrorism and death and hate.
They’ve killed and maimed thousands of American service members and hundreds. Of thousands and even millions of people. With what’s called roadside bombs, they were the kings of the. Roadside bomb.
And we took out Soleimani. I did that during my first term. Had a huge impact. He was the father of the roadside bomb.” – President Trump
The State of the Union is passing the one hour mark in length.
FACT CHECK:
Eliminating fraud will balance the budget
The amount of fraud committed against federal programs is larger than the balance of the budget. According to Politifact, the highest nationwide fraud estimates put fraud at $521 billion. If recouped, it would be less than a third of the 2025 deficit.
Verdict: False
“Sarah Beckstrom died in order to defend our capital. And we are honored to be joined by her wonderful parents, Gary and Evalea…Serving alongside Sarah that day was Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe….So, Andrew, while you’re up now, I’m going to ask highly respected General James Seward to present Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe and the great family of Sarah Beckstrom with…the Purple Heart” – President Trump
“…Above all, unleashing America’s promise requires keeping our communities safe. We have made incredible strides, yet dangerous repeat offenders continue to be released by Pro-crime Democrat politicians again and again.” – President Trump
“No one cares more about protecting America’s youth than our wonderful First Lady…Over the past year, she has had an incredible impact championing AI legislation, advancing a landmark executive order on foster care. And helping secure $30 million to launch the Melania Trump Foster Youth Initiative. It’s a…tremendous thing that happened and had a lot of bipartisan support.”
The President just recognized Erika Kirk in State of the Union speech in the memory of the Charlie Kirk who was assasinated for his beliefs.
“…Surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents and we must ban it and we must ban it immediately.”– President Trump
“…Most importantly I’m asking you to approve the “Save America Act” to stop illegal aliens and others committed persons from voting in our sacred American elections.”– President Trump
The Chamber is starting to get unruly, as several members of Congress shout “you should be ashamed”, and other comments, at the President.
“Tonight, I’m demanding the full and immediate restoration of all funding for the border security. Homeland security of. The United States, and also for helping people clean up their snow. We have no money because of the Democrats, and it would be nice. We’d love to give you a hand at cleaning it up, but you gave no money. Nobody’s getting paid. It’s a shame. So you have to think about it. We have. In case you didn’t know, pretty large snowstorm out there.”– President Trump
“…Tonight, I’m calling on congress to pass what we will call the “Delilah law”: barring any state from granting commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.”– President Trump
“I am officially announcing the war on fraud to be led by our great Vice President JD Vance.” – President Trump
“To the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker, we will match your contribution with up to $1,000 each year. As we ensure that all Americans can profit from a rising stock market, let’s also ensure that.” – President Trump
“Tonight, I’m pleased to announce that I have negotiated the new ratepayer protection pledge. You know what that is? We’re telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs. They can build their own power plants as part of their factory. So that no one’s prices will go up. And in many cases, prices of electricity will go down for the community and very substantially down. This is a unique strategy never used in this country before. We have an old grid.” – President Trump
FACT CHECK:
Trump has signed the “largest tax cuts in U.S. history”
The One Big Beautiful Bill extended 2017 tax cuts. The 2025 tax savings from Trump’s tax cuts rank third following bills signed by President Barack Obama in 2012 and President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Verdict: Partially True
