The president is expected to defend his economic record and tariffs, but how will he deal with immigration enforcement? And what will the Democratic Party do?
President Trump says voter ID will be required to vote in midterm elections
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump asserted that voter ID will be required in the midterm elections even if Congress does not approve it.
President Donald Trump’s popularity is waning as he heads to the Capitol on February 24 to deliver the State of the Union address, a speech that successive presidents have used to try to subvert the narrative of their administrations by spotlighting their accomplishments.
“It’s going to be a long speech because there’s so much I want to talk about,” President Trump said the day before his speech.
Trump is expected to vigorously defend the economic performance that administration officials have touted as a “historic turnaround” after recent reports showed inflation slowed more than expected in January.
“Every day we see encouraging signs that 2026 will be a year of record success for the American people, just as the President has promised,” White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said at a Feb. 18 briefing.
But with polls showing voters gaining support in the upcoming 2026 congressional elections, Democrats believe their fortunes are changing and say many Americans still don’t see that progress.
Matthew Dallek, a political science professor and presidential historian at George Washington University, said that while presidents sometimes get a brief boost after a speech, it’s usually short-lived and has become more pronounced in recent years.
“In the age of TikTok, it’s hard to see how any president will win over some voters through their speech,” Dallek said. “Most Americans judge Trump based on the state of the economy, immigration policy, cost of living, and they don’t like what they’ve experienced over the past year.”
Democrats will use this opportunity to focus on unpopular aspects of President Trump’s record.
For example, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York takes as a guest the mother of a high school student in an immigration detention center.
Here are some things to note before addressing:
DHS shutdown threatens speech as immigration fight intensifies
Massive protests in January in Minneapolis, Minnesota and other cities drew national attention to the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies that carry out the administration’s enforcement efforts.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on February 18 found that only 38% of American adults approve of the president’s handling of immigration, up from about 50% during the first half of his term.
President Trump’s speech comes amid a partial government shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security due to a dispute between Senate Democrats who want to detain immigration enforcement agents in the wake of the shooting deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Preti, and Republicans who refuse to agree to those terms.
The administration is cutting back on immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis, but its public stance remained firm during a Feb. 23 White House ceremony to honor “angel families,” the term the president’s team uses to refer to relatives of people killed by illegal immigrants.
Alison Phillips, the mother of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student killed by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela in 2024, praised Trump’s efforts while standing next to him during the event.
“There are no words. Anyone who has gone through a nightmare like what we went through would understand the importance of his work defending our country and fighting for our families,” she said.
Touting economic victories or attacking the Supreme Court?
Republicans want Trump to focus on the economy, but that could also be a thorny topic given the 6-3 Supreme Court ruling that ruled Trump did not have the power to impose blanket tariffs in one shot, dealing a stinging blow to Trump’s economic policies.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, who President Trump appointed to the high court in 2017, said that while it may be “tempting to circumvent Congress,” enforcement of such a levy should be done through the legislative process.
“Through that process, a nation can tap into the collective wisdom of its people’s elected representatives, not just the wisdom of one faction or individual,” Gorsuch said.
President Trump is furious at the high court. He called the verdict “disgraceful.” The six judges were “deeply unpatriotic and in violation of the Constitution, even suggesting without evidence that ‘foreign’ influence” influenced the decision.
A poll released hours after the Supreme Court’s decision found that 60% of American adults support the ruling eliminating tariffs.
An online poll conducted by YouGov on February 20 found that only 23% of voters disapproved of the 6-3 ruling, with 47% of Republicans disapproving, compared with 88% of Democrats and 63% of independents, leaving a sharp partisan divide.
But as President Trump continues to tour the country, most recently in Georgia, claiming the economy is improving, he could use the address to defend the tariffs by calling on the Supreme Court and directing his anger at the justices in attendance.
The last time a president used the State of the Union platform to publicly criticize the Supreme Court was in 2010, when President Barack Obama criticized the high court’s decision in the Citizens United case. He said this opens the door to a flood of special interest funds into the political world, and that Justice Samuel Alito was seen blurting out “not true” during a speech.
Democracy’s response under the microscope
A year after Mr. Trump returned to power, Democrats have regained some strength with victories at the polls, but are still figuring out how best to respond to the president.
Newly elected Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, the first woman elected to the state’s highest office on a largely affordable message, was chosen to counter Democrats.
The party briefly gained attention last year when Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, briefly interrupted President Trump’s speech by waving a cane while other members held paddles and wrote short messages.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York reportedly told his caucus to remain calm, with many members planning to leave the chamber during Trump’s speech or boycott the speech altogether. But caucus members are free to disobey, and progressives want a direct confrontation with President Trump.
Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.), a ranking member of the caucus, described the president as a “troll” and urged his colleagues not to attend.
“I am hopeful that he will make intentionally outrageous and inflammatory statements that will enrage the Democratic Party and cause protests,” Bera wrote in a Feb. 16 op-ed published on Meidas Plus, a left-wing online media network.
At least a dozen members of Congress plan to attend a “State of the Union” rally on the National Mall on February 24, sponsored by progressive groups such as Move on Civic Action.
Some Republicans want an ‘ambitious’ Trump president rather than a combative tone
A growing number of Republicans are opting out of President Trump’s cover on their ballots this year, imploring the president to take a softer approach when talking about rising costs and affordability concerns.
At his first national rally in Pennsylvania last December, he said critics of his travels amid domestic economic anxiety are “stupid people” who don’t understand the financial benefits he’s securing for Americans.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), who joins a growing list of Republicans retiring, suggested people should “avoid vitriol” and instead “act with aspiration” during the State of the Union address.
On immigration, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he hoped President Trump would offer an olive branch to consensus, as polls show Americans still support border security and the deportation of immigrants who commit violent crimes, but oppose enforcement.
“He’s the person who can bring this issue together and bring people together,” DeWine said at an event hosted by Politico on February 19.
President Trump’s base loves his punchy style, but surveys of how other voters perceive the president also show warning signs that the midterm elections could be even more damaging to Republicans.
For example, in an Economist/YouGov poll released on February 16, 49% said they would use the word “corruption.” 46% would use the term “cruel.” And 47% said they would use the word “racist” to describe the president.
Will Epstein victims give a State of the Union address?
The saga of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continues to involve powerful figures, including the recent arrest of former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who may appear on Capitol Hill during President Trump’s speech.
Several survivors of abuse perpetrated or orchestrated by Epstein will attend at the invitation of lawmakers, saying it is important not to “move on” as Democrats and a few Republicans continue to make noise about the so-called “Epstein class.”
“We’ve been invited and we’re going to be there,” Epstein survivor Jess Michaels said on the Feb. 17 episode of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project’s “Lincoln Square” podcast. “We have very low expectations as to whether (Trump) will react to us being in the room.”
President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier this month that he believes “it’s time for the country to do something different.”
But as Americans continue to digest the millions of pages of Epstein files released by the Justice Department under orders from Congress, there is growing bipartisan agreement that the more powerful people named in the documents should be investigated.
Mr. Michaels argued that Republican lawmakers are being pressured to remain silent, praised members of Congress such as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) for standing up for victims, and suggested that Mr. Epstein’s victims could make their presence known in the speech.
