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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump Touts "Transformation" Of Country In Second Term; Democrats Look To Counter Trump's Vision For America; Trump: Tariffs Saving The Country, Protecting World Peace; Iran Says Trump Repeated "Big Lies" During His Speech; U.S. State Department: Situation In Mexico Back To Normal. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired February 25, 2026 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[05:00:30]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers, joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Wednesday, February 25th, 5:00 a.m. here in New York. And you are watching EARLY START.

Let's begin this morning with President Trump's State of the Union speech, the longest in U.S. history at one hour and 47 minutes. The president tried to convince Americans to believe his view of the economy, the exact opposite of what people continue to say in poll after poll.

The president claims that America is experiencing a new golden age with trillions of dollars in new investment and tariff revenues, transforming the country. But his data on inflation, jobs and economic growth was questionable at best, and he tried once again to blame the Biden administration for creating a mess that he's fixing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The same people in this chamber who voted for those disasters suddenly used the word affordability, knowing full well that they caused and created the increased prices that all of our citizens had to endure. You caused that problem.

They knew their statements were a dirty, rotten lie. Their policies created the high prices. Our policies are rapidly ending them

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And a CNN poll of people who watched the speech which tends to lean toward the president's party, 38 percent said that they had a very positive reaction. 25 percent felt somewhat positive and 36 percent had a negative reaction.

CNN's Ivan Rodriguez has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM MCFARLAND, U.S. HOUSE SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States.

IVAN RODRGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the first State of the Union address of the second term, an energetic and defiant President Donald Trump.

TRUMP: The state of our Union is strong.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): He turned to Capitol Hill to declare what he calls a new age of American prosperity.

TRUMP: After just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before and a turnaround for the ages.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): With the midterm elections at stake and the economy in the spotlight, the President praised several cost-saving initiatives like lowering some prescription drug prices and cutting taxes. Trump also defended key pillars of his agenda that have been subject to controversy, including his global tariff initiative struck down by the Supreme Court last week.

TRUMP: I used these tariffs, took in hundreds of billions of dollars to make great deals for our country.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): And immigration.

TRUMP: We now have the strongest and most secure border in American history by far. In the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): In a deviation from a traditional State of the Union address, Trump also handed out awards to some invited guests and recognized a gold medal winning men's hockey team, including star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.

TRUMP: I will soon be presenting Connor with the highest civilian honor in our country, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): In Washington, I'm Ivan Rodriguez.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: U.S. Democrats are seeking to contrast their party from President Trump's vision for America. Many of the party's lawmakers boycotted the State of the Union address entirely.

In her Democratic response shortly after the president's address, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger highlighted some of the controversy surrounding President Trump's second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D), VIRGINIA: He's enriching himself, his family, his friends. The scale of the corruption is unprecedented. There's the cover up of the Epstein files, the crypto scams, cozying up to foreign princes for airplanes and billionaires for ballrooms, putting his name and face on buildings all over our nation's capital. This is not what our Founders envisioned. Not by a long shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: All right. Joining us now to discuss is Democratic Congressman Jonathan Jackson, who joins us live this morning from Washington.

Congressman, good to see you again.

Your reaction to the speech last night?

REP. JONATHAN JACKSON (D-IL): Oh, it was quite painful. I was there for the two plus hours. You said an hour and 47 minutes after all of the self-adulation. He was basically singing hymnal to himself on how great thou art, which is totally devoid of any facts.

[05:05:01]

The polling reflects that. The economics reflect that. So, it was just painful that we've had a rise in inflation. We've seen the insecurity in people's pocketbooks. Rents are out of control. There is great consternation for investors that are wanting to invest. He's defying the Supreme Court now on the tariffs. Tariffs are under the purview of the law the authority of the United States Congress.

He's asking for federal voter reform. Theres nothing wrong with the voting system. He's going back into 2020 saying that he's -- he won the election.

He just painted such a dark and gloomy picture for America. It felt more like an earnings call on the CNBC. And somewhere between that and a pep rally with a lot of self-adulation. I can't believe it.

SOLOMON: Well -- yeah. I mean, so you were there and so you were there to witness some of the outbursts from members of your party. I mean, I take your point that from your view, it was painful to hear some of what you laid out there. But were the outbursts from your party appropriate?

JACKSON: I don't think it was helpful. I really would like to see us take this back to the level of statesmanship. But then again, I just find him so vulgar in his language. I mean, what's up with the attack on DEI? First of all, in the Latin DEI is pronounced Dei, which means of God. So, it's kind of ignorant in one -- in one level to keep harping on these on the letters.

I get the acronym of diversity, equity and inclusion. But it's just so ironic that Dei also means Dei for -- of God, the spirit of God, the face of God. You know, the greater will of God. So, I find that offensive.

