Live updates: Trump's surgeon general pick grilled over her vaccine positions
Dr. Casey Means, an architect of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" agenda, has long criticized corporate influence over the U.S. food system and pharmaceuticals.
What to know today...
- SURGEON GENERAL NOMINEE HEARING: Dr. Casey Means, a popular wellness influencer and architect of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, faced questions on her beliefs about the safety of common vaccines and birth control at a long-awaited Senate hearing to discuss her highly scrutinized nomination for surgeon general.
- MEANS ON VACCINES: When pressed, Means did not rule out a need for further study of whether vaccines could be linked to autism, despite decades of research that found no connection. She also addressed her past criticism of the hepatitis B vaccine, contradicted Kennedy's previous statements dismissing the efficacy of the flu vaccine, and defended her endorsements of certain products and decision not to reactivate her medical license.
- STATE OF THE UNION: President Donald Trump touted his administration’s economic and immigration enforcement policies in a record-long speech last night that grew contentious in the second hour, with tense exchanges between the president and Democratic lawmakers.
Federal judge rules Trump admin may not remove individuals to third country without due process
A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled today that the Trump administration’s policy to quickly remove people to a third country to which they have no previous connection is illegal and that individuals must receive meaningful notice and a chance to challenge their deportations.
“This case is about whether the Government may, without notice, deport a person to the wrong country, or a country where he is likely to be persecuted, or tortured, thereby depriving that person of the opportunity to seek protections to which he would be undisputedly entitled,” U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy wrote in what will likely be his final ruling on the merits of the case.
The case originated after eight migrants were removed from the United States, with the intended destination of South Sudan in March of 2025, but were instead rerouted to Djibouti. The eight migrants did not have South Sudan or Djibouti as the listed country on their final order of removal paperwork, and a lawsuit was filed on their behalf by immigration advocates in an attempt to get them back to the United States for due process.
DOJ has not released some Epstein files related to a woman who made an allegation against Trump
The Department of Justice has not released summaries and notes from three separate interviews the FBI conducted with a South Carolina woman who alleged she was a sexual assault victim of Jeffrey Epstein and also made sexual abuse allegations against Trump, according to an NBC News analysis of the Epstein files and information provided by a source familiar with the investigation.
Those files are also not included in the unredacted collection available for members of Congress to view at the Department of Justice, according to Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
The woman came forward to federal law enforcement shortly after Epstein was arrested in 2019 with a lengthy description of how he assaulted her on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina when she was 13 years old in or around 1984, according to a summary of the FBI interview released by DOJ.
DHS official tells state election chiefs there won’t be ICE agents at polling places
A senior Department of Homeland Security official said on a call with state election officials today that immigration agents will not show up at polling places this year, according to three call participants.
“Any suggestion that ICE is going to be present at polling places is simply disinformation. There will be no ICE presence at polling locations,” said Heather Honey, a deputy assistant secretary for election integrity, according to one individual who participated in the call and requested anonymity to speak candidly and share quotes. Two other participants on the call confirmed the comments.
Honey, a conservative activist who was involved in the 2020 election denial movement before being appointed to a role in the Trump administration, made the remark after California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a Democrat, asked if states would be alerted to immigration operations at polling sites.
Federal law makes it illegal to deploy “troops or armed men” to a polling site, but some election officials have raised concerns that the Trump immigration operations could affect the upcoming midterms.
At Democratic retreat, Jeffries rallies the troops and predicts victory in November: 'It's over'
A day after Trump’s State of the Union address, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., rallied the troops today at the House Democrats' annual retreat and predicted that his party would take back the majority in the November midterm elections.
“House Democrats are on the verge of a takeover. The break’s over for these MAGA extremists,” Jeffries declared at the start of the three-day gathering at a resort in Leesburg, Virginia. “It’s over because the American people know that Donald Trump and House Republicans have failed the American people. They failed on the economy, they failed on health care, they failed on immigration enforcement, they failed to make life better for everyday Americans.”
House Democrats will hear from political leaders, labor leaders and experts as they discuss and debate their midterm elections strategy — one focused mostly on affordability — as well as their legislative and oversight agenda in 2027 should they prove victorious in the fall.
Among the speakers this week are Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, fresh off delivering her Democratic response to Trump last night; author and historian Ron Chernow; Heather Cox Richardson, the Boston College history professor who has a large liberal following; and Lee Saunders, the president of the large trade union known as AFSCME.
