作者： root

The biggest omissions in Trump’s State of the Union — and why they matter in 2026

President proposes congressional stock trading ban, new retirement options while avoiding details on $38.56T national debt and slowing job growth

By Morgan Phillips
Fox News
Published February 25, 2026 12:35pm EST

President Donald Trump delivered a sweeping State of the Union address Tuesday night, promoting new policy proposals on retirement savings, energy infrastructure and congressional ethics while touting his administration’s record on border security, the economy and global military operations.

But despite the wide-ranging speech — which included calls for a congressional stock trading ban, a new 401(k)-style retirement option and ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran — several areas notably were absent or only briefly addressed.

The omissions matter in 2026 as the administration heads into a pivotal year marked by record federal debt levels, cooling job growth, intensifying great-power competition with China and ongoing global instability.

With Congress narrowly divided and international tensions high, the State of the Union offered a key opportunity for the president to outline how his second-term agenda will address long-term fiscal sustainability, labor market momentum and U.S. strategy abroad — questions that remain central to lawmakers, markets and U.S. allies.

National debt and deficit

Despite emphasizing economic growth and vowing to root out fraud, the president did not lay out a detailed plan to address the nation’s $38.56 trillion debt or the long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare.

Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,”2025 tax and spending legislation, is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to add another $4.2 trillion to the deficit throughout the next decade.

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down his universal tariffs creates a $2 trillion revenue gap that the president didn’t address. He claimed “alternative statutes” would fill it, but there’s potential for courts to strike down those as well.

The issue also has prompted concern within Trump’s own party.

Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., while praising the president’s address, warned afterward that the national debt poses an “existential threat” that must be addressed to preserve economic stability for the next 250 years.

Outside fiscal watchdogs echoed that concern.

“The state of our Union is more indebted than ever,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “The Supreme Court has opened a massive revenue hole of nearly $2 trillion (with the tariff ruling) that the Administration and Congress must fill.”

Trump proposed a new “war on fraud” task force Tuesday night, to be led by Vice President JD Vance, claiming that rooting out corruption — specifically targeting the Somali community in Minnesota — could recoup enough stolen taxpayer funds to “balance the budget overnight.”

The debt carries heightened urgency in 2026 as interest payments approach $1 trillion annually and lawmakers face looming deadlines on entitlement trust fund solvency and future budget negotiations.

The White House pushed back on concerns about long-term fiscal risks.

“The reality is that President Trump has already slashed the deficit by nearly 23 percent in his first full 11 months versus the same time period in 2024,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a Wednesday statement.

“The CBO has also repeatedly underestimated economic growth, with 2025 GDP growth having eclipsed the CBO’s meager 1.9 percent projection for the year,” Kush said. “Smaller deficits and higher growth thanks to President Trump’s economic policies are going to slash, not grow, America’s debt-to-GDP ratio.”

President Donald Trump delivered a sweeping State of the Union address Tuesday night, promoting new policy proposals on retirement savings, energy infrastructure and congressional ethics.(Kenny Holston /Pool via Reuters)

Job growth

“The roaring economy is roaring like never before,” Trump boasted during the speech. “More Americans are working today than at any time in the history of our country.”

But the president failed to touch on 2025’s lagging job growth: the labor market added 181,000 jobs in all of 2025,much fewer than the 1.46 million jobs that were added in 2024.

Economists note that while headline job totals can mask fluctuations, the sharp deceleration in hiring relative to 2024 highlights a labor market that has softened even as other economic indicators remain positive.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed Trump “mocked” affordability issues and failed to note weak job numbers.

“Trump didn’t simply ignore the affordability crisis,” Schumer said. “He mocked it yet again. The average American sitting at their table trying to figure out how they’re going to pay that damn bill, was furious that he said, ‘it doesn’t matter.’”

“He bragged last night about job creation,” Schumer said. “Well, job creation is … at its lowest point in over 20 years outside of a recession, its lowest point in 20 years. And he brags about it.”

China and the Indo-Pacific

While Trump used his address to declare a “Golden Age” of security, the world’s most significant geopolitical theater — the Indo-Pacific — was hardly mentioned.

Despite a record-breaking $11 billion arms sale to Taiwan just two months ago and a planned high-stakes visit to Beijing in April, the President did not once mention Taiwan, the South China Sea or a broader regional strategy by name.

