Five volatile moments from Trump's 2026 State of the Union speech

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 24, 2026. REUTERS/KEVIN LAMARQUE

President Donald Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday night descended into chaos and confrontation as Democratic lawmakers repeatedly challenged his rhetoric on immigration, election integrity, and economic policy. The speech was marked by heated exchanges, dramatic walkouts, and direct accusations—beginning before Trump even took the podium and intensifying throughout the evening as tensions between the president and opposition lawmakers reached a boiling point.

The evening revealed a Congress fundamentally divided not just on policy, but on basic facts, with Democrats pointing to real-world consequences of Trump administration actions while the president made claims contradicted by trade partners, economists and his own officials.

Following are the five most manic moments from Trump's address:

1. Al Green escorted from the chamber before it even gets good and started.

Holding a sign declaring that “Black People Aren’t Apes,” Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was escorted from the chamber before Trump’s State of the Union speech really began

Green’s sign, and his subsequent removal, stemmed from a video posted by Trump on his Truth Social account featuring a racist depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. At the end of the 62-second video the Obamas' faces appear on apes' bodies for about 1 second as The Tokens' song 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' plays.

Trump later removed the post, but never apologized for the inflammatory post, not even when asked by reporters.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) attempted to pull Green’s sign away on his way out, and Trump made no mention of the lawmaker’s removal nor an apology.

2.Trump claims other countries were “happy” being tariffed by tweet

Trump was determined to defend his illegal tariffs, even after the conservative Roberts Supreme Court dismantled his ability to wield them through emergency orders.

“These tariffs took in hundreds of billions of dollars to make great deals for our country, both economically and on a national security basis. Everything was working well. Countries that were ripping us off for decades are now paying us hundreds of billions of dollars. They were ripping us so badly. You all know that. Everybody knows it. Even the Democrats know it. They just don't want to say it. And yet these countries are now happy and so are we. We made deals, the deals are all done and they're happy,” Trump claimed.

“… And then just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court, it just came down,” continued Trump. “Very unfortunate ruling. But the good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made. … knowing that the legal power that I, as president, have to make a new deal could be far worse for them, and therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the supreme court's unfortunate involvement.”

In actuality, the European Commission has slammed the brakes on U.S. trade negotiations after Trump made his retaliatory announcement of blanket tariffs in the aftermath of the court ruling.

Trump also claimed, incorrectly, that “Congressional action will not be necessary,” despite Congress being required to extend them beyond their short lifespan.

He also claimed, incorrectly, that his tariffs are funded “by foreign countries,” despite claims from U.S. consumers, farmers, and businesses saying they pay them.

3. Trump blasts Democrats for beating him to death on ‘affordability’

Trump clearly remains sore that Democrats are getting such good traction out of high food and service costs this year, as indicated by their successful wins in off-year elections. Trump ranted that Democrats’ campaign arguments are effective while blaming them for causing the high costs to begin with.

“[N]ow, the same people in this chamber who voted for those disasters suddenly use the word ‘affordability’ –a word. They just used it. Somebody gave it to them, knowing full well that they caused and created the increased prices that all of our citizens had to endure.”

“You caused that problem. You caused that problem,” Trump said, looking to Democrats in the audience. “They knew their statements were a lie. They knew it. They knew their statements were a dirty, rotten lie. Their policies created the high prices,” Trump said before launching into claims that he is reducing inflation, despite reports showing no meaningful shift.

“Our policies are rapidly ending [inflation.] We are doing really well. Those prices are plummeting downward. … The cost of chicken, butter, fruit, hotels, automobiles, rent is lower today than when I took office by a lot. And even beef, which was very high, is starting to come down significantly. Just hold on a little while. We're getting it down, and soon you will see numbers that few people would think were possible to achieve.

4. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) calls Trump a “murderer” to his face.

Trump was in the middle of haranguing Democrats for refusing to stand and cheer him on his more controversial claims, when a shouting match erupted across the chamber.

“You should be ashamed of yourself for not standing up,” Trump said. “You should be ashamed of yourself. That is why I'm also asking you to end deadly sanctuary cities that protect the criminals and enact serious penalties for public officials who block the removal of criminal aliens. In many cases, drug lords, murderers all over our country.”

“You’re the murderer,” Omar shouted from her seat, likely referring to Trump’s politicized Homeland Security force causing the deaths of multiple residents in Minnesota. Omar’s outburst prompted the president’s supporters to chant to drown her out with shouts of “USA! USA! USA!”

“… They're blocking the removal of these people out of our country. And you should be ashamed of yourself,” Trump said over the noise.

“You should be ashamed,” Omar blasted back with an accusatory point, joined by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) who sat beside her.

5.Trump accuses Democrats of cheating in elections, again without evidence.

Trump made a point to try to hold Democrats accountable for not supporting new ballot restrictions that could impact voters across the nation.

“You need to show two original forms of ID and a Social Security card,” Trump said, referring to hiring practices in New York City. “Yet [Democrats] don't want identification for the greatest privilege of them all: Voting in America.”

Trump claimed “both Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly agree on the policy” of new ID requirements for voting, despite claiming in the same breath that Democrats oppose the effort.

“… [T]he reason they don't want to do it — why would anybody not want voter ID? One reason: because they want to cheat. There's only one reason. They make up all excuses. They say it's racist. They come up with things. You almost say what imagination they have. They want to cheat, they have cheated, and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat. And we're going to stop it. We have to stop it. And here is one more opportunity to show common sense in government.”

Of all U.S. presidents, Trump remains the only one who has been impeached for his actions in the attempted overthrow the U.S. election in 2020.

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