Affordability was the word on everyone's lips at President Donald Trump's 2026 State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
“Now the same people in this chamber who voted for those disasters suddenly use the word affordability. A word, they just used it, somebody gave it to them knowing full well that they caused and created the increased prices that all of our citizens had to endure. You caused that problem," Trump said during the nearly two-hour speech.
The Conversation noted reactions from Hawaiʻi's congressional delegation following the address, beginning with Sen. Brian Schatz: “A year into this administration, what is clear is that they are not doing enough to make life more affordable for people in Hawaiʻi. Costs are going up, people are losing their health care, and housing remains unaffordable.”
Sen. Mazie Hirono also weighed in, saying that “Donald Trump spewed more lies in an attempt to distract from the chaos, cruelty, corruption, and incompetence that have come to define his second term. In Hawaii and across the country, families are living with fear and uncertainty about paying their bills, being torn apart, and the safety of our nation—all because of Trump and his lawless regime.”
Rep. Ed Case released a statement saying Trump “scoffed at affordability, as if somehow we should not believe the reality we live of unacceptably high costs of food, health care, housing, childcare, education, small business, and on and on."
In a video statement, Rep. Jill Tokuda said, “Tonight, the president missed the mark in having an honest conversation with the people of this country to talk to them about how he plans on making life better, more affordable for them. In fact, it was sad to actually hear him laugh at that term, affordability, when so many people in Hawaiʻi, so many people across this country, are struggling.”
The Conversation sat down with University of Hawaiʻi political scientist Colin Moore on Wednesday morning to talk about Trump's high-stakes speech.
“Overall, I think, he accomplished what his team wanted him to accomplish in the first 30 minutes, which was to focus more on the economy and affordability, and then it began to wander in the next hour, and it became a little more combative, a little more like a campaign rally,” Moore said.
“Trump is politically in a bit of trouble. I mean, his approval ratings are around 41%, you know, it's very likely that he will lose the House of Representatives in the midterm. And this speech, you know, if it was designed to really rally the country around his policies, I don't think he managed to accomplish that.”
Speaking about how State of the Union addresses impact national audiences, Moore said, “I don't really see them persuading voters who are still open to much persuasion. I mean, in some ways, the speech itself is made for social media so it can be chopped up and clips can be played for campaign events.”
He also noted that many other issues surrounding the Trump administration, including tariffs and Iran, went unaddressed.
“The issues that likely would affect Hawaiʻi the most directly didn't get a lot of time in the speech,” Moore said.
This story aired on The Conversation on Feb. 25, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