While Trump mocked “Chinese technology” in the context of the Venezuelan raid, he offered no public reassurance to allies in Tokyo, Canberra, Australia, or Taipei, Taiwan, which are navigating Beijing’s expanding military reach.

The omission follows a pattern established in the 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS) released in January, which for the first time in a decade scrubbed direct references to Taiwan’s security.

Though the U.S. has long held a policy of strategic ambiguity — refusing to say whether it would come to Taiwan’s defense if China invaded — some analysts have detected a fragile détente between the U.S. and China.

The absence is notable in 2026 as Washington prepares for high-level talks with Beijing and regional allies closely monitor U.S. commitments amid rising cross-strait tensions and expanding Chinese naval activity.

A White House official told Fox News Digital there has been no change in policy toward Taiwan.

“The U.S. One China policy, which provides for executive branch interactions with both sides of the Taiwan Strait, remains the same as the first Trump Administration,” the official said, noting that U.S. policy continues to be based on the Taiwan Relations Act, the three U.S.-PRC Joint Communiques and the Six Assurances to Taiwan.

Despite the wide-ranging speech — which included calls for a congressional stock trading ban, a new 401(k)-style retirement option and ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran — several areas were notably absent or only briefly addressed.(Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)

Cuba and the embargo

Despite a marked escalation in U.S. policy toward Cuba, Trump made no reference to the island, the longstanding embargo or recent moves to tighten economic pressure. The omission is noteworthy given how central Havana has become to broader U.S. policy in the Western Hemisphere.

Under Trump’s second term, the administration has significantly reinforced sanctions and pressure on Cuba, moving beyond the decades-old embargo to block crude oil and fuel supplies that left the island largely without vital energy imports after Venezuelan shipments dried up, contributing to widespread blackouts and worsening humanitarian conditions.

SPEECHWRITERS SPLIT AFTER TRUMP’S RECORD-BREAKING SOTU: ‘LIVING IN HIS OWN REALITY’ VS. ‘RESOUNDING SPEECH’

In late January, Trump issued an executive order declaring a national emergency on Cuba and authorizing tariffs aimed at halting the supply of oil to the island.

Caribbean leaders also highlighted the regional consequences of U.S. policy on Cuba at a major summit this week, warning that the fuel and economic crisis could have broader security and migration implications across the Caribbean basin.

The issue carries regional implications in 2026 as Caribbean leaders warn that prolonged instability in Cuba could fuel migration flows and strain hemispheric security coordination.

While President Donald Trump used his address to declare a “Golden Age” of security, the world’s most significant geopolitical theater — the Indo-Pacific — was hardly mentioned.(Li Gang/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Russia-Ukraine: referenced but little detail

Trump did touch on the war in Ukraine in his State of the Union, framing an ambition to “end” the conflict as part of his foreign policy narrative. But he offered no detailed outline of how the administration plans to achieve that goal or how U.S. diplomacy, military aid or leverage with European allies will be marshaled to bring it about — leaving a key foreign policy challenge largely undefined for the nation.

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“We’re working very hard to end the ninth war, the killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers are dying each and every month — think of that, 25,000 soldiers are dying a month,” Trump said.

The speech came on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The lack of detail stands out in 2026 as the war enters its fifth year and European allies look to Washington for clarity on long-term security guarantees and reconstruction support.

A White House official said the president’s team has made “tremendous progress” toward ending the conflict and reiterated that “The President has a humanitarian heart and wants this war settled so the senseless killing ends.”

The official added that “we’re looking at some very good things happening on Ukraine and Russia.”

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Download this: Subscribing to digital apps has gotten a lot more expensive

February 25, 2026 / 1:51 PM EST / CBS News

The pain of higher prices today isn’t limited to things like food and health care costs. Americans now pay nearly 20% more for TV, music, news and other digital apps than they did in 2020.

So concludes a recent analysis from DepositAccounts, an online platform owned by LendingTree that allows users to compare bank accounts. Researchers looked at 15 widely used subscription services, ranging from streaming platforms like Hulu and Spotify to online video tool Zoom Pro, to assess how their prices have changed over the last six years.

