ShopInterest Successfully AddedWe'll notify you here with news aboutTurn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? OffOnStream onFact-checking Trump's State of the Union addressThe address is Trump's first State of the Union of his second term.
Just over a year into his second term, President Donald Trump delivered the State of the Union address Tuesday, making his case for sweeping policy changes and executive actions that have come to define America's current moment.
From steep global tariffs that were recently struck down by the Supreme Court to an overhaul of domestic immigration enforcement and mounting tensions with Iran, all eyes were on the president speaking before Congress at the Capitol.
An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll released Sunday found that Trump's overall disapproval rating is at 60% -- a high for his second term.
President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, February 24, 2026.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty ImagesTrump's State of the Union address comes at uncertain, even perilous, moment for his presidency: ANALYSISWith midterm elections in November looming, where control of Congress is at stake, Trump rolled out several new measures to address affordability and tout his administration's efforts to boost the U.S. economy.
Throughout Trump's remarks Tuesday night, ABC News live fact-checked some of the president's statements that may have been exaggerated, need more context or are false.
TRUMP CLAIM: "In the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States."
FACT CHECK: False, but crossings are down drastically
After using executive authority to enforce a series of restrictive policy measures at the southern border, the Trump administration has severely decreased the number of people who crossed the border illegally, down from the record highs of the Biden administration.
According to the data collected by Customs and Border Protection, in 2024, the last full year of Biden’s presidency, there were over 1.5 million encounters with migrants attempting to illegally cross the border. In 2025, the first full year of Trump’s second term in office, that number dropped to just under 28,000.
Those low trends continue in 2026, but have never been at “zero” as the president has often suggested. The numbers suggest migrants are still attempting to cross the border, and it would be impossible to know if any had gone through unnoticed.
-ABC News' Luke Barr and Justin Fishel
Trump State of the Union updates: Trump hammers Iran, immigration, economy and airs grievances
TRUMP CLAIM: "My administration has driven core inflation down to the lowest level in more than five years."
While it’s a positive development that inflation has come down in recent months, this hasn’t led to reduced prices across the board. The state of play is more complicated.
The facts are that when Trump took office, inflation was at 3% and today it's down to 2.4%
The most recent inflation report was positive.
But prices for everyday products for Americans are impacted by more than just inflation.
The president’s tariffs have impacted the cost of fresh produce, beef and coffee. Ground coffee prices are up 34% in the past year. And even those increased costs aren’t all due to tariffs.
Bureau of Labor and Statistics data also show Americans are paying more for energy (in many cases due to the data centers needed to power AI technology), up 6.3 percent from January 2025 to January 2026.
President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, February 24, 2026.Kenny Holston/Pool/AFP via Getty ImagesTRUMP CLAIM: "In 12 months, I secured commitments for more than $18 trillion pouring in from all over the globe."
It is unclear where the $18 trillion number is coming from. It is a huge number. US GDP is $31 trillion. On their website, the White House says they have secured $9.6 trillion in domestic and foreign investments since Trump took office for his second term. A White House official confirmed that this figure includes “investments that have materialized or committed,” but they did not answer ABC’s questions about where the president’s $18 trillion number is coming from.
The White House’s $9.6 trillion in investments also appears to be inflated, as other sums are included in their calculations. For example, the website lists a $1.2 trillion “foreign investment” from Qatar. But according to a White House fact sheet distributed when the deal was made, the U.S. and Qatar had agreed to “generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion" -- not an explicit investment.
TRUMP CLAIM: "I took prescription drugs, a very big part of health care, from the highest price in the entire world to the lowest."
FACT CHECK: Needs more context
