Politics and views in the United States

Democrats decry what they call the President's 'State of Delusion.' Trump claims prices are plummeting despite evidence to the contrary and House members introduced a bipartisan war powers resolution on Iran.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Is the president working to keep Americans safe, both at home and abroad?

We all know the answer is no.

In Democrats' rebuttal to the State of the Union, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger attacked President Donald Trump's policies.

The president dwelled on his economic and immigration policies, but Spanberger argued that's out of touch with reality. say Trump's tariffs on his mega bill are raising costs, notably for health insurance and imports.

In the speech, Trump blamed former President Joe Biden for high inflation and said prices were plummeting.

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.

But prices are actually still going up, and the rate of inflation is near where it was when Trump took office. figures show beef prices are still at record highs, up more than a fifth from the year before.

Trump was quick to claim lower border crossings, but this actually began under Biden, much of that due to harsh actions by the Mexican government.

And after ICE's surge in Minneapolis, the agency is meeting resistance.

New Hampshire residents have rejected a bid from Homeland Security for a warehouse to become a 600-bed detention facility.

Grace Kindecky with the New Hampshire Center for Justice and Equity says they object to people being wrongly detained.

This energy and this wind really just powers us up from the next round of struggle that we have to continue to be in because our people and our loved ones are still being taken.

They're still being disappeared into the system.

In the State of the Union, the president said he'll keep seeking diplomatic solutions to Iran's development of nuclear weapons and the forces building up in the region will add leverage.

Kentucky Republican Thomas Massey and California Democrat Ro Khanna have introduced a bipartisan war powers resolution in the House that could limit any military action.

Khanna says war won't prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and could inflame nationalism.

Trump also announced a "war on fraud."

Vice President J.D. Vance and Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Mehmet Oz followed up by announcing a pause on Medicaid funding for Minnesota.

Close to $260 million in funds won't be reimbursed, depriving programs like autism care and non-medical transportation seen as high risk for deception.

The speech cited last year's budget mega-bill as a success.

Several states are seeking new revenues to make up for its cuts.

New Yorkers are calling for the state to tax wealthier residents and corporations as a way to make up for the revenue and polls show legislation to do so is popular.

Bravin Ranga with the Invest in Our New York campaign says growing support from state lawmakers stems from seeing firsthand how the people in their districts are bracing for federal cuts.

Hospitals in their districts are already shutting down wards and laying off staff in anticipation of the federal cuts.

They've seen the impacts of cuts to SNAP.

They've seen the impacts of localities having to scale back services in order to deal with the federal cuts.

Opponents say it could drive away the very populations who make the state vibrant and support its tax base.

I'm Edwin J. Viera for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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