“We’ve kind of gotten used to seeing notes from these subscription services saying we’re raising our costs by $1, $2, $3, which doesn’t seem like very much,” Matt Schulz, a chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree, told CBS News. “But when you factor in that some people subscribe to 10 or 15 different things, a couple of dollars a month extra on all of those adds up to real money over the course of the year.”

Some Americans are pulling the plug. A January survey of 2,000 people by DepositAccounts found that one-third said they had cancelled at least one paid digital subscription in the last six months due to cost.

On average, subscribers pay for 4.5 services, which amounts to $84 a month, or $1,008 annually, according to a separate analysis by DepositAccounts.

Big hikes for Disney+ and Apple TV subscribers

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Subscribers to Disney+ are now being charged $18.99 a month for an ad-free plan, more than double what they were paying six years ago, the analysis found. Disney upped the price for the streaming platform’s ad-free tier, while bundling plans with Hulu and ESPN, in September 2025.

Apple TV subscription costs have also surged, with the cost of a standard plan for the online video service jumping 108% from 2020 when adjusted for inflation, according to DespoitAccounts.

Streaming now accounts for the largest share of TV viewership, at around 48%, outpacing broadcast and cable, according to Nielsen.

Not all digital platforms have gotten pricier. For example, subscription costs for Apple’s iCloud storage platform are down nearly 20% since 2020, while Apple Music prices have sunk more than 12%, according to DepositAccounts.

Edited by Alain Sherter

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/prices-for-streaming-services-jumped-nearly-20-between-november-and-december-bls-finds/

U.K. gym hopes “kidulting” trend will hook grownups by putting the fun back in fitness

February 25, 2026 / 11:50 AM EST / CBS News

London — If you’ve been struggling to stay active, there’s a trend that one gym chain is hoping will make working out feel a lot more like playtime.

“Welcome to kidulting! Come in, come in!” trainer Rachel Dennis said recently as she greeted people bounding through the door at the David Lloyd gym in Enfield, North London.

“We’re gonna play ‘stuck in the mud,’” she announced. Screams and laughter quickly filled the room as tagged players froze like statues until others crawled through their legs to “free” them to run around again.

The kidulting fitness class is all about channeling your inner child, and the atmosphere is fun, even silly.

“How’s that heart rate? We feelin’ a little warmer?” Dennis asked as the pace picked up.

At David Lloyd Clubs in the U.K., members can relive their younger years with the classes built around playground and PE class games — an effort to take the “work” out of the workouts.

Pran Varatharajan cheered as he held up another classmate’s legs, pushing her in a wheelbarrow race.

The pace is fast, and the kidulters quickly moved onto the next game.

People take part in a “kidulting” exercise class at the David Lloyd Enfield gym in North London, in February 2026. CBS News

“Who remembers the parachute?” Dennis asked, holding up the massive piece of colorful fabric. “If you’re yellow, you’re gonna be … shall we be a banana?” she said, assigning teams.

The classes bring back a range of childhood favorites — games most people haven’t played since elementary school.

After racing back and forth across the fabric, it was time for a quick round of “popcorn,” with the grownups huffing and puffing to keep colorful balls bouncing around on the parachute.

During a quick break, class member Sophie Doe told CBS News her heart was pounding. She particularly enjoyed the parachute, and said she hadn’t played some of the games since she was seven or eight.

“It’s the joy of being a kid, as an adult,” Kielan Edwards, a personal trainer at David Lloyd Enfield, explained of the kidulting trend, as he let CBS News’ correspondent try out the “Joyride,” an exercise bike transformed to look like an iconic Little Tikes Cozy Coupe.

Kielan Edwards, a personal trainer at David Lloyd Enfield, explains the “kidulting” trend to CBS News’ correspondent Tina Kraus as she tries out the “Joyride,” an exercise bike transformed to look like an iconic Little Tikes Cozy Coupe toy car. CBS News

“A lot of people find it very laborious getting used to the exercise before they turn it into a habit. But that’s because they’re forgetting the fun element of it,” he said. “We’re trying to replicate those memories that you might have had while you were younger here, in a more, sort of, gym-based environment.”

“What’s the time, Mr. Wolf?” Dennis called out to her class.

“Dinner time!” they yelled back, sprinting across the floor.

