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  "path": "/news/state-union-facte28091check-preview-ahead-president-trumps-address",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-24T12:08:50.000Z",
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    "2026 State of the Union: Timing, how to watch & more",
    "Road closures in DC Tuesday for State of the Union",
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  "textContent": "President Donald Trump will deliver the first State of the Union address of his second term on Tuesday, with his administration focused heavily on the economy, immigration, crime, energy and national security.\n\n2026 State of the Union: Timing, how to watch & more\n\nHere’s a preview and fact check of several topics Trump is expected to address during his address:\n\n## **State of the Union | Economy**\n\nTrump often says the U.S. is now \"the hottest country anywhere in the world\" after years as a \"dead country.\" The economy was far from \"dead\" when he returned to office, though it has generally performed well in his second term after a rocky start, the Associated Press reports.\n\nIn 2024, Biden’s final year in office, U.S. GDP grew 2.8%, faster than any major economy except Spain, and posted solid gains from 2021 through 2023.\n\nGDP contracted in early 2025 for the first time in three years, rebounded midyear, then slowed again in the fourth quarter. Overall growth for 2025 was 2.2%.\n\nInflation fell to a near five‑year low in January, but the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge shows it remains elevated as prices for furniture, clothing and groceries continue to rise.\n\nHiring has also slowed sharply. Employers added just 181,000 jobs in 2025, the fewest outside a recession since 2002, as companies struggled with tariff uncertainty, artificial intelligence disruptions and a post‑pandemic hiring cooldown.\n\nThe U.S. stock market posted strong gains last year, but still lagged behind several foreign markets. The S&P 500 rose 17%, compared with surges of 71% in South Korea, 29% in Hong Kong, 26% in Japan, 22% in Germany and 21% in the U.K.\n\nREAD MORE: Road closures in DC Tuesday for State of the Union\n\n## **State of the Union | Investments**\n\nTrump frequently claims the U.S. has secured up to $18 trillion in investments, but he has offered no evidence. The number appears speculative.\n\nThe White House website cites a far lower figure, $9.6 trillion, which appears to include commitments made during the Biden administration.\n\nA study published in January also questioned whether more than $5 trillion in investment pledges from major U.S. trading partners will ever materialize or how they would be used.\n\n## **State of the Union | Immigration**\n\nCurbing illegal immigration remains a central Trump priority. Trump has repeatedly claimed that migrants are driving a surge in crime, but there is no evidence of such a spike along the border or in cities with large migrant populations, according to the Associated Press. Studies show people living in the U.S. illegally are less likely than native‑born Americans to be arrested for violent, drug or property crimes.\n\nTrump also frequently cites more than 300,000 missing migrant children, a distortion of an August 2024 DHS inspector general report that criticized ICE for inconsistent tracking of unaccompanied minors after they leave federal custody.\n\n## **State of the Union | Energy**\n\nTrump regularly praises coal but while production is cleaner than in decades past, it is not clean.\n\nCarbon dioxide emissions from coal have fallen over 30 years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, but U.N.‑backed research says global coal production must drop sharply to address climate change.\n\nBurning coal also releases sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which contribute to smog, acid rain and respiratory illnesses.\n\nTrump often criticizes wind power as costly and harmful to birds. Onshore wind is among the cheapest sources of electricity, with new projects expected to generate power at about $30 per megawatt hour, according to the EIA.\n\nWind turbines can pose risks to birds, but the National Audubon Society says those risks can be managed and that climate change poses a far greater threat to bird populations.\n\n## **State of the Union | Elections**\n\nAhead of the 2026 midterms, Trump continues to falsely claim he won the 2020 presidential election.\n\nBiden’s victory was upheld through recounts, audits and court rulings in every battleground state Trump contested. His own attorney general said there was no widespread fraud that could have changed the outcome. Biden won 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232 and received more than 7 million additional popular votes.\n\nTrump also calls his 2024 victory a \"landslide,\" but the margin was narrower than he suggests.\n\nHe won 312 electoral votes to Democrat Kamala Harris’ 226, according to the Federal Election Commission, but the popular vote was close.Trump received 49.8% to Harris’ 48.32%.\n\n## **State of the Union | Crime**\n\nTrump credits himself for a sharp drop in violent crime in 2025, claiming the murder rate hit its lowest point in 125 years. The claim is misleading. Crime had already been declining. The AP says.\n\nA January report from the Independent Council on Criminal Justice found homicides fell 21% across 35 major cities from 2024 to 2025.\n\nThe report said nationwide data could show homicides dropping to about 4.0 per 100,000 people, potentially the lowest rate since 1900.\n\nFBI data for 2023 and 2024 also show significant declines in violent crime.\n\nViolent crime spiked during the pandemic, with homicides jumping nearly 30% in 2020, the largest one‑year increase on record, but fell back near pre‑pandemic levels by 2022 under Biden.\n\nExperts say both the pandemic‑era surge and the recent drop defy simple explanations, despite politicians in both parties trying to claim credit.\n\n## **State of the Union | Foreign policy**\n\nTrump often says he has \"solved\" eight wars, a major exaggeration. While he has played a role in mediating some disputes, his impact is far less sweeping than he suggests, the AP says.\n\nThe conflicts he cites include disputes involving Israel and Hamas, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, India and Pakistan, Serbia and Kosovo, Rwanda and Congo, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Cambodia and Thailand.\n\n## 2026 State of the Union: Timing, how to watch & more\n\nPresident Donald Trump will deliver the 2026 State of the Union on Tuesday night and FOX 5 DC will have live coverage of the event.\n\nFOX 5 DC will stream LIVE coverage of the address on FOX LOCAL, on FOX 5 DC's YouTube and Tiktok and in the media player at the top of the article.\n\nTo stream from anywhere, download our mobile app, FOX LOCAL, to watch on your smart TV or phone. Click here to download.",
  "title": "State of the Union: Fact‑check preview ahead of President Trump's address"
}