Commentary & Opinion By Donna Westfall – February 27, 2026
How does he do it? Trump spoke for nearly two hours and it boiled down to this; are the Democrats going to put American’s first or not. Clearly they are not. It’s disgusting watching them sit like robots. Personally, I was thrilled with Trump’s speech. We’ve seen him tackle the most pressing problems in our nation with little cooperation from the Democrats. When will they get it in their heads that our nation will be stronger by working together?
As far as the previous presidents, Biden and Obama – what a joke. No, I take that back. Not a joke. Truly a disaster. From the moment we saw hordes of illegals crossing our borders my first thought was, “Oh, the Dems have found a way to get more voter’s on their side.” What did Trump do? He took the worst border crisis in our history and turned it around.
That wasn’t the only problem by allowing illegals into our country. The welfare rolls expanded to breaking points. Here’s what else increased: the murders, the rapes, the robberies, the beatings, the assaults, the shootings, the driving trucks without speaking or reading English and killing people. What did Trump do? Reversed all that. Whew!
Health care – not a total disaster in our county of Del Norte, but not great. I was glad to learn that Trump got prices on prescription drugs down so low, we’re no longer beefing up the pharmaceutical companies profit margins. Instead people who need their drugs will be able to afford them.
Another thing I learned. He arranged to pay out $1,776 to service members. I never knew. A friend said that’s not the whole story. He lied. Well, I looked it up and it appears that over 1 million active duty service members got their checks before or around Christmas. Only active duty members, NOT veterans, retirees, and officers above the rank of O-6 (generals/admirals).
As far as I’m concerned, we need someone like Trump running California to clean up all the excess taxes, trim the budget and stop the exodus of companies leaving our once great State.
Well, you can listen to Trumps speech and make up your own mind, but here’s what our Congressman 2nd District had to say:
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This week, Trump delivered his State of the Union address for an unbearable, record-breaking almost two hours – and he wasted every minute of it. I’ll give him this – his speech accurately reflected the real state of our union: a total disaster.
Rather than offering a single feasible plan to lower costs, protect health care, or address the very real crises facing working families, Trump used the State of the Union as a stage for more political theater filled with rants, insults, and lies.
Many of you shared your thoughts ahead of the State of the Union on what you hoped to hear. You wanted answers on the skyrocketing cost of groceries and health care. You wanted accountability for ICE’s out-of-control tactics in our communities. You wanted reassurance that the worsening government corruption would stop. And instead of addressing any of those pressing concerns, Trump spread more lies and vitriol to cover up the chaos of this administration.
He called the economy “roaring,” praised ICE’s cruel tactics, ignored Epstein’s victims, and tip-toed around the health care crisis – while millions of Americans are struggling to pay their bills, are terrified to leave their homes, and are losing their coverage.
So, here’s the truth:
- The Economy
- Here’s the reality in CA-02: working families are facing an average annual hit of $2,020 from Trump’s Tariffs and his Big Ugly Law, plus $2,355 in additional living costs, $482 more for housing, and $581 more for transportation.
- These tariffs are a tax on working families, and Trump laid out plans to make them worse while handing more tax breaks to his billionaire allies.
- Immigration
- Trump didn’t just fail to call for reform – he refused to acknowledge the terror and violence ICE has unleashed on our streets. He referred to immigrants as “aliens” and praised his “new military campaign.”
- I, along with many of you, want to see real, comprehensive immigration reform. Arresting, terrorizing, and killing people in our streets is not reform – that’s cruelty masquerading as policy. And as per usual, Trump took zero accountability.
- Health Care
- Trump’s Big Ugly Bill passed the largest Medicaid cut in American history and ended Affordable Care Act tax credits – forcing families to choose between groceries and the care they need. He defended these policies and laid out more rogue, nonsensical plans to gut health care.
- In CA-02, 38,711 people are losing their coverage as a direct result of Republican cuts, and Trump didn’t give them a second thought.
And throughout all of it, Speaker Johnson sat behind Trump, smirking and nodding along as he continued to push a White Christian Nationalist ideology that is eroding the separation of church and state in front of our eyes. As Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, I will continue to push back against these abuses every single day.
Trump is failing the American people, but I am showing up every day in Congress and won’t stop fighting for our community. You deserve better.