“Going forward, affordability is the No. 1 issue facing families all across the country. Donald Trump and House Republicans promised to lower prices on day one, and that has been a big broken promise,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., head of the House Democrats’ campaign operation this cycle.
“You’re seeing voters sour on Republicans, especially on Republicans’ handling of the economy and the country,” she continued, “and Democrats are in the strongest position yet to retake the majority this fall, and come next year, we will have the gavels.”
Hakeem Jeffries defends Rep. Al Green's 'on point' message to Trump at SOTU
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., had warned his Democratic members not to engage in any distracting protests during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union.
But today he defended Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who was escorted out of Trump’s address last night after the congressman held up a sign to the president reading: “Black people are not apes!”
“I thought the Democratic response was appropriately restrained and forceful at the same period of time, and that was obvious to anybody who was watching,” Jeffries said, as he kicked off House Democrats’ annual issues conference.
“With respect to Representative Green’s response, it was both appropriate and restrained at the same period of time,” the leader continued. “Now, his message that he communicated was obviously on point, but it was far less profane than my reaction to the very same racist video that Donald Trump felt compelled to produce.”
Earlier this month, Trump sparked a firestorm after he posted on social media a video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. After GOP backlash, Trump deleted the video but has refused to apologize.
Trump says Muslim lawmakers should be sent ‘back from where they came’
President Donald Trump said today that Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan should be sent “back from where they came” after they shouted at him during his State of the Union address to Congress last night.
In a post on Truth Social, the president called the two congresswomen “Low IQ” and said they “should be institutionalized,” describing them as having “the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, LUNATICS, mentally deranged and sick,” when they shouted during his speech.
“When people can behave like that, and knowing that they are Crooked and Corrupt Politicians, so bad for our Country, we should send them back from where they came — as fast as possible,” Trump wrote. “They can only damage the United States of America, they can do nothing to help it.”
Trump also included Robert De Niro in his criticism after the Academy Award-winning actor spoke critically of the president and his administration at a “State of the Swamp” counterprogramming event hosted by Democrats in Washington last night.
In his social media post, Trump said Omar and Tlaib “should actually get on a boat with Trump Deranged Robert De Niro, another sick and demented person with, I believe, an extremely Low IQ, who has absolutely no idea what he is doing or saying — some of which is seriously CRIMINAL!”
Larry Summers to resign as Harvard University professor amid Epstein fallout
Larry Summers, the former treasury secretary and noted economist, announced today he plans to resign from his role as a tenured professor at Harvard University — a move that comes amid growing scrutiny on his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I have made the difficult decision to retire from my Harvard professorship at the end of this academic year,” Summers said in a statement. “I will always be grateful to the thousands of students and colleagues I have been privileged to teach and work with since coming to Harvard as a graduate student 50 years ago.”
“Free of formal responsibility, as President Emeritus and a retired professor, I look forward in time to engaging in research, analysis, and commentary on a range of global economic issues,” he added.
Summers also resigned from his leadership position as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard University spokesman Jason Newton confirmed in an email.
Grassley doesn't appear interested in investigating Patel's use of FBI jet for travel to the Olympics
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, doesn't appear to be interested in investigating FBI Director Kash Patel’s use of the FBI’s plane in the wake of his celebrating with the men's U.S. hockey team at the Olympics.
“It kind of falls into the same category that Comey was FBI director, and he wanted to go to a family reunion in Iowa, and he wanted me to meet him at the Waterloo airport so he could have a good business excuse for using the airplane, or just like Wray using the airplane to go to the Adirondacks,” Grassley told NBC News.
“I have to wait until we get done looking into it, but I assume that he’s going to have plenty of reasons that with the dangers of the — dangers that happen at Olympics like you remember the PLO killing Israeli people in 1972 that there’s a good law enforcement reason to be there,” Grassley said, defending Patel's presence at the Olympics.
The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is calling for the panel to investigate Patel’s use of the plane after a whistleblower claimed to the senator that the “Director’s decisions related to DOJ or FBI-controlled aircraft have negatively impacted high-profile criminal investigations,” according to a statement Durbin released yesterday.
An aide for Grassley said that the senator has never written to an official on this topic within a year of them being sworn in, noting this topic was discussed in detail during Patel’s oversight hearing in the fall.
