President Donald Trump embraced Republicans on his way to the podium Tuesday night before delivering his hour and 47 minute State of the Union speech, flanked by Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) and Vice President JD Vance.
Trump entered the arena ready to deliver a verbal record of the wins that his administration has stacked in the last year.
“When I last spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just inherited a nation in crisis, with a stagnant economy, inflation at record levels, a wide-open border, horrendous recruitment for military and police, rampant crime at home, and wars and chaos all over the world,” he said. “But tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before, and a turnaround for the ages. It is indeed a turnaround for the ages.”
Americans who experienced the turnaround firsthand shared their stories with the Republican Study Committee (RSC) at a roundtable ahead of the president’s speech. “America first isn’t just a slogan, it’s delivering real results for real Americans,” Rep. Mark Alford (R., Mo.) said.
Kristin Chorne, the owner of the “Gratitude Spa and Salon” in Bismark, North Dakota, beamed as she explained the monumental difference “no tax on tips” has had on her employees.
“It has made a huge impact,” Chorne said. The salon took in $160,000 in tips in 2025 alone. “It’s a significant amount for our employees.” Chorne’s full-time employees will take home up to $25,000 in tips, compared to $11,000 before Trump’s legislation was passed.
The “No Tax on Tips” provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill allows eligible workers in industries like Chorne’s to deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tip income from federal taxable income.
Chorne advocated for salons to be included in the bill to her congresswoman, Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R., N.D.), when she noticed the industry wasn’t initially included.
“It was important to me when I opened my business that we were financially taking care of our employees because I felt that this was an industry that mainly females go into and they really didn’t have a lot of financial education,” Chorne said.
During his speech, the president pointed to another beneficiary of no tax on tips, Megan Hemhouser, a young Pennsylvania mother who homeschools her children during the day and waits tables in the evenings.
“With No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, and our expanded child tax credit, Megan and her husband will take home more than $5,000 dollars extra… cutting her tax bill in more than half,” Trump said.
Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R., Ariz.) also touted the child tax credit during the RSC roundtable. “As a father of six, I personally appreciated that one,” he said. “When we look at young families not being able to afford a home and not being able to afford child care and how expensive kids can be then when you look at this situation this is something that really encourages the even family growth aspect of it which in turn blesses our communities and our society as well.”
On the topic of housing, the president pointed to the lowest level of mortgage rates in the last four years during his speech.
“The annual cost of a typical new mortgage is down almost $5,000 just since I took office,” Trump said. “One year. And low interest rates will solve the Biden-created housing problem while at the same time protecting the values of those people who already own a house, that really feel rich for the first time in their lives. We want to protect those values. We want to keep those values up. We’re going to do both.”
Following the speech, Scott Turner — the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) — said that housing remains a “top priority,” for this president, as the administration has tallied the need for about 7 million housing units across the country. Turner also noted that as recently as January about 5 million Americans were able to refinance their homes and bring down their payments.
“We will continue to work very hard and be very creative to bring down the affordability so more Americans can afford to achieve the American dream,” he said.
Turner’s remarks were echoed by his fellow Texan, and RSC chair, Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas), who noted after Trump’s speech that “President Trump did what Washington said was impossible, what the media said would never happen, and what radical Democrats prayed he couldn’t do.”
“We have a military that is feared and respected again, a border that is secure again, and families who are finally starting to see relief after years of being crushed by 4 years of Democrat-driven inflation,” Pfluger added. “This is halftime, and the second half is where we finish the job. House conservatives are ready, the agenda is clear, and we are not done fighting for the families who sent us here.”
Alford, the RSC’s Messaging Task Force Chair, added after Trump’s speech that “President Trump recapped it perfectly: promises made, promises kept. Alongside House Republicans, the Trump administration has delivered on border security, tax relief for working families, and the rest of our shared America First agenda. As Communications Task Force Chair for the RSC, we’ll keep delivering — and amplifying — the America First message for the American people.”
While many political analysts have measured Trump’s success in campaigning ahead of the November midterms, the president himself set an even bigger agenda for the rest of his term.
“You’ve seen nothing yet,” Trump told Americans. “We’re going to do better and better and better. This is the Golden Age of America.”
