Rep. Nancy Pelosi dismissed President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Feb. 24, 2026, with a terse assessment: “lazy.”
The 85-year-old former House Speaker, who famously literally tore up Trump’s 2020 remarks papers while standing behind him, voiced her critique during CNN’s post-speech analysis. Her blunt remark came after Trump’s marathon presentation, the longest State of the Union on record at one hour and 48 minutes, surpassing Bill Clinton’s 2000 address by 20 minutes.
“I thought the speech was lazy,” Pelosi said. “It’s one thing to hail patriotism and recovery when you had no part in their heroism, but to spend an hour and a half doing that? What is the real condition of the country?”
Pelosi, who announced in November 2025 she would not seek reelection, was particularly critical of Trump’s scant remarks about Ukraine. The speech fell on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, a timing that Pelosi said made the omission inexcusable. She wondered if Trump even used “a sentence and a half” to address the conflict where “democracy is at risk.”
The tone shifted when Trump attacked congressional stock trading and named Pelosi directly. He called on Congress to pass the Stop Insider Trading Act, sponsored by Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), which would bar lawmakers, their spouses, and dependent children from purchasing publicly traded stocks and would require seven days’ public notice before sales.
After noting bipartisan applause for the measure, Trump quipped, “Did Nancy Pelosi stand up—if she’s here? Doubt it.” The remark referenced long-running scrutiny of Pelosi and her husband, Paul, a venture capitalist, over profitable trades during her time in office. The pair accumulated significant wealth during her decades in Congress.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) stood and applauded when Trump raised the matter. CNN host Kasie Hunt pressed Pelosi on how she would respond to the president’s comment.
Pelosi replied that she stood during Trump’s remarks with many Democrats and maintained her family’s trading was lawful, adding that any wrongdoing would have led to legal consequences.
The Stop Insider Trading Act has attracted more than 90 House cosponsors and moved out of committee on a 7–4 party-line vote. The proposal would build on the 2012 STOCK Act’s disclosure rules, though some Democrats argued it doesn’t go far enough because lawmakers could still retain existing stock holdings.
The president spent roughly six minutes praising the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team, which had won gold at the Milan Cortina Winter Games two days earlier with a 2–1 overtime victory over Canada — the first U.S. men’s hockey gold since 1980. Trump awarded goalie Connor Hellebuyck the Presidential Medal of Freedom during the address.
Trump also honored Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan, presenting him with the Legion of Merit for extraordinary heroism. During catastrophic Fourth of July flooding in Central Texas in 2025, Ruskan saved 165 people at Camp Mystic during his first rescue mission. The floods killed nearly 140 people, including 27 campers and counselors at the Christian camp along the Guadalupe River.
Trump touted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the sweeping tax and budget plan he signed into law on July 4, 2025. Pelosi criticized the measure for cutting Medicaid and social programs to pay for tax breaks for wealthy Americans, accusing Trump of removing half a trillion dollars from Medicare and a trillion from Medicaid through his policies.
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger delivered the Democratic rebuttal from Colonial Williamsburg. The first woman to serve as Virginia’s leader, Spanberger stressed affordability, a key theme Democrats plan to push ahead of the midterm elections. She argued that Trump’s tariffs are effectively another large tax on American families.
The address took place four days after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s broad tariffs in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, ruling 6–3 that he exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Trump responded by imposing 15% global tariffs under a different statute, creating further legal uncertainty.
Trump urged Congress to codify his executive actions intended to lower prescription drug costs and prevent investment firms from buying single-family homes. He blamed former President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers for rising prices and higher health care expenses.
The speech came as affordability remained a top worry for Americans. A CNN poll found only 38 percent of viewers reacted positively — the lowest approval for any Trump address — compared with 57 percent for his first 2017 address.