“I think it just kind of gives you a chance to reminisce, it also gives you a chance to revisit that period of your life that you thought was gone and you’re not gonna get back,” said Varatharajan.

Trainers say kidulting works because being a kid never gets old, and scientists seem to agree, with research showing that when exercise is fun, people are far more likely to make a habit out of it.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health says adults who engage in playful, childlike activities report better cognitive function and memory as they age.

Yosemite worker fired for hanging trans pride flag on El Capitan sues National Park Service

February 25, 2026 / 1:43 PM EST / CBS News

A former Yosemite employee is suing the federal government for alleged unlawful termination, arguing that their dismissal last year for hanging a transgender pride flag from El Capitan violated their constitutional rights.

Shannon “SJ” Joslin, a wildlife biologist who uses they/them pronouns, received a termination notice from the National Park Service in August, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C. The firing came roughly three months after Joslin and a group of climbers draped a large, pink, blue and white striped flag — a symbol of trans pride — from the California park’s most iconic rock formation.

Joslin, who was a park ranger at Yosemite for nearly five years, has said the flag was hung outside of work hours. It aimed to celebrate the transgender community amid mounting political attacks from the Trump administration, attorneys said in court filings.

“This administration is targeting Dr. Joslin because it wants to scare people into silence,” Joanna Citron Day, an attorney representing Joslin, said in a statement. “Dr. Joslin exercised their First Amendment rights and is being punished to send a clear message—speech the administration doesn’t like will not be tolerated.”

A group of climbers unfurled a trans pride flag on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California, on May 20, 2025. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Attorneys are looking to have Joslin immediately reinstated to the National Park Service, which is among the defendants listed in the lawsuit. Others include the park service’s parent agency, the Department of the Interior, as well as the Department of Justice, and the heads of each of them.

A spokesperson for the National Park Service told CBS News in a statement that the agency does not “comment on the specifics of personnel actions.” It also said it “will not tolerate violations of laws and regulations that impact those resources and experiences.”

“Yosemite National Park was designated by Congress to highlight the beautiful natural and cultural features of the area,” the spokesperson said. “No matter the cause, demonstrating without a permit outside of designated First-Amendment areas detracts from the visitor experience and the protection of the park. To safeguard the protection of visitors, visitor experiences, and park resources, many demonstrations require a permit.”

CBS News has reached out to the Justice and Interior departments for comment.

Joslin’s termination notice said they had “failed to demonstrate acceptable conduct” while still a probationary employee of the National Park Service, just weeks before their probation period ended. It cited regulations prohibiting demonstrations on Yosemite grounds, outside of certain locations that are designated “First Amendment areas.”

Joslin also faced a criminal investigation, according to the lawsuit, escalating what their attorneys called a “vindictive campaign” that violated the biologist’s rights to free expression under the First Amendment, as well as their rights to privacy.

The lawsuit questions the Park Service’s definition of Joslin’s conduct as a “demonstration,” although it notes that activism is an integral part of the history of Yosemite. The park is widely considered the birthplace of American environmental advocacy and climbers on El Capitan have raised flags for numerous political and social causes in the past. It asks the judge to find that regulations were “selectively enforced” in this case, because the flag is seen as a challenge to the Trump administration’s stance on trans rights.

“If Dr. Joslin had hung a flag the administration liked, they would be working at Yosemite today,” said Clayton Bailey, another attorney on Joslin’s case. “That reality is totally antithetical to the basic First Amendment freedoms promised to everyone.”

Yosemite’s current policies include regulations banning large banners, flags or signs displayed in the wilderness without a permit, as well as rules governing demonstrations within the park. Demonstrations require permits if they involve more than 25 people or are held outside one of the park’s “designated free speech locations.”

Those regulations appeared in a version of the park’s policy book dated May 20, 2025, the same day Joslin and the group of climbers hung the flag from El Capitan. It was electronically signed by the park’s acting superintendent on May 21, 2025. An earlier version, which was dated May 22, 2024, appeared on the Yosemite website as recently as May 1 of last year, and did not include regulations related to banners or flags.

