After a year of governing without obstacles, a Donald Trump shocked by the Supreme Court’s reversals of tariffs, the deterioration of his popularity due to his immigration offensive and growing concern about the economy, will address Congress on Tuesday.
He will deliver his first “State of the Union Address,” a solemn moment in American life, during which the president is expected to take stock and speak about his priorities before members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
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The billionaire is unlikely to question himself, but his boasts will have less impact on the Democratic opposition and world leaders, who have so far been overwhelmed by his agenda.
On Friday, the Supreme Court shook up Trump’s economic and diplomatic strategy by eliminating a significant portion of his tariffs.
That same day, the Secretary of Commerce reported a slowdown in the US economy in the last quarter of 2025.
Meanwhile, polls show growing discontent with the cost of living as well as ICE’s authoritarian methods against undocumented migrants.
The cost of living
So far, Trump’s inflation strategy has been assurances that everything will be fine.
“I’ve made things profitable,” the president declared Thursday during a speech in the southern state of Georgia.
But “people know how much they spend,” Todd Belt, a political science professor at George Washington University, told AFP.
Supporters “resent a lot when they are told something they know is not true,” he added.
This applies to both the cost of living and the crackdown on immigrants, which many Americans mistakenly believed would focus on deporting violent criminals.
Voters have shown extreme sensitivity to economic problems, which partly sank Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, but now threaten Republicans.
In the November midterm elections, the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate will be up for grabs.
Trump has already warned that if Democrats take control, they could attempt impeachment against him.
Reverse?
In this scenario, the usually bombastic Trump has backtracked on several issues.
He removed from his Truth Social account a racist video referring to Barack and Michelle Obama that the White House initially defended as the “mistake” of a mysterious “employee.” But even Republican senators broke ranks to criticize the president for his post.
It also ended a massive immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after weeks of protests, marked by the deaths of two American citizens at the hands of federal agents.
At the international level, the US president abandoned his threats to annex Greenland after reaching an agreement, the terms of which remain vague, during his visit to the Davos Forum.
Meanwhile, challenges to Trump’s policies are moving slowly in the courts.
He could face further setbacks in the economy, immigration and his vast campaign of political revenge and intimidation.
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For example, a judge temporarily blocked sanctions imposed by the Pentagon against a Democratic senator, a former military officer, who had angered the president by suggesting that soldiers “refuse illegal orders.”
Another judge cited the Bible, “Then Jesus wept,” in ordering the release of a 5-year-old boy sent with his father to a migrant detention center.
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