Asked today if he was concerned with Patel chugging a beer with the U.S. hockey team after their gold medal win, Grassley said, “I don’t drink beer. I’m a teetotaler.”
Tech company leaders to visit White House to formalize Rate Payer Protection Pledge
White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers posted on X that Trump would host major tech companies at the White House next week to formalize plans related to the Rate Payer Protection Pledge that the president touted during his State of the Union address.
“Under this bold initiative, these massive companies will build, bring, or buy their own power supply for new AI data centers, ensuring that Americans’ electricity bills will not increase as demand grows,” Rogers wrote in the post.
Fox News first reported the meeting.
Democrats want a fight. In Texas, they’re divided over how — and whom — to fight next.
Texas Democrats may be divided over whether state Rep. James Talarico or Rep. Jasmine Crockett should be their party’s Senate nominee. But they agree on one thing: They’re itching for a fight.
And whoever wins next week’s Senate primary will provide some clues about exactly how Democrats want to go about it — and whom they want to focus on.
Both Talarico and Crockett have been casting themselves as fighters, tapping into the angst among Democratic voters and frustration with party leaders that drove record-low ratings for the Democratic Party following President Donald Trump’s victory in 2024.
Talarico and Crockett have put forth competing visions for the Democratic Party as it searches for a path forward following a deflating loss to Trump — and as Democrats try to win their first statewide race in Texas in more than 30 years.
Means concerned about pesticides, despite executive order
During the hearing, Means maintained that she has “significant concerns” about pesticides, including the ingredient in the weed killer Roundup, during an exchange with Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.
Markey asked Means whether an executive order signed by Trump last week supporting the use of glyphosate puts American families’ health at risk.
“I certainly have significant concerns about many of the environmental chemicals that are used in our agriculture system, of which glyphosate is one of them,” Means said. But she added that her understanding of the executive order is that it “has to do with national security.”
“I think that we are in a very complicated moment for agriculture and food. We cannot overturn the entire agriculture system overnight,” she said.
Use of glyphosate has been implicated for its probable role in the development of cancer for more than a decade. In 2024, Roundup’s maker, Bayer, was ordered to pay $2.25 billion to a Pennsylvania man after a jury found the product caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Means' confirmation hearing ends
The Senate confirmation hearing for Means has concluded 2 1/2 hours after it began.
She was pressed on issues including vaccines, birth control and pesticides.
Means questioned about comments on hepatitis B vaccines
Means faced scrutiny from Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, about her past comments on hepatitis B vaccines.
Means has questioned whether all babies need the vaccine at birth, writing on X that giving a newborn the shot if the parents are negative for hepatitis B is “absolute insanity.”
Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the CDC has rolled back a decades-long recommendation that all newborns get a first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth.
Means said Wednesday that the vaccine is “effective” and “very important,” but added that there’s “differential risk amongst different populations.”
“There’s a nuanced conversation that American families are looking to have about shared clinical decision-making with doctors about specific vaccines that their children may not be as seriously at risk for,” she said.
Means sidesteps questions about flu vaccine effectiveness
During testimony, Means refused to answer a question from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., about the importance of flu vaccines in preventing kids from getting sick and dying from the illness.
Kaine began the line of questioning by bringing up a statement that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made last month during a CBS News interview in which he said that "there is no scientific evidence that the flu vaccine prevents serious illness, hospitalizations, or death in children."
"Do you agree with that statement?" Kaine asked Means. She responded that she had not seen that interview but that she believes "vaccines save lives."
Means said she supports the CDC guidance on the flu vaccine, but stopped short of acknowledging any benefit of the shots.
"This is an easy one, doctor," Kaine said.
The CDC does, in fact, say that flu vaccinations reduce the risk of severe complications and flu-related death.
This flu season has hit children particularly hard. Seventy-one children have died of the flu so far this season, according to the CDC's latest report. The vast majority — 90% — had not received the flu shot.
Means spars with Sen. Andy Kim over inactive medical license
Means said “it would not make sense” to reactivate her license when grilled by Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., on how she might work with the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps despite not holding an active medical license since 2024.
In her new role, Means would oversee the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a federal branch whose officers include physicians, nurses, scientists and engineers. The branch requires its officers to maintain active licenses in their respective fields.
Means sharply defended her decision to maintain her inactive status because she would not be seeing patients in her role as surgeon general.
