President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday (February 24), a potentially pivotal moment as the White House seeks to firm up support among Republican voters ahead of November's midterm election.

Trump boasted that he had ushered in "the golden age of America," seeking to project an aura of success despite sagging approval ratings and deepening voter frustration ahead of November's midterm election. But not everyone was convinced.

“I thought it was a lot of lies,” New York City resident Lisa Eschebarria told Reuters on Wednesday (February 25). “I thought that it made the country even more divided. It was nothing but anger and anger messaging, which is not what we need right now.”

“It was a little bit too much exaggeration,” said New Jersey resident Ernie, who did not want to give his last name.

Trump spoke against a backdrop of rising tensions with Iran and voter frustration with the high cost of living.

He offered a broad-based sweep of kitchen-table economic issues - housing, healthcare, utility bills, crime, retirement - but he again stopped short of acknowledging that many Americans are still struggling with the high cost of living, including food and house prices.

The annual speech to Congress came at a fraught moment for Trump's presidency, with polls showing a majority of Americans have soured on his performance, anxieties rising over Iran and his signature tariff policy foundering after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down most of his import taxes.

The 79-year-old Trump's speech lasted approximately an hour and 47 minutes, breaking the record he set last year for the longest presidential address to Congress.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

'A lot of lies,' 'too much exaggeration' - New Yorkers on Trump's State of the Union address

VIDEO SHOWS: SCENES FROM MIDTOWN MANHATTAN / REACTIONS FROM PASSERSBY ON U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS / FOX NEWS TICKER

RESENDING WITH FULL SCRIPT

SHOWS: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 25, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. SNOW PILED ON SIDEWALK / INTERSECTION / BRYANT PARK IN DISTANCE

2. SNOW COVERED TREES IN BRYANT PARK

3. PEOPLE CROSSING SIDEWALK

4. NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, LISA ECHEBARRIA, [BROWN COAT, GREEN BACKPACK] WAITING IN LINE FOR COFFEE

5. SIGN READING (English) “BREADS BAKERY” / ECHEBARRIA IN LINE

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, LISA ECHEBARRIA, SAYING: [REFERRING TO U.S. PRESIDENT TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS]

“I thought it was a lot of lies. I thought that it made the country even more divided. It was nothing but anger and anger messaging, which is not what we need right now. And I wish that there would have been a little bit of like, we're in this together, like we're getting better together, something like that. Instead, it was just pointing fingers all over the place.”

7. VARIOUS OF ECHEBARRIA WAITING IN LINE

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, LISA ECHEBARRIA, SAYING:

“I barely made it through it. It was really long.”

9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW JERSEY RESIDENT WHO COMMUTES TO NEW YORK CITY FOR WORK, ERNIE, WHO DID NOT WANT TO GIVE HIS LAST NAME, SAYING:

“The first hour. So it was a little bit too much exaggeration and things of the reality of what we're actually going through and living through and going through on a day to day basis, you know?”

10. FOX NEWS TICKER READING (English) “STATE OF THE UNION… PRESIDENT TRUMP DELIVERED LONGEST SOTU SPEECH IN HISTORY TUESDAY, MAKING HIS CASE TO THE NATION… “

11. PEOPLE CROSSING SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF FOX NEWS HEADQUARTERS

12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW JERSEY RESIDENT WHO COMMUTES TO NEW YORK CITY FOR WORK, ERNIE, WHO DID NOT WANT TO GIVE HIS LAST NAME, SAYING:

“The reality is what we live every single day - going to work, you know, the grocery stores, the cost of living. So the reality is, might be slightly different from his projected reality that he'd like us to believe.”

13. FOX NEWS TICKER READING (English): “TRUMP EMPHASIZED ECON GROWTH, JOBS, TARIFFS AND FOREIGN POLICY…"

14. WIDE OF FOX NEWS TICKER READING (English): “TRUMP’S “GOLDEN AGE” CLAIMS, ARGUING MANY AMERICANS STILL FACE HIGH COSTS… WH COMMS TEAM HIT BACK…”

15. SNOW COVERED TREES IN BRYANT PARK / PEOPLE WALKING ON SIDEWALK

16. PEOPLE GETTING OFF BUS

17. BUS DOORS CLOSING

18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, TIARA JA, SAYING

“A lot of people are basically one and two checks away from being homeless or being unsheltered. So it's like you're fighting an argument with people when the tariffs were free. Like, I understand where your mentality was in the beginning, but now we're suffering for pride and ego. But I feel like there's a lot in politics.”

19. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, JACOB, WHO DID NOT WANT TO GIVE HIS LAST NAME, SAYING:

“I didn't watch it because I got to go to work. I can’t listen to the longest speech ever in the world of history, right?”

20. STREET SIGN FOR WEST 42ND STREET

21. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING ON SIDEWALK (5 SHOTS)

22. SIGN FOR ENTRANCE TO 42 ST-BRYANT PARK SUBWAY STATION