Federal judge: Trump’s ‘third country’ deportation policy is unconstitutional | Fox News

By Breanne Deppisch | Fox News

Published February 25, 2026 2:08pm EST

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from deporting illegal immigrants to so-called “third countries” without first giving them notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal, in a high-stakes case that is likely headed to the Supreme Court.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee, comes months after lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit in Boston challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s process of deporting illegal immigrants in the U.S. to so-called “third countries” — countries that are not their home country and were not previously designated in their removal orders.

Murphy ultimately sided with the migrants Wednesday, ruling that DHS’s third-country removal policy is unlawful and violates due process protections under the U.S. Constitution.

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“This case is about whether the government may, without notice, deport a person to the wrong country, or a country where he is likely to be persecuted, or tortured, thereby depriving that person of the opportunity to seek protections to which he would be undisputedly entitled,” Murphy said.

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President Donald Trump wrote a letter that will be sent to migrants who legally obtained citizenship.(Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Department of Homeland Security “has adopted a policy whereby it may take people and drop them off in parts unknown — in so-called ‘third countries,’ and, ‘as long as the Department doesn’t already know that there’s someone standing there waiting to shoot . . . that’s fine,’” Murphy continued.

“It is not fine, nor is it legal,” he said.

Neither DHS nor DOJ immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the case or whether it plans to appeal the ruling.

Murphy also rejected the Trump administration’s claim that certain migrants living in the U.S. illegally lacked due process, noting that the clause applies to all “persons” within the U.S., regardless of immigration status.

“These are our laws, and it is with profound gratitude for the unbelievable luck of being born in the United States of America that this Court affirms these and our nation’s bedrock principle: that no ‘person’ in this country may be ‘deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,’” Murphy said.

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Murphy stayed the ruling from taking force for 15 days to allow the Trump administration time to appeal the case to the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, given what the judge acknowledged was the “importance” and “unusual history” of the case in question.

The ruling comes after Murphy presided for months over a class-action lawsuit filed by migrants challenging deportations to third countries, including South Sudan and El Salvador, as well as Costa Rica and Guatemala, which the administration has reportedly eyed in its ongoing wave of deportations.

‘WOEFULLY INSUFFICIENT’: US JUDGE REAMS TRUMP ADMIN FOR DAYS-LATE DEPORTATION INFO

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Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters building in Washington D.C., United States on July 3, 2023. (Photo by Celal Güneş/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)(Getty Images)

He has sparred with the Trump administration while overseeing the case, including in May, when he accused the administration of failing to comply with a court order requiring it to keep in U.S. custody six migrants who were deported to South Sudan without due process or notice.

Murphy previously ordered that the migrants remain in U.S. custody at a military base in Djibouti until each of them could be given a “reasonable fear interview,” or a chance to explain to U.S. officials any fear of persecution or torture, should they be released into South Sudanese custody.

The judge’s order is the latest attempt by federal court judges to rein in the Trump administration as it continues to deport migrants to third countries, including El Salvador and South Sudan.

Murphy previously acknowledged the criminal histories in question after Trump officials blasted the individuals removed as the “worst of the worst.”

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“The court recognizes that the class members at issue here have criminal histories,” Murphy wrote in an order last year.

“But that does not change due process,” he wrote. “The court treats its obligation to these principles with the seriousness that anyone committed to the rule of law should understand.”

White House officials, meanwhile, have blasted so-called “activist” judges as attempting to enact a political agenda, and have repeatedly rejected the notion that illegal immigrants are not entitled to due process.

Lower court judges have repeatedly ruled that the Trump administration has violated due process by failing to notify migrants of their imminent removals, or afford them the opportunity to challenge their deportations in court — a view reiterated, albeit narrowly, by the Supreme Court four separate times since Trump took office.

The Trump administration, for its part, succeeded in a separate Supreme Court case last year that narrowed the ability of federal courts to issue so-called nationwide injunctions blocking executive orders from taking force.

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Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI and other national news. She previously covered national politics at the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, with additional bylines in Politico Magazine, the Colorado Gazette and others. You can send tips to Breanne at Breanne.Deppisch@fox.com, or follow her on X at @breanne_dep.

Rubio urges Caribbean leaders to cooperate on gangs as Cuba worries grow

February 25, 2026 4:49 PM UTC / Reuters / By Simon Lewis

Summary
Companies

US has blocked oil shipments to Cuba, increasing pressure
CARICOM leaders also discuss migration, drug trafficking
Jamaica’s PM calls for dialogue between Cuba and US

BASSETERRE, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Feb 25 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday called for deeper cooperation on tackling criminal gangs as he met Caribbean leaders, even as regional concerns grew over the potential fallout from Washington’s squeeze on Cuba.

