Trump’s speech painted a bleak future for American women, as he doubled down on harmful policies, economic inequality and extreme immigration measures.
As President Donald Trump took the stage on Tuesday night for his joint address to Congress, the stock market is down, inflation is up, consumer confidence levels are at their lowest levels since August 2021, and a large majority of Americans believe the economy and their personal cost of living are on the wrong track. Yet Trump took the opportunity to rail against culture issues, including “DEI,” “critical race theory,” the trans community and “sex changes on children”; blame Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration for high prices at the grocery store and gas pump; spotlight a child in a years-long fight with brain cancer, all while his administration has cut millions in public health funding, including $190 million for pediatric cancer research; and rewrite history about the U.S. border.
As Trump spoke, Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson could be seen looking on, laughing and nodding, rife with “frat boy glee.” The last time a State of the Union or presidential address to Congress featured a white male president flanked by two other white men was six years ago: in January 2019, during Trump’s first term, with Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan behind him. (Trump’s relationship with both men has significantly deteriorated since then: Pence has openly challenged Trump’s claims about the 2020 election and the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and Ryan has criticized Trump, calling him a “populist, authoritarian narcissist” and that he lacks the character required for the presidency.)
The record-long speech clocked in at almost two hours; in it, Trump made clear his administration has every intention to continue its war on women and families.
Given the length and the amount of lies in the speech, it’s impossible to rebut the whole thing, but here are some top takeaways that should concern U.S. women.
Restricting Healthcare Access
While Trump’s speech did not mention Medicaid—the healthcare program for low-income Americans—House Republicans have recently passed a budget plan that could lead to significant cuts in Medicaid funding.
In protest, some Democrats in the chamber protested with signs saying “Save Medicaid,” and Democrat Rep. Al Green of Texas repeatedly heckled Trump, shouting that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid. Green was eventually removed from the chamber.
Tax Cuts for the Rich, Paid for by American Seniors
In his speech, Trump called for Congress to pass “tax cuts for everybody.” However, analyses of the president’s proposed tax plan suggest that it would benefit higher-income households—namely, the top 5 percent of U.S. earners. No surprise: This group of top earners is disproportionately white men, where the gender pay gap is most evident. Today in the U.S., wealth disparity is at an all-time high, with the top 1 percent of households holding a record amount of wealth.
At a press conference earlier on Tuesday organized by the Democratic Women’s Caucus, women lawmakers highlighted the devastating impact of Republicans’ proposed Medicaid cuts on American families and condemned the GOP trifecta for prioritizing tax cuts for the wealthy over essential services like NIH funding for childhood cancer research and food assistance like SNAP.
“They control the House, the Senate, the White House. They have the power to deliver for whoever they want to and who have they chosen to fight for? The billionaire class, the ultra-rich donors who funded their campaigns, billionaires who have virtually unlimited resources but still want more,” said Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), the highest-ranking woman in congressional leadership. “And where is this money coming from? For tax cuts for the ultra wealthy, they’re taking it from families, from women, from moms, from grandparents, from sick children.”
Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s Democratic rebuttal to Trump’s speech reiterated this point, criticizing Trump’s economic plans, which she argued benefit the wealthy at the expense of the middle class, citing rising costs and a growing national debt. “America wants change,” she said. “But there is a responsible way to make change, and a reckless way. And, we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country, and as a democracy. … President Trump talked a big game on the economy, but it’s always important to read the fine print. So: Do his plans actually help Americans get ahead? Not even close.”
Huge tax cuts are costly, and something’s gotta give. In Tuesday’s speech, despite campaign promises to protect Social Security, Trump suggested that cuts to Social Security are indeed coming: He said his staff are “identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors,” and falsely claimed many seniors over the age of 100 are collecting money, even after death. A July 2024 report from Social Security’s inspector general said less than 1 percent of Social Security payments have been improper, and the majority of these are overpayments to living people. Elon Musk echoed this sentiment in a recent interview with Joe Rogan, where he called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”
The Trump administration has already rescinded initiatives to lower prescription drug costs through Medicare—a federal health insurance program for people age 65 or older—and announced a plan to reduce the Social Security Administration’s staff. Good luck with that—Americans overwhelmingly (87 percent) support Social Security. It’s hard to find that level of support among anything these days.
Cuts to Education
Trump mentioned efforts to remove “wokeness” from schools, which could impact curricula addressing discrimination on the basis of sex and race.
Further Ramping Up Immigration Policies
Trump emphasized stricter immigration enforcement, including plans for “the largest deportation operation in American history.” This will no doubt result in families torn apart.
As Slotkin pointed out in her rebuttal, “Securing the border without actually fixing our broken immigration system is dealing with the symptom not the disease. America is a nation of immigrants. We need a functional system, keyed to the needs of our economy, that allows vetted people to come and work here legally. So I look forward to the president’s plan on that.”
