In typical bravado, Trump at the White House brags about war campaign against Iran.
"We're doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly, I would say. Somebody said, on a scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said, about a 15."
@njspotlightnews.org
NEWS: The Trump administration paid $130 million (more than double the value) for an ICE detention warehouse in New Jersey.
Sellers of the site (Dalfen Industrial and Goldman Sachs) refused to say what they pocketed with the sale.
www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/02/resi...
@njspotlightnews.org
Breaking: A blind Burmese refugee named Nurul Shah Alam has been missing since Thurs. after Border Patrol agents dropped him off at a Tim Hortons, leaving him to find his own way home.
His family & lawyers weren't notified. They're seeking help to find him.
www.investigativepost.org/2026/02/24/b...
President Trump spoke for 1 hour and 47 minutes, setting a record for the lengthiest State of the Union address.
Done! Democrats hot-footed it out of here. Trump shaking hands and taking selfies with Republicans, senators and House members, on the way out.
Something that didn't come up? Jeffrey Epstein and his years of abuse.
As NPR reported today, the Dept. of Justice withheld files about Trump and his ties to the serial sexual abuser.
www.npr.org/2026/02/24/n...
Trump appears to be wrapping up. Not surprisingly, very light on any hard policy, extremely heavy on pomp, shouting between he and Dems, and lots of "USA, USA" chants.
Trump deep into the second hour of the speech, on track to blow past his own record for longest State of the Union in history.
www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/pr...
A bunch of Democrats boycotting the speech at are an event on the National Mall instead.
More about that from the small-but-mighty @statesnewsroom.com folks in D.C.
www.newsfromthestates.com/article/dems...
Trump claiming to have prevented 8 wars. Yeah, there's no truth to that.
Republicans in this Congress have repeatedly voted to block resolutions to check Trump's war powers.
www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/01/nj-r...
@njspotlightnews.org
Rep. Norcross voted against the voter ID bill Trump wants Congress to pass.
New Jersey lawmakers split on it -- Republicans for, Democrats against.
The bill could make it harder for tens of millions of Americans to vote by requiring more documents/restricting mail-in ballots.
Kirk's killing shook Capitol Hill.
“Within one hour of Charlie Kirk, and I’m sure I’m not the only one, I got a phone call that basically said ‘We’re glad what happened to Charlie Kirk, you’re next,’” Rep. Jeff Van Drew told me last year.
www.njspotlightnews.org/2025/09/as-t...
Trump calls slain right-wing Charlie Kirk activist "my friend." Kirk's widow Erika is in the president's box. Also there: Trump Jr. Eric Trump, Ivanka and all there spouses/partners. Baron Trump too.
Trump getting punchy. "These people are CRAZY," he says of Democrats.
Attendance really patchy versus last year. Many open seats on the floor and in the galleries.
The first Trump administration created a task force to examine voter fraud. A hand-picked group of Trump allies could not fine such fraud.
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Trump now calls on a very restrictive voter ID law, claiming voter fraud is "rampant." That is a lie. Voter fraud is extremely rare.
@njspotlightnews.org
Trump and Reps. Omar (Minnesota) and Tlaib (Michigan) now in a full-on shouting match.
"You have killed Americans!" they yelled at him.
Not sure if that comes through on TV.
Immigration approach of his has started running into pushback, including from Republicans, as we wrote about today in @njspotlightnews.org.
www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/02/arme...
Trump on his hardline anti-immigration crackdown:
"We're getting them the hell out of here."
Senator Kim is in the chamber tonight for the speech. Senator Cory Booker is not. Massive boycott by House Democrats.
First big applause at all from Democrats comes when Trump said Congress should pass a law to ban insider trading.
California Democrat Mark Takano gets up and shouts at Trump with hands open saying: "What about you?!? What about you?"
Follow here and watch with our friends at @pbsnews.org --->
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTK3...
Only four justices are in the House chamber tonight: John Roberts, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
The Supreme Court struck down Trump's tariff authority last week in a 6-3 ruling.
www.scotusblog.com/2026/02/supr...
Criticizing the Supreme Court ruling last week that struck down his sweeping global tariff policy.
"Congressional action will not be necessary," Trump said, claiming a new tariff regime will bring in trillions of dollars for the U.S.
Trump bragging about the stock market and lying about inflation
"Everybody's up, way up." He's also claiming, without details, that 80 million barrels of oil are now coming to the U.S. from Venezuela, which he called "our new friend and partner."
Trump says "there's no inflation."
Hey, Internet, I cover Congress and the U.S. government for NJ Spotlight News, a non-profit newsroom.
Tonight I'm in the House of Representatives, watching Pres. Trump give his State of the Union remarks.
After a big wind-up, he is finally talking policy...🧵
@njspotlightnews.org
🧵I'm in the House chamber ahead of President Trump's State of the Union address.
The Republican side is pretty full at the moment and while there are several dozen Dems in attendance, their side does look a bit emptier. I have not yet seen the hockey team.
Pinned lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Aug 19, 2021 Almost three years ago, my editor called me early one November morning. A wildfire had sparked near a town called Paradise, he said. Could I go? (1/13) 0:02 / 0:10 lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · 47m I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated. Quote lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Jan 25 Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.) But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil — pen ink freezes — by headlamp.
A publisher who lays off a reporter whose pen is freezing because she's covering a frigid war zone while dodging missiles is not an editor you want to work for, in a more perfect world
ICE Withholds Congressionally Mandated Detention Data
In the midst of heated budget negotiations over immigration enforcement, ICE flouts Congress's prior mandate to publish timely detention data.
austinkocher.substack.com/p/ice-withho...