The Trump administration is blocking off oil shipments to Cuba, worsening a humanitarian crisis and ratcheting up the pressure on Washington’s long-time foe in the wake of the ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a key Cuban ally, on January 3.

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Rubio addressed a closed-door meeting of CARICOM, the Caribbean group that comprises 15 member states and five associated members, in Saint Kitts and Nevis, and was holding bilateral meetings with some of the regional leaders.

The Trump administration was “giving priority to the Western Hemisphere after (the region) largely being ignored for a very long time,” Rubio said, according to a transcript of his remarks.

“We are interested in rebuilding and constructing a new dynamic in this Western Hemisphere in which we partner with all of you on the issues we share in common,” Rubio said. The U.S. and Caribbean countries would need to cooperate more to tackle international criminal groups involved in drug trafficking through the region, he said, highlighting that these groups are heavily armed.

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“We recognize that many of these groups are buying weaponry from the United States, and that we are committed and continue to work very hard with our law enforcement agencies to shut that down,” Rubio said, adding that the U.S. was also taking a tough approach with criminal gangs in Haiti.

Rubio also said Venezuela’s interim authorities had made significant changes since the U.S. operation to seize Maduro, citing the release of political prisoners, but said “they will need the legitimacy of fair, democratic elections.”

CUBA CONCERNS

Rubio did not mention Cuba in the remarks that were made public. President Donald Trump had previously threatened tariff hikes against any nation sending energy supplies to Cuba and has urged the island’s leaders to reach a deal to avert a worsening humanitarian crisis.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Department said it would allow the sale of Venezuelan oil for use in Cuba, as long as the transactions do not support the military or government, in what appeared to be an easing of restrictions.

The Treasury said it was taking the action in “support and solidarity for the Cuban people.” The U.S. has separately pledged to provide $9 million of humanitarian assistance to Cubans that is being delivered by the Catholic Church.

Ahead of Rubio’s arrival, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness appealed for a collective response from CARICOM to the crisis in Cuba, which is not a member but maintains ties with the group. Cuba has long sent doctors, as well as teachers, to work in neighboring countries. Washington is also pushing for countries to stop participating in the Cuban medics program that is a source of foreign currency for the Cuban government.

“Humanitarian suffering serves no one. Apart from our fraternal care and solidarity with the Cuban people, it must be clear that a prolonged crisis in Cuba will not remain confined to Cuba. It will affect migration, security and economic security across the Caribbean basin,” Holness said on Tuesday, calling for “constructive dialogue between Cuba and the United States aimed at de-escalation, reform and stability.”

The meeting’s host, Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew, said CARICOM should be a conduit for dialogue over Cuba’s future. “A destabilized Cuba will destabilize all of us,” he said.

Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Alistair Bell

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Trump renews his call to ban institutional homebuyers as Democrats offer a competing crackdown

February 25, 2026 / 1:58 PM EST / CBS News

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Megan Cerullo Reporter, MoneyWatch
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.

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President Trump renewed his call to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, the same day Democrats offered their own proposal to crack down on the practice. But experts say neither plan is likely to do much to make homes more affordable.

Mr. Trump first floated the idea last month in a social media post, proposing to bar institutional investors that own 100 or more homes from buying single-family properties and writing that “people live in homes, not corporations.” Democrats, for their part, introduced a bill that would limit certain tax deductions for large-scale homebuyers.

While both approaches aim to improve housing affordability, experts say they fall short of addressing the core driver of rising prices: a shortage of homes. Homebuilding cratered after the Great Recession of 2008-09 and has yet to catch up with demand.

The U.S. would need to build as many as 4 million additional homes beyond the normal pace of construction to significantly reduce the housing shortage, according to a Goldman Sachs estimate.

“The core problem is that we don’t have enough supply, and neither proposal really solves this core issue,” Alex Blackwood, CEO of Mogul, a real estate investment startup, told CBS News.