“Admiral [Brian] Christine has testified that I’m eligible to serve in this role. I’m the president’s nominee for surgeon general and further questions about that will have to go to them,” Means said. “My professional history is a feature. It’s not a bug.”
Means outlines her main goals if confirmed as surgeon general
Asked what her main goal would be if she is confirmed, Means emphasized her interest in examining root causes of illnesses.
"My dream for this role is first and foremost to help nudge, push, inspire our health care system towards focusing on root causes and the reasons why we're getting sick, moving towards a real health care system, and not just a reactive sick care system, which is, of course, also going to lower costs monumentally and unburden, I think, American taxpayers and doctors," she said.
Means has expressed similar sentiments previously in the hearing as well. She added that she wanted Americans to have access to affordable and nutritious food and wanted to understand how the "cumulative burden" of environmental exposures affects health.
Means pushes back on accusation that she didn't disclose various conflicts of interest
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., accused Means of a number of conflicts of interest, routinely violating a policy in which, for a majority of social media posts, she recommended products in which she "did not transparently reveal" her financial connection.
"That's false," Means said. "In any post where I said I am not receiving money, I had not been receiving money at that time."
As an example, Murphy said that Means received partnership fees for a prenatal vitamin and that she had posted links to those products.
Means said what he was describing was a "false representation" of what occurred and said that she has been complying with government ethics rules and that she takes conflicts of interest very seriously.
Murphy also said, "You have 200,000 newsletter subscribers, you have almost a million Instagram followers and in only three out of 14 times on Daily Harvest, when you were promoting Daily Harvest, you disclosed that you’re getting paid by them?"
"It sounds like you have a lot to say about this issue, and I would be very interested to see how your staff looked at this data," Means replied. "I have a strong feeling that the way in which they gather this data is done intentionally to create these claims that you’re making."
Baldwin grills Means on endorsement of supplements and lab testing company
Prior to the hearing, Means’ sale of dietary supplements on social media had generated concern about potential conflicts of interest and the spread of misleading information.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., asked Means to explain her promotion of supplements that claim to offer longevity and detoxification, as well as charging people for glucose monitoring through a company she co-founded named Levels.
Means said she was proud of her work “using entrepreneurship as a tool ... that can help us understand our blood sugar better.”
Baldwin also asked Means about her endorsement of a lab testing company, Genova Diagnostics, that entered into a $43 million settlement with the Justice Department in 2020. The DOJ alleged that the company made false claims and billed patients for medically unnecessary lab tests.
“Frankly, I was not familiar with that settlement,” Means said. “There’s a particular test that they make about nutrient quality that I find very compelling.”
Dr. Casey Means testifies today. Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images
Means says vaccines 'save lives' despite past criticism
When asked by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., if she would encourage the measles mumps and rubella vaccine for children, Means said "I believe vaccines save lives.”
“I do believe that each patient, mother, parent, needs to have a conversation with their pediatrician about any medication they’re putting in their body and their children’s bodies," she said.
She went on to say that vaccines are a “key part” of public health strategies related to infectious disease and that she would work with Cassidy and medical agencies on those strategies.
In the past, Means has called into question the vaccine schedule, claiming it is “causing health declines in vulnerable children,” although routine childhood shots are backed by decades of safety data.
Means hearing pauses for recess
The Senate hearing will regroup in 15 minutes.
Means says pesticides are a 'very complex issue'
Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, asked Means about her views on pesticides, given that many farmers rely on them to protect their crops.
"This is a very complex issue," she said. "And what I would just want to start by saying is that I have the utmost respect for the American farmer, and I think just like doctors, farmers are an impossible situation right now, where we have developed an agriculture system that is dependent on chemicals that are toxic to have an affordable food supply."
"And that's not good for farmers, she said. "It's not good for consumers."
She said that the administration is committed to understanding the impact of cumulative exposure to chemicals and said she understands "the nuance of these issues" and how it impacts farmers.
Sen. Patty Murray presses Means on birth control comments
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., pressed Means about her prior comments about birth control. Means has said that hormonal birth control has "horrifying health risks," though research indicates that birth control is safe for most people.
Means said that she believes the medications should be "accessible to all women."
"And also, all medications have risks and benefits, and in our current medical climate with the burden on doctors, doctors do not have enough time for a thorough and informed consent conversation," she said, adding that side effects of birth control can include blood clots and stroke risks in certain women.
