Taking Stock Before the State of the Union

Originally posted on Facebook, February 23, 2026, the day before the State of the Union.

I haven’t made a political post in a while, and that’s mostly because there’s just so much going on and everything moves so quickly, so I never really get a chance to let my thoughts settle enough to make a whole post about it. However, tomorrow is the state of the union, and Trump is going as the least popular president in this century, so I think it’s worth taking stock of all the reasons why. It’s really remarkable how one person can really bungle every single issue.

On the economy, tariffs have been a disaster and have slowed US economic growth more than anyone anticipated. You might think “at least the stock market is up” but you’d be wrong: the US stock market has grown half as much as international markets. On top of that, there have been huge disruptions to the labor market that no one in the administration seems interested in addressing. AI is obviously changing the landscape in ways that require government regulation and guardrails, but there’s no acknowledgement of any of that.

On immigration, Trump promised to implement a mass deportation policy targeting the worst of the worst criminals. Instead he’s released a roving gang of secret masked police into American cities who are detaining, harassing, and killing American citizens and immigrants alike, with no regard for who is and isn’t a criminal. Minneapolis has been forced to make an underground network of nurses and other helpers to escort kids who have been used as bait to lure people out of their homes, deliver babies for new mothers who are too scared to go to a hospital, and otherwise help their neighbors against this brutal assault on their liberties. In response, Kash Patel and the FBI have done their best to kill any investigation into the two unlawful executions that we all saw on video. And what do they have to show for it? No mass deportations….in fact fewer deportations than happened under the Obama administration.

On corruption, Trump has a slush fund of crypto currency that domestic and foreign actors have used to funnel unbelievable sums of money to benefit Trump and his friends and family personally in exchange for all sorts of political favors. On top of that, Trump and Pam Bondi are currently engaged in the biggest cover up that we’ve seen in modern history when it comes to the release of the Epstein files, which Trump has spent the last year slow rolling as much as possible to protect himself and his friends from facing justice. They also redacted the co-conspirators while releasing nude images and names of the victims as a clear threat: “stop trying to hold us accountable because we will make your life hell.” He’s also using the weight of the federal government to silence critics from the military, or social media platforms, or television interviews.

On foreign policy, Trump has allowed Russia to continue its brutal assault on Ukraine. He’s substantially weakened NATO, which has presided over the longest era of peace in Europe ever. We’re also apparently being roped into a war with Iran that no one wants. Honestly, this section is the hardest one to write because there’s just been so much and none of it has been resolved, and it’s really hard to keep track of it all.

On healthcare, Trump allowed Obamacare subsidies to expire raising healthcare premiums for millions of Americans. Simultaneously, his health secretary, RFK Jr, has gone on a crusade against modern medicine causing new outbreaks of measles, and a lack of development of new vaccines that could keep our population healthy.

So with all this coming to a head, let’s see how Trump chooses to address it. My guess: lots of name-calling, deflecting, and lying as always. These midterms can’t come soon enough. 🙄