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The overall theme so far in Trump's address is one of celebration, whether celebrating his accomplishments so far in his second term, celebrating the upcoming 250th anniversary of U.S. Independence, or celebrating the U.S. Olympic hockey team. 

Trump certainly made the most of the men's team's appearance in Congress, talking about them for more than five minutes. The images of smiling hockey players with gold medals around their necks will play well. 

For the first 10 minutes of his speech, before the arrival of the hockey team, Trump appeared to largely stick to the prepared text of his speech. That's something he often doesn't do, with his penchant for going off on tangents. 

He read off a long list of accomplishments in his first year back in office, punctuated by enthusiastic applause from Republicans in the House.

Trump noted that stock markets have been rising all year and setting records.

It’s true that the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high in January of 50,000 points (it has since fallen a bit). 

The S&P 500 also recently hit a record 7,000 points. But the performance of U.S. Stock markets in 2025 was not as good as elsewhere.

Over the past year, the Dow has gained about 13 per cent in value, the S&P 500 has gained about 15 per cent, and the NASDAQ about 18 per cent.

Compared to some other global economies, that is weak. Canada’s S&P/TSX is up 35 per cent in the past year. Japan’s Nikkei is up 49 per cent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 is up 23 per cent, and South Korea’s main stock index has more than doubled.

Trump said he would be awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Connor Hellebuyck, the goalie for the U.S. During the gold-medal game. The medal is the joint-highest civilian honour in the U.S.

There have been a number of "U-S-A" chants so far — and now we have the first mention of Canada during Trump's speech.

The president gave a lengthy shout-out to the U.S. Men's Olympic hockey players who are in attendance, who he said beat a "fantastic Canadian team" to win the gold.

"Here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud," Trump said before the room erupted in applause.

David Michael Lamb

Trump has said for months that he has secured commitments of $18 trillion in investments from countries and companies around the world, and he repeated the claim again tonight. 

In short, no one but Trump knows where the number comes from, or how he arrived at it.

The White House cites $9.7 trillion in investments, but even that number isn’t firm. Some of the pledges are for far in the future. Others, such as $600 billion of spending agreed to by the EU, does not legally bind European countries to carry through with it.

The numbers also bear no relation to the current reality. Total private investment in the United States was most recently running at a $5.4 trillion annual pace. In 2024, the last year for which figures are available, total foreign direct investment in the United States amounted to $151 billion.

So, if Trump's figure is accurate, it would represent a level of investment many times higher than the U.S., or any country, has ever experienced.

David Michael Lamb

In the first few minutes of the speech, Trump said "inflation is plummeting," and that inflation was worse under his predecessor Joe Biden than at any point in history.

This is false. 

In 1980, inflation was 14 per cent, nearly double what it was in 2022 (when it was eight per cent).

The overall inflation rate has fallen slightly since Trump was elected and, as of January, it sat at 2.3 per cent, higher than the two per cent target set by the Federal Reserve. That means prices are still rising.

Food costs are rising at an even faster 2.9 per cent. Electricity is up 6.3 per cent and natural gas is up 9.8 per cent. The shelter index is also up three per cent, meaning housing continues to get more expensive.

Trump began his speech with remarks about inflation, the economy and border security. Minutes into the remarks, Rep. Al Green, a Democrat, was escorted out of the chamber. He had been holding up a sign that said "Black people aren't apes."

Green was removed during Trump's address last year, as well.

Many people in the crowd are applauding and whistling as the president shakes hands and makes his way to the podium. Trump did exchange handshakes with the four Supreme Court justices in attendance, including three, Chief Justice John Roberts and justice Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan, who voted against his tariffs policy.

David Michael Lamb

None of the fact-checking done by the media, political opponents, government institutions or others has influenced him to change his behaviour. But setting the record straight does continue to show its value for anyone who wants to know what the facts actually are.

We may not be able to check every single thing Trump says tonight, but he is likely to repeat some of the false things he's said in the past, and we'll point out as much of that as we can.

Another question of tone I'll be listening for in the speech is whether Trump strikes a balance between boasting about what he's done and pledging to do better. 

Trump's staff have for several months been trying to get him to talk more about affordability during his public events, given that polls show it's the top concern among U.S. Voters. 

Trump has done so somewhat, but often in a dismissive way, typically downplaying the concerns about rising cost of living. He keeps insisting inflation is in check, even though it's continuing to hover around the same level it was when he took office. 

On the one-year anniversary of his inauguration, Trump leafed through a thick document listing 365 accomplishments over the past year. 

If he sticks with that triumphalist tone tonight, some Republican lawmakers who are vulnerable in the midterms might start worrying the president is growing out of touch with what matters to the swing voters they need on side.

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