Where Trump’s proposal might help

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In his State of the Union speech, Mr. Trump touted his January executive order to ban institutional investors from buying homes, blaming such firms for driving up home prices. He pointed to Raysall Wiggins, whom he described as a mom of two from Houston who had been stymied in her efforts to buy a home.

“She placed bids on 20 homes and lost all of those bids to gigantic investment firms that bypassed inspection,” Mr. Trump said in the speech. “Paid all cash and turned those houses into rentals, stealing away her American dream.”

He added, “And now I’m asking Congress to make that ban permanent, because homes for people — really, that’s what we want. We want homes for people, not for corporations.”

Reached for comment, the White House referred to Mr. Trump’s remarks on housing affordability during his State of the Union speech.

To be sure, Mr. Trump’s proposal could have a greater impact in cities where institutional investors have a large footprint, which include Wiggins’ home city of Houston, as well as Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, experts said.

Large institutional investors own about 3.8% of all single-family rental homes nationwide, according to a 2023 Urban Institute analysis. In Atlanta, however, investors own about 28% of such homes, compared with 20% in Charlotte and 9% in Houston.

“It would make a significant difference in these places, where it’s an outsized issue,” Collin Allen, executive director of the American Property Owners’ Alliance, a homeowners’ advocacy group, told CBS News. “But they own a small share of homes overall.”

Thom Malone, principal economist at Cotality, a provider of housing market insights, said the push to limit investors reflects frustration among homebuyers competing with deep-pocketed institutions.

“If you’re up against an investor, you’re going to have a hard time putting together a more competitive bid,” he told CBS News.

A Democratic proposal

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Meanwhile, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Jeff Merkley of Oregon on Tuesday introduced legislation to prevent entities that own 50 or more homes from deducting depreciation and mortgage interest tied to those properties.

The bill would also ban investors from buying foreclosed homes sold by federal agencies.

“This bill will take on predatory landlords while making investments to increase housing supply and boost homeownership for Americans,” Warren said in a statement.

Both Republicans and Democrats contend that Wall Street is exacerbating the nation’s housing crisis by limiting housing supply and driving up costs for Americans.

While limiting investors’ ability to snap up homes could be part of a multi-pronged approach to addressing housing affordability, targeting them alone won’t solve the issue, according to Allen.

“We have to build more homes, and look at policies that allow us to expand supply,” he said.

Edward Pinto, co-director of the AEI Housing Center at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, told CBS News that a more effective proposal would meet three criteria: It would reduce land costs, allow homes to be built on smaller parcels and bring down construction costs.

Limiting institutional investors’ ability to purchase homes, by contrast, “is not going to have much of an impact — if any — on making homes more affordable,” Pinto said. “It just gives the impression of doing something positive, and so it may have some attractiveness on both sides of the aisle, but it’s not going to solve any problems.”

Edited by Aimee Picchi

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/most-viral-moments-from-trumps-state-of-the-union-address/

GOP lawmaker on Trump’s State of the Union showmanship | CNN Politics

2026-02-25T18:50:12.986Z / CNN

GOP lawmaker on Trump’s State of the Union showmanship

By Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown, CNN

Published 1:50 PM EST, Wed February 25, 2026

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler joined CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown to share his opinions on the showmanship of President Trump’s State of the Union speech, saying he had never seen anybody use “the gallery as effectively as the president.”

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Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address Tuesday night “lazy,” but history tells another story: Trump broke his own record for the longest such speech in American history.

In fact, Trump, the oldest American president ever inaugurated, has delivered three of the top five longest State of the Union Addresses ever. His Tuesday night speech clocked in at nearly 1 hour and 48 minutes, making it number one, according to the American Presidency Project (APP).

“I thought the speech was lazy,” Pelosi told CNN after the speech.

Historically, most State of the Union addresses last about an hour.

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President Donald Trump delivered the longest State of the Union Address in American history Tuesday night at 1 hour, 48 minutes – as Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., rise for a standing ovation.(Kenny Holston /Pool via Reuters)

Trump and former President Bill Clinton are the Energizer bunnies of State of the Union Addresses, with the two men rounding out the top five of all time longest speeches (including Trump’s 2025 speech before a joint session of Congress, which was technically not a State of the Union because it was in the first year of his term) in terms of total time, including pauses for standing ovations and applause:

1. Donald Trump, 2026 – 1 hour, 48 minutes

2. Donald Trump, 2025 – 1 hour, 40 minutes

3. Bill Clinton, 2000 – 1 hour, 29 minutes

4. Bill Clinton, 1995 – 1 hour, 25 minutes

5. Donald Trump 2019 – 1 hour, 22 minutes

Tuesday night officially gave Trump the top billing from Clinton among official State of the Union addresses.

