During President Trump’s State of the Union address, many medals were given out. There was taunting of Democrats, a few of whom shouted right back.
But in a midterm election year, with his polls numbers slipping, Mr. Trump spent much of the speech trying to make the case that his second term was “a turnaround for the ages.”
Did Americans agree? We asked seven voters in several crucial swing districts or states about their reactions. In a partisan era, they were as divided about Tuesday night as the politicians in the Capitol.
“I was very impressed with the speech. He brought up so many things that personally impacted my life.”
Aurora Metz, 29, Easton, Pa.
Aurora Metz, a nursing student, said that Mr. Trump spoke to every one of her concerns — almost.
She was happy that he mentioned ending wars, housing costs and his “no tax on tips.”
Ms. Metz, who said she voted for Mr. Trump three times, said that she was particularly impressed that he brought up issues she had not previously considered, like the new prescription drug website, TrumpRx.
“I went online after and learned about it and the prices are great,” she said. “As a nursing student I thought that was great.”
But there was one issue he did not touch: the Epstein files. “I wanted him to address it,” she said, adding, “It was definitely the elephant in the room.”
— Ruth Igielnik
“He looked for the worst of us. I felt directly attacked.”
Miguel Perdomo, 57, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Miguel Perdomo, a business owner originally from the Dominican Republic, was waiting for Mr. Trump to talk about bettering people’s lives and preventing mass shootings in schools. Instead, he was left disappointed and angry about how he felt the president insulted immigrants.
“It was racist,” Mr. Perdomo, 57, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., said in Spanish. “All of his examples were about the worst of immigrants, there was nothing about the immigrants that came here to work, nothing about immigrants like me. I’ve spent 30 years working without stopping. He looked for the worst of us. I felt directly attacked.”
Mr. Perdomo, who said he voted for Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, did feel positively about the president’s discussion of the economy. Though he thinks that the economy has not yet improved, he believes that Mr. Trump is trying to bring solutions.
Still, that was not enough to change his mind about the tone of the address.
“These speeches are supposed to unite people,” Mr. Perdomo said. “That’s why this is called the State of the Union.”
— Christina Morales
“I have to give this one an A. It’s a really good State of the Union.”
Tom Ciampi, 67, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Tom Ciampi, who said he voted for Mr. Trump, was planning to turn off his speech if it went on too long. But he ended up impressed enough that he watched to the end.
To Mr. Ciampi, the State of the Union was largely a summary of accomplishments, which he said he expected. But he appreciated that the president “brought the receipts,” by citing a raft of statistics.
“I found this a very good mix,” he said, “and not Trump making it all about him.”
Mr. Ciampi, who retired as a quality assurance manager, said he was already confident that the president was bringing companies back to the United States. That was a concern he understood firsthand, having once worked for a business that moved its operations to Mexico. Still, he said he was impressed when the president said there had been $18 trillion in investment — a number double what the White House has been claiming.
Overall, he thought Mr. Trump successfully stayed on message.
“I have to give this one an A,” he said. “It’s a really good State of the Union.”
— Campbell Robertson
“Almost nothing looks more dictatorial than saying, I can get it done without Congress.”
Tamon Steven Pearson, 56, Conyers, Ga.
Mr. Pearson, an independent voter who said he had been previously registered as a Republican, was struck in particular by one sentence in Mr. Trump’s speech: “Congressional action will not be necessary.”
Mr. Trump was insisting that he would find a way to bring back the tariffs that the Supreme Court had recently ruled were illegal. Mr. Trump said in his speech that neither the court — nor Congress — would be a problem.
“Almost nothing looks more dictatorial than saying, I can get it done without Congress,” said Mr. Pearson, who works in children’s services for the state of Georgia. He said he did not vote in 2024.
“Dictatorial” is a description that Mr. Pearson has tried to avoid using toward presidents in the past, including Mr. Trump. This time, he said, it feels fitting.
By the time the speech had concluded, Mr. Pearson also said he felt that Mr. Trump had not sufficiently addressed the issues, like homeownership, that mattered most to him. He said it felt to him like a “pep rally” for the Make America Great Again movement, with more symbolism and spectacle than substance.
— Chris Hippensteel
“It was just one-sided, because he was only talking to his party.”
Jalen Hawkins, 31, Smyrna, Ga.
Mr. Hawkins, a customer service representative from Smyrna, Ga., said that he voted for Ms. Harris in 2024, but was open minded toward the president in his second term.
But he could not stomach the speech, which he said felt “embarrassing” to watch. The president, he said, liberally deployed exaggerations and falsehoods, and focused too heavily on blaming Democrats for the nation’s problems.
Mr. Trump’s hostility toward the Democrats wore on him as the address continued, Mr. Hawkins said. So did Mr. Trump’s repeated attempts to divide the chamber by asking lawmakers to stand in support of his statements.
“It was just one-sided, because he was only talking to his party,” Mr. Hawkins said.
He stopped watching well before the president reached the end.
— Chris Hippensteel
“There was show boating going on, but Biden did that.”
Gilbert Smith, 27, Mount Airy, Ga.
Gilbert Smith, a libertarian who works in package shipping, said he did not vote in 2024, though he considered voting for Mr. Trump.
He caught only the first hour of the speech, though felt that he had heard enough. “There was show boating going on, but Biden did that, and so did every president before him,” he said.
What he saw of the speech played into his skepticism about the federal government.
“Everyone in Washington is looking out for themselves, their friends and family,” he said, adding, “But I haven’t seen much give in either direction for the common man. For people like me.”
— Ruth Igielnik
“Everything he says is just so ridiculous.”
Chantal Krystiniak, 33, Kelso, Wash.
Chantal Krystiniak, a youth development educator at a jail, had a long list of concerns after Mr. Trump’s speech: potential strikes on Iran, his attacks on immigrants and Democratic members of Congress, health care, environmental protections and more.
“It’s just more lies,” she said. “He’s just inflating his base with misinformation.”
Ms. Krystiniak, who said she voted for Ms. Harris in 2024, said the president should have focused his speech on what the government accomplished to help people.
“It’s scary,” she said, adding, “everything he says is just so ridiculous.”
At the same time, Ms. Krystiniak, 33, said the Democratic Party needs better candidates and she has lately been discouraged by the two-party system.
“I really just hope that this mobilizes more people to take action,” she said.
— Christina Morales
Christian Boone and Aaron West contributed reporting.
Campbell Robertson reports for The Times on Delaware, the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
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