When President Trump steps to the podium Tuesday night before Congress, the Supreme Court, and the American people, he can say something that felt out of reach not long ago: The state of the union is strong and getting stronger.
The proof is in the numbers. Last week, the Commerce Department reported that economic growth in the second half of 2025 was nearly three percent. Real wages are rising again. The stock market is hitting record highs — strengthening 401(k)s, IRAs, and college savings accounts. Gas prices are hovering at their lowest level in several years.
This isn’t just an economic rebound. It’s a stark reversal from the Biden administration when inflation rose by 21.5 percent, real wages fell, gas prices hit record highs, and growth limped along while families fell behind.
Under Biden, the average worker lost more than $2,900 in purchasing power. In the first year of President Trump’s second term, real wages climbed by roughly $1,000.
This turnaround didn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of smart, conservative, pro-growth policies that empowered small businesses, not government bureaucrats.
Exhibit A is last year’s Republican tax cuts. These tax cuts prevented the largest middle-class tax hike in history from occurring. They empowered small businesses by restoring and making permanent 100 percent immediate expensing and locking in a 20% deduction on earnings. These tax cuts are game-changers for job creators, incentivizing them to expand, hire, and raise wages.
Take 1920 Tavern in suburban Atlanta. Tax savings allowed the owners to purchase new kitchen equipment, upgrade flooring, install locally crafted tabletops, hire additional staff, and give longtime employees well-earned raises.
Near Chicago, HM Manufacturing was able to invest $645,000 in advanced machining equipment — expanding capacity, reshoring complex projects from overseas, and hiring five new employees, including skilled machinists and logistics staff who represent the backbone of American industry.
In South Florida, Sergio’s Restaurants is opening two new locations and hiring roughly 100 new team members because tax relief gave them the confidence to expand.
That’s what policy victories look like: not headlines in Washington but hiring in hometowns.
The new tax law’s exemption of tips and overtime income is another quiet revolution. For some of the hardest-working Americans — servers, mechanics, nurses, factory workers — it means thousands of dollars back in their pockets each year.
The average American filer is expected to receive a $3,750 tax cut this year. Total refunds are projected to reach $100 billion in 2026 — the largest in history.
Then there’s deregulation. President Trump’s deregulatory push has saved Americans an estimated $180 billion — roughly $2,100 for a family of four.
Trump ended costly Biden-era appliance mandates that drove up prices. He scrapped the electric vehicle quota that would have forced two-thirds of new cars to be electric within several years — a regulation that’s forced the big three automakers to take a $52 billion write down so far, costing thousands of jobs. Trump restored predictability for small businesses that were tired of bracing for the next wave of federal mandates.
Trump should also claim victory on tariffs. The Supreme Court’s decision doesn’t change the fact that Trump’s tariffs achieved what they intended: rebalancing global trade in favor of American manufacturers and small businesses. As a result of these tariffs, the Trump administration has signed dozens of beneficial trade deals, boosting foreign investment in the country by trillions of dollars, creating countless American jobs.
Trump has plenty to highlight tonight. But this economic turnaround should take center stage. A renewed Republican focus on these uniting kitchen-table issues can help the GOP maintain control of Congress this fall, allowing them to build on these affordability victories.
The American comeback is well underway. The question now isn’t whether it’s working. It’s whether we can adequately sell it to voters, connect the dots to conservative public policy, and make it continue through the rest of Trump’s term.
Alfredo Ortiz is CEO of Job Creators Network, author of “The Real Race Revolutionaries,” and co-host of the Main Street Matters podcast.
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