He never apologized about calling the Obamas apes and so I didn't necessarily agree with the technique of Congressman Green, but I can certainly feel his outrage and righteous indignation. I think the president should have apologized, fired someone. No one's been fired. There were seven senators and, I think there were seven senators and

five congressmen that issued statements, but it was not rebuked by the entire Republican Party. What's up with that? The adulation of the congratulations of Charlie Kirk, who says the civil rights movement was a mistake? I mean that's just patently wrong that Americans did not become Americans until we passed the civil rights act to ban discrimination.

So, he's making racist dog whistles and calls that he should be challenged on. We're a better nation than that if we're going to move forward.

SOLOMON: Well, speaking of challenging the president, I mean, if last night was a preview of how Republicans plan to message around midterms and at least according to Speaker Johnson, I mean, he thought the president did a great job, which obviously you would expect him to say.

But what does your party need to do, what do the Democrats need to do if last night was a preview to flip the House and at least put up a competitive performance for the Senate?

JACKSON: Well, I think we need to go to the -- to the heartland come through Iowa, go through Illinois, go through Indiana. I see there's a lot of talk about redistricting and all the other stuff. I think we ought to pass a law to make redistricting once every decade and be done with it. Not all this partisanship going back and forth. And then the second thing is there's seats in Iowa and Illinois that were won with less than 1000 votes.

We've got a million Democratic voters in the state of Iowa. Go to the ground. Register people to vote. Take our case to the American people.

And I think that we have to overwhelm the polls, call this voter suppression out. I think Democrats ought to go to the front line, take our medical doctors, and that are Congress people go down to the detention camps. And in Louisiana and in Texas where migrants are being killed where people are dying at alarming rates and go out into the front. We've got to get out of this echo chamber in the beltway of the -- of the Capitol and be seen talking to everyday people.

There are two things. One is the is the leadership of the -- of the Congress. In other words is the leadership of the Democratic Party. We've got to have a party speak up and speak out. The epicenter of so much of this violence right now is going on in Indianapolis -- I mean, in Minneapolis, and we need to hear from the party. How was the party organizing hit the ground running?

That's the northern end of the Mississippi River. The same issue that they have in Louisiana. Let's meet people where they are.

SOLOMON: Congressman Jonathan Jackson, we appreciate you being on with us this morning. And, you know, it is obviously a difficult time for you and your family.

[05:10:01] And so, we send our condolences and we appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you.

JACKSON: Thank you so much.

SOLOMON: Well, President Trump also addressed the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling on tariffs, his latest levies on international goods took effect Tuesday morning after the court struck down tariffs. He criticized some of the justices who were sitting right in front of him.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Then just four days ago an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court it just came down it came down. Very unfortunate ruling.

As time goes by, I believe the tariffs paid for by foreign countries will like in the past, substantially replace the modern day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The president has said that he still has leverage in the global trade war, especially with some international trade deals still in limbo.

Let's now bring in CNN's Melissa Bell live from Paris for the latest on European reaction to Trump's speech.

So, Melissa, it was a largely domestic speech, but give us a sense of what we're hearing from Europe and its leaders in terms of what we heard from President Trump last night.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we're hearing, Rahel, is a reflection of that, the fact that this was a very domestic speech in a year of midterms, and that there wasn't a great deal in it that the Europeans needed to react to what they are keeping a very close eye on, of course and what you just heard there is what he had to say. The president had to say on tariffs.

And that view increasingly aggressive and determined to carry on with tariffs, notwithstanding the Supreme Courts decision, that is the signal that the Europeans are looking at very carefully. what we've been hearing now that the European parliament has paused its process of ratification for that trade deal that was struck last summer between the United States and Europe. And with that trade deal now in limbo as you said, they are looking at much more aggressively, potentially retaliating against these latest tariffs.

And there are a number of different voices here in Europe that are increasingly looking at some of those tools, including what's been described as a trade bazooka here in Europe. That is the anti-coercion instrument. Also those 90 billion euros worth of retaliatory tariffs that have been set aside last summer, once this deal had been struck.

These are still very much options that they believe they can wield out should Washington continue down this road of these unilateral and universal tariffs, or 10 to 15 percent. The European Union is now figuring out its common position the European parliament has to confirm next week and meet again to decide on its position with regard to the tariffs and what happens next.

Beyond that, it will be for the European Commission to work out its common position. Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, will be in Washington in early March and he said with a very firm, unified European position, what's unclear for now, Rahel, is whether it will be retaliation or another attempt to negotiate.

SOLOMON: Okay. Melissa Bell in Paris -- Melissa, thank you.

And President Trump also gave Congress and the world insight into his approach towards Iran. The president said this about Tehran's nuclear program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far to have a nuclear weapon. Can't let that happen

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: President Trump concluded by saying he still prefers to cut a deal. His remarks come just days before the next round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran that is expected to take place in Geneva on Thursday.