She said her comments about birth control side effects were taken out of context, adding that she was speaking about particular women who can be hurt without informed consent or conversations about medical history.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin attacks Sanders on Obamacare and broken health care system
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., used much of his time to attack Sanders on Obamacare and a broken health care system in the U.S.
"I ranted too long," Mullin eventually said.
"Yes, you did," Sanders responded.
"I'm sorry, I didn't ask your opinion on that. I don’t care about your opinion," Mullin said. "You're part of the system. You're part of the problem. You've been sitting here longer than I've even been alive. This is your problem. You should have fixed this a long time ago."
Sanders responded, "I've decided not to run for surgeon general — you're the nominee," gesturing toward Means.
Casey Means focuses on chronic illness and research funding in her opening statement
Means opened her Senate confirmation hearing by outlining her concerns about chronic illness in the U.S. and highlighting her experience.
Means on whether vaccines cause autism: 'We should not leave any stones unturned'
In response to questions from both Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Means declined to rule out vaccines as a contributor to autism — despite decades of evidence that has not shown a link.
“We do not know as a medical community what causes autism,” Means said. “Until we have a clear understanding of why kids are developing this at higher rates, I think we should not leave any stones unturned.”
She added that she accepted the current scientific evidence, but that “science is never settled.”
Earlier in the hearing, Means said that vaccines save lives and are “an important part of public health.”
Casey Means testifies today. Kylie Cooper / Reuters
Sen. Bill Cassidy asks Means about abortion medication and birth control
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who chairs the committee, asked Means whether she believes the abortion medication mifepristone is safe and should be prescribed without an in-person doctor appointment.
"I think that every medication has risks and benefits," Means said. "I think that all patients need to have a thorough conversation with their doctor and have true informed consent before taking any medication."
Asked again whether an in-person doctor appointment should be required, Means said that the issue was "out of the purview of the surgeon general's office."
Cassidy asked Means whether she believes birth control is safe and should be widely accessible without a prescription. Means said that "I absolutely think that oral contraception should be widely accessible," adding that she believed "oral contraceptions do have significant risk," a stance she has shared previously as well. Research indicates that hormonal birth control is safe for most people.
Sen. Bernie Sanders says he has serious questions about Means' ability to be surgeon general
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the ranking member on the Senate HELP Committee, expressed doubts in his opening statement about Means' ability to serve as surgeon general.
"I have very serious questions about the ability of Dr. Means to be the kind of surgeon general this country needs," he said.
He also criticized Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over cuts to Medicaid and "conspiracy theories" surrounding vaccines.
Sanders said that as a result of massive cuts to Medicaid and Obamacare, "15 million people will be losing the health care they had" and added that as a result of these policies, "some 50,000 of our fellow Americans will die unnecessarily each and every year."
"Secretary Kennedy and the Trump administration continue to spread dangerous conspiracy theories about vaccines, making it harder for Americans to protect their children from deadly diseases," he said.
Casey Means hearing kicks off
The Senate hearing regarding the confirmation of Means to be surgeon general has kicked off.
Means will face questions from lawmakers on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. She's likely to be pressed on her stance on issues like vaccines, as well as her qualifications.
Who is Casey Means, Trump's surgeon general pick?
Dr. Casey Means will go before lawmakers for a hearing about her nomination to serve as surgeon general, the nation's top public health spokesperson. She was previously scheduled to appear before the committee in October, but the hearing was postponed when she went into labor.
Means is a wellness influencer who served as a campaign adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his presidential bid and helped orchestrate his "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. Her medical license lapsed in 2024, and she has criticized parts of modern medicine like hormonal birth control and the childhood vaccine schedule.
Last year, she argued that the "total burden" of the vaccine schedule was "causing health declines in vulnerable children." She has said that hormonal birth control has "horrifying health risks," despite research showing that it is safe for most people.
Means has also generated controversy for selling dietary supplements and wellness products on social media. Critics have expressed concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
Frostbite and frozen weapons: How U.S. troops train in the Arctic
Temperatures at 30 degrees below zero. Punishing winds. Relentless snow. And only a few hours of sunlight.
Those are the conditions facing the U.S. troops known as the Arctic Angels, who are stationed in a region that is fast becoming a strategic battleground for global powers. Trump has made the Arctic a focus as he has threatened a U.S. takeover of Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory, saying it’s necessary for America’s national security. But since long before then, the U.S., Russia and China have been quietly battling for dominance on one of the world’s only remaining underdeveloped fronts.
