Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union address, labeling it “lazy” and condemning his minimal attention to Ukraine.
In remarks made publicly, Pelosi stated that Trump spent only a sentence and a half on Ukraine—a critical issue where democracy is at stake—while instead advancing policies she described as harmful to vulnerable Americans. She specifically targeted Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” which she claimed took hundreds of billions from Medicare and Medicaid to provide tax cuts for the wealthiest citizens.
“I thought the speech was lazy,” Pelosi said. “You know, it’s one thing to acknowledge patriotism and people getting well when you have absolutely nothing to do with their courage or the rest, but you spend an hour and a half doing it — what is the state of the nation?”
Pelosi also criticized Trump for removing millions of Americans from food assistance programs like SNAP and Medicaid, stating: “Food out of the mouths of babies, people off health—millions of people off of Medicaid to give it to them.”
She further noted that Trump’s approach has led the nation away from democratic values, referencing a past comment: “With you, Mr. President, all roads lead to Putin.” Pelosi added, “If I were president, it would never have happened. Well, you are president, you can stop it.”
Pelosi also addressed President Trump’s mention of Rep. Ilhan Omar shouting during the address, downplaying the incident as part of his criticism.