Trump also holds the unofficial record for the most words in a delivered speech, with his 2026 address estimated at 10,599 words, according to APP. There were some State of the Union addresses in American history delivered only in written form that measured longer by word count.

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Members of the United States’ Olympic gold medal hockey team cheer as President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Pelosi was put off by Trump taking time to hail American excellence, like the gold-medal-winning Team USA men’s hockey team, and addressing victims of violence, including Charlie Kirk widow Erika Kirk, Purple Heart recipient U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, and the Gold Star parents of the late West Virginia National Guard member, U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20.

Wolfe and Beckstrom were shot by an Afghanistan war refugee while serving as Trump administration security detail in Washington, D.C., last year.

“It’s one thing to acknowledge [patriotism and people] getting well and everything when you have absolutely nothing to do with their courage or the rest,” Pelosi told CNN. “But you spend an hour and a half doing it — what is the state of the nation?”

During his speech, the president directly addressed Pelosi while calling on Congress to “pass the Stop Insider Trading Act without delay.”

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The bill, which has 91 Republican and two Democrat co-sponsors in the House, proposes restricting members of Congress, along with their spouses and dependents, from trading stocks.

“Let’s also ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information,” Trump remarked, to one of the few moments of bipartisan applause.

“They stood up for that. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it,” he added, pointing to the Democrat side of the House chamber.

“Did Nancy Pelosi stand up – if she’s here – doubt it,” he continued. “Pass the Stop Insider Trading Act without delay.”

Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, have faced scrutiny for their investments in recent years. The former House speaker is one of the wealthiest members of Congress.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Trump policy allowing swift deportations to alternate countries rejected by US judge

February 25, 2026 5:49 PM UTC / Reuters

BOSTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration had adopted an unlawful policy that allows for the rapid deportation of migrants to countries other than their own without providing them a chance to object and raise concerns for their safety.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston issued a final ruling declaring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s policy invalid in a case that the administration expects will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The policy, which was adopted in March 2025 as part of Republican President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, failed to protect the due process rights of migrants who without notice could be swiftly deported to “an unfamiliar and potentially dangerous country,” Murphy said.

Murphy said the administration had argued it would be “fine” for immigration officers under that policy to quickly deport people to so-called third countries they did not come from as long as DHS does not know someone is waiting to kill them upon their arrival.

“It is not fine, nor is it legal,” wrote Murphy, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DECISION ON HOLD PENDING LIKELY APPEAL

The judge set aside the policy and declared that migrants who had been subject to it had a right to meaningful notice and a chance to raise objections to being deported to third countries. But he paused his ruling from taking effect for 15 days to allow the administration time to pursue an appeal, citing the case’s “importance and its unusual history.”

He noted the Supreme Court’s earlier interventions in the case. The court previously lifted a preliminary injunction Murphy issued in April protecting the due process rights of migrants facing deportation to third countries and later cleared the way for eight men to be sent to South Sudan.

While it was in effect, that earlier injunction hindered the administration’s efforts to send migrants to countries other than their places of origin, including South Sudan, Libya and El Salvador.

Wednesday’s ruling came in a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of migrants facing deportation to countries not previously named in their removal orders or identified in their immigration court proceedings.

The policy allows migrants to be deported to such countries if immigration authorities either have credible diplomatic assurances they will not be persecuted or tortured if sent there, or have given the migrants as little as six hours of notice that they are being sent to such a place.

Trina Realmuto, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, called Murphy’s ruling “a forceful statement from the court that the administration’s third country removal policy is unconstitutional.”

“Under the government’s policy, people have been forcibly returned to countries where U.S. immigration judges have found they will be persecuted or tortured,” Realmuto said in a statement.

Department of Justice lawyers had argued the policy satisfied immigration law requirements and due process standards and was essential for deporting migrants whose home countries refused them due to crimes they committed.

Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Nia Williams and Bill Berkrot