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President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address to declare that the United States has achieved what he called one of the greatest comebacks in modern history, telling lawmakers and viewers nationwide that the country is experiencing “a turnaround for the ages.”
“When I last spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just inherited a nation in crisis with a stagnant economy, inflation at record levels, a wide-open border, horrendous recruitment for military and police, rampant crime at home, and wars and chaos all over the world,” President Trump said.
“But tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before and a turnaround for the ages. It is indeed a turnaround for the ages. And we will never go back to where we were just a very short time ago. We’re not going back,” he added.
The president described his first year back in office as a period of rapid economic and national renewal, arguing that policy changes had reversed what he characterized as years of decline.
“Today our border is secure, our spirit is restored, inflation is plummeting, incomes are rising fast. The roaring economy is roaring like never before and our enemies are scared,” he said.
Affordability was a central theme of the speech. President Trump said his administration’s deregulation efforts, tax relief measures and expansion of domestic energy production had lowered consumer costs.
“In 12 months, my administration has driven core inflation down to the lowest level in more than five years. And in the last three months of 2025, it was down to 1.7%,” he said.
He also noted gasoline prices as evidence of progress.
“Gasoline, which reached a peak of over $6 a gallon in some states under my predecessor — it was, quite honestly, a disaster — is now below $2.30 a gallon in most states, and in some places $1.99 a gallon. And when I visited the great state of Iowa just a few weeks ago, I even saw $1.85 a gallon for gasoline,” President Trump said.
The president also pointed to housing costs, saying mortgage rates had fallen.
“Mortgage rates are the lowest in four years and falling fast, and the annual cost of a typical new mortgage is down almost $5,000 — just since I took office one year ago.”