NBC News joined troops with the Army’s 11th Airborne Division as they trained to guard against possible threats and potential warfare in a remote part of Alaska, where the battle is often one of logistics.
“Everything’s harder in the Arctic,” said Maj. Gen. John Cogbill, commanding general of the 11th Airborne Division. Weapons freeze, batteries die faster and moving around takes much longer. “Just surviving up here is a challenge in and of itself,” he said.
‘You have killed Americans!’: Democrats and Trump clash at the State of the Union
Tensions between Trump and Democrats reached a peak during his State of the Union speech last night, with the two sides clashing over his remarks about immigration and allegations of fraud.
Democratic lawmakers shouted at Trump as he talked about illegal immigration and a fraud investigation into the Somali community in Minnesota.
He declared that Democrats should be “ashamed.”
“You should be ashamed!” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., shouted back at Trump.
“Liar!” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., yelled at one point.
Tlaib and Omar grew louder in their responses and heckling of Trump as his speech progressed. Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., could also be seen shouting at Trump.
“You have killed Americans!” Omar and Tlaib yelled. Later, they left the House chamber.
Fact-checking Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address
Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address in history last night, touting his administration’s economic policies and immigration enforcement, while condemning Democrats and the previous administration.
Trump also made a series of exaggerated, misleading and false claims throughout the evening about topics ranging from the economy to crime to elections.
Here’s what the president got right — and wrong — in his address.
Three takeaways from Trump’s State of the Union speech
Trump gave a triumphal State of the Union speech yesterday, proclaiming that he has ushered in a “golden age of America” while taunting Democrats in the chamber and blaming the country’s problems on them.
The speech comes at a perilous moment for Trump as his approval ratings have slipped. Americans have lost trust in him on the economy for the first time in his political career, according to a wide range of polls, presenting troubles for his party ahead of the November midterm elections.
Still, Trump didn’t suggest he would adjust his domestic or foreign policies in response. On issues from immigration to the economy to foreign policy, Trump’s speech was heavy on touting his existing policies and light on offering new ones.
Instead, he sounded defiant and took pride in his first year back in office while sparring with Democrats and goading them to respond to him. Respond they did, with a mix of silence, angry shouts and even mocking laughter.
Here are three takeaways from his speech, which clocked in at over 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Trump touts a ‘roaring economy’ in his State of Union as Americans continue to struggle
Declaring “a turnaround for the ages,” Trump offered a version of America’s standing in his State of the Union address last night that is at odds with the perceptions of the electorate.
Wearing a red power tie with a flag pin on the lapel of his navy suit and speaking to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber, Trump rolled off a list of statistics and policies to support his view that the nation is “back bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before” — a “golden age of America.”
A “roaring economy,” Trump said near the start of his record-breaking 1-hour, 47-minute speech, “is roaring like never before.”
He vowed to maintain unilateral tariffs on foreign goods despite an adverse Supreme Court decision, promising that “these powerful, country-saving, peace-protecting tariffs will remain in place under fully approved and tested alternative legal statutes.”
Trump touted popular policies in his controversial 2025 tax cut, from eliminating taxes on tips for wage workers to investment vehicles for newborns dubbed “Trump accounts.”
But Americans tell pollsters, in survey after survey, that they are not satisfied with the economy 13 months into Trump’s second presidency. Nor do most of them approve of his handling of the other key pillar of his agenda, a mass deportation campaign, or of the overall job he has done in the Oval Office..
Trump’s surgeon general pick to appear before Senate in highly anticipated hearing
Dr. Casey Means will appear before the Senate on this morning in a long-awaited hearing to discuss her highly scrutinized nomination for surgeon general.
Means, a popular wellness influencer, was a campaign adviser during Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential bid and an architect of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. Her brother, Calley Means, is a Kennedy ally and senior adviser to the Health and Human Services Department.
If confirmed to the role, Means would be an outlier among surgeons general: She does not hold an active medical license (her license lapsed in January 2024) and she did not complete her medical residency (she graduated from Stanford University School of Medicine but left a surgical residency program at Oregon Health and Science University in 2018, just months before she was due to complete it).
As a result, many medical professionals have questioned whether Means is qualified to become America’s top doctor with the authority to issue health warnings and advisories for the entire country.
