President Donald Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night, his first since returning to office. It comes a month after Trump’s first year back in office — a year filled with controversial moves and fundamental changes to policy, politics and the D.C. landscape.
While Trump previously dubbed the past year “the greatest first year in history,” polls show Americans may disagree.
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State of the Union according to the polls
The latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found that 55% of Americans think Trump is changing the country for the worse. It’s a 9% increase from January 2021, when Trump delivered the last State of the Union address of his first term.
The same poll found that 57% of respondents think the state of the union is not strong. That includes about 80% of Democrats and 66% of independents. However, 75% of Republicans think the country is doing well.
When it comes to American Democracy, 78% said they see a serious threat. Meanwhile, 68% of respondents found the checks-and-balances system that divides power between the president, Congress and the courts is not working well.
Another poll showed Trump’s approval rating has continued to drop in the last year. According to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, 39% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, while 60% don’t.
According to The Post, the last time Trump’s disapproval rating fell to 60% was shortly after the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.
Immigration causes drop in Latino support
A CNN poll showed similar numbers and noted the steepest decline came from Latino Americans, whose approval for Trump dropped 19 points since 2025.
The change follows large immigration efforts across the nation in recent months, specifically in cities like Los Angeles and Minneapolis. As Straight Arrow News previously reported, through enhanced enforcement, the administration deported roughly 500,000 immigrants.
The administration sent a number of those deported to war-torn and faraway nations they are not from in an effort to encourage immigrants still in the U.S. to return to their home country voluntarily.
Trump’s other major moves
In addition to immigration, Trump made some other major moves during his first year back in office, including announcing significant downsizing to the federal workforce. He dismissed prosecutors and FBI agents involved in criminal cases against him, and he also fired tens of thousands of employees.
He targeted drug cartels, calling it a “war on drugs.” The president ramped up the military’s presence in the Caribbean and off the coast of Venezuela. He designated drug cartels and criminal gangs as terrorists and ordered the military to strike boats believed to be smuggling drugs out of Venezuela.
Trump has credited himself with ending seven wars around the world since returning to office, but has also launched strikes on Iran and Venezuela.
He has used the Justice Department to target political foes and signed a bill to release all the files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Straight Arrow News has a full recap of Trump’s first year back in office here.
Supreme Court justices to attend
Tuesday’s address comes just days after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump did not have the authority to impose global tariffs.
In a 6-3 decision, the court said it was illegal for Trump to impose the tariffs under a 1977 law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA.
The word “tariff” does not appear in the act, a fact that weighed heavily in the court’s opinion.
After they issued the ruling, Trump said three of the justices are “being fools and lapdogs” for what he calls “Republicans in name only.” He called them “disloyal, unpatriotic.”
Those same justices are slated to attend the State of the Union address on Tuesday.
