California draws brief but sharp mentions in Trump’s State of the Union. Here is what he said
President Donald Trump hardly mentioned California during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
But when he announced plans to ban members of Congress from using insider information to trade stocks — one of the few moments that drew Democrats to their feet — Trump seized the opportunity to jab one of the state’s most prominent leaders.
“Did Nancy Pelosi stand up, if she’s here?” Trump asked with a smile. “Doubt it.”
The dig to the San Francisco Democrat was one of only three times that Trump referenced California or its leaders in his record long national address. He spent much of the time arguing that the country is thriving under his tenure while promising to continue his trademark policies including implementing tariffs and aggressive immigrant enforcement.
“Our nation is back,” Trump said to start his speech. “Bigger, better, richer, stronger than ever before.”
Trump’s address came as Congress remains at an impasse over funding for the Department of Homeland Security and his approval ratings continue to drop.
The majority of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling inflation, tariffs, immigration and the economy, according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll. A poll from the Pew Research Center released last month found only 28% of Americans say the president’s policies have made economic conditions better.
Trump’s two other brief references to California were also negative. The first was after he blamed Somali immigrants for large-scale fraud cases under investigation in Minnesota. Somali community leaders there have pushed back against these claims.
“California, Massachusetts, Maine and many other states are even worse,” Trump said. “This is the kind of corruption that shreds the fabric of a nation.”
The third mention of California came shortly after Trump blamed former president Joe Biden and “open border politicians in California” for a car crash involving an alleged undocumented immigrant that injured a young child, Dalilah Coleman.
Trump later called on Congress to pass a law barring any state from granting commercial driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. California has allowed people without legal status to obtain licenses since 2015.
Trump seized on crimes committed by undocumented crimes multiple times throughout his speech. This strategy has been used in the past and follows an ongoing surge in immigration enforcement across the country. Research consistently indicates that undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than U.S. citizens.
In a speech released in response to the State of The Union, California Sen. Alex Padilla railed against Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement and other policies.
“He is doing things we never would have imagined possible here in the United States. Donald Trump promised to improve the country and our lives, and many believed him — but we are living a nightmare that divides and destroys our communities,” Padilla said in Spanish.
Other Democrats in Congress, including from California, chose to skip Trump’s address.
“I refuse to sit in the House chamber and pretend everything is normal while President Trump’s administration governs through cruelty, chaos, and fear,” U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, said in a written statement Tuesday afternoon. “I will not play along with decorum while families suffer and entire communities are terrorized.”
U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, called Trump a “troll,” who would use the annual event to “intentionally make outrageous and inflammatory statements.”
“After watching President Trump run roughshod over the Constitution, display utter disregard for Congress, and openly engage in corruption as he and his family use the office to enrich themselves and tarnish this country that I love, I will not give him the dignity of having my presence at the State of the Union,” Bera said in an op-ed in MeidasTouch last week.
This story was originally published February 24, 2026 at 8:39 PM with the headline "California draws brief but sharp mentions in Trump’s State of the Union. Here is what he said."
