Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech last night ran for an hour and 47 minutes making it the longest address since people began keeping records of such things in 1964.
Throughout his speech, he made (surprise!) numerous false or misleading claims.
Egregious lies about US elections. Numerous false claims about the economy and tariffs. Fictional figures. A claim that a US-born murder defendant “came in through open borders.” A promise to always protect Medicaid after slashing funding for Medicaid. Much more. Fact-checking…
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 25, 2026
Here’s just a few fact-checks on some of the whoppers the Donald tried to sell last night via CNN’s Daniel Dale.
• Fact check: Trump falsely claims US has secured ‘$18 trillion’ in investments
The White House’s own website said the figure for “major investment announcements” during this Trump term was “$9.7 trillion,” and even that is a major exaggeration; a detailed CNN review in October found the White House was counting trillions of dollars in vague investment pledges and vague statements that didn’t even rise to the level of pledges.
• Fact check: Trump’s misleading claims on gasoline prices
Trump claimed gas prices are “now below $2.30 a gallon in most states, and in some places, $1.99 a gallon.” But no state had an average gas price on Tuesday below $2.37 per gallon, according to AAA; only two states had an average below $2.50 per gallon.
• Fact check: Trump falsely claims he inherited record inflation
Trump didn’t inherit the worst inflation in US history, and Biden never had the worst inflation in US history. The inflation rate in the month in which Trump took over partway through, January 2025, was 3.0%; the most recent rate, for January 2026, is 2.4%. The all-time high of 23.7% was set in 1920.
• Fact check: Trump touts declines in a smattering of grocery prices, but overall grocery prices are up
While the prices of a small number of grocery products have gone down, overall grocery prices are up an average 2.1% since January 2025. Additionally, more grocery products have gotten more expensive during this presidency than have gotten cheaper.
• Fact check: Trump’s baseless claim about the economy
The US economy grew 2.2% in 2025; there was 2.8% growth in 2024. The unemployment rate, however, increased from 4.0% in January 2025 to 4.3% in January 2026.
• Fact check: Trump bragged that he “lifted 2.4 million Americans off food stamps.”
Trump kicked 2.4 million people off of food stamps.
Donald Trump just bragged that he “lifted 2.4 million Americans off food stamps.”
No — he cut them off.
He didn’t raise wages. He didn’t lower rents. He didn’t fix healthcare.
He stripped food from struggling families and called it “success.” pic.twitter.com/aCnH3Wpymo
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) February 25, 2026
Other topics Trump misled on include claiming he achieved “no tax” on Social Security; repeated debunked lies about “rigged elections;” and mocked the word “affordability” saying Democrats “caused that problem.”
You can read much more here.
Trump’s bill didn’t achieve “no tax on Social Security for our great seniors.” It created a temporary (expiring in 2028) additional $6,000-per-year deduction for people 65 and older. Millions of people in that group will still pay taxes on their benefits, as will beneficiaries…
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 25, 2026
This was a misstep.
Mocking the word ‘affordability’ when Americans are still feeling the squeeze at the grocery store is the kind of moment that clips badly.
That’s the word Americans use.
Don’t mock Americans. #SOTU2026 pic.twitter.com/EWw8lTfJca— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) February 25, 2026
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