Let's get to CNN's Paula Hancocks, who joins us live this morning from Abu Dhabi with reaction from Iran.

And, Paula, we are already hearing that reaction from Iran. And the comments are sharp. What are we hearing?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rahel. We've had a reaction from the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, and he has effectively called Trump's speech, quote, big lies. He has said that it is misinformation. It is disinformation. Also referring at one point to Nazi propaganda, saying that if you repeat a lie long enough and enough times then it becomes true.

Now he is claiming that Trump was lying when he spoke about the nuclear program, when he spoke about the missile program of Iran, and also the number of anti-regime protesters killed last month. Now, what we did hear from President Trump was when it comes to the nuclear program, for example, these negotiations, he says that he does believe Iran wants to make a deal saying that we haven't heard those secret words. We will never have a nuclear weapon.

Now, this is something we have heard from Tehran. [05:15:00]

In fact, just hours before this State of the Union speech, the Iranian foreign minister said that they would not be pursuing a nuclear weapon. Now, of course, many doubt the truth in that statement, but that statement has been made a number of times by Iranian officials.

Now, what we are seeing in the next 48 hours really is quite significant. This is potentially a very pivotal moment in what we have been seeing in recent weeks between the U.S. and Iran. There will be those talks between the two countries in Geneva on Thursday. Oman mediating as they have the previous two rounds, and many are putting a lot of weight on what comes out of those talks, deciding what happens next -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: Okay, we shall see.

Paula Hancocks for us in Abu Dhabi -- Paula, thank you.

Life is getting back to normal in Mexico, but security remains tight after widespread violence from cartel members. We'll have the latest from Mexico.

Plus, Ukrainians tell CNN that they are tired of resilience after four years of war. We'll hear their stories, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:20:40]

SOLOMON: The U.S. State Department says that the situation in Mexico has returned to normal after the killing of drug lord El Mencho triggered widespread violence. Americans in Mexico are no longer being urged to shelter in place. More than 100 Mexican marines are now in Jalisco state to reinforce security. This comes after cartel members went on a rampage when their leader died in a military raid on Sunday. Government says that the violence expanded across 20 of Mexico's 32 states.

It underscores how El Mencho's Jalisco New Generation Cartel expanded its territory in recent years. The cartel's most significant presence is in the darker blue areas of the map there. The situation has raised safety concerns about Mexico hosting World Cup matches this summer, although President Claudia Sheinbaum says that there is no risk to visitors.

CNN's Valeria Leon explains how the attack on El Mencho was executed and how the cartel responded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When a cartel leader as powerful as El Mencho is taken down, the consequences. Unfold quickly from internal power struggles to retaliation on the ground, Mexican security forces say they have regained control and are working to prevent further violence following the operation that killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, he was taken down in Tapalpa, Jalisco a town where Mexican forces carried out that operation.

This is what remains in the aftermath of that operation, military personnel continue to guard the terrain where the operation unfolded. The area is heavily wooded and difficult to access. It remains partially sealed off, with forensic teams working inside a restricted perimeter. What is normally a quiet town known for its natural beauty and weekend visitors became the center of a major federal security deployment.

Tourists staying in the area described hearing helicopters overhead and what sounded like explosions before roads were blocked and access was cut off.

But what happened in this town did not stay there. Within hours of the operation, violence spread across parts of Jalisco. It reached Puerto Vallarta, one of Mexico's top destinations, the third most visited in the country, welcoming more than six million international tourists last year, many of them Americans.

With many shops now forced to close, some tourists say they've struggled to find basic necessities including food and water.

Flights were suspended at Puerto Vallarta's international airport. And this morning, President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed the situation.

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT: Today, there are still no classes, but tomorrow they are hoping that activities will return to normal at the Guadalajara airport. Almost all flights have already resumed and things are also gradually returning to normal in Puerto Vallarta.

LEON: But even as flights resume and roads are cleared, the economic impact is already being felt just weeks before spring break. And for a region that depends heavily on international tourism, the damage may extend beyond burned vehicles and broken windows. The recovery for local businesses may take time.

Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: In his State of the Union Address, President Trump falsely claimed to have ended eight wars in the past year. Now he has played a role in resolving some conflicts, at least temporarily. But the eight figure is a clear exaggeration.

President Trump then briefly addressed the conflict that has just entered its fifth year, Russia's war in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And we're working very hard to end the ninth war, the killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers are dying each and every month. Think of that, 25,000 soldiers are dying a month, a war which would have never happened if I were president -- would have never happened.

As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Trump had previously claimed that he would end the war within one day of taking office. That was more than a year ago, but clearly the conflict rages on.

[05:25:02]

Ukraine's president says that the latest round of U.S.-led peace talks with Russia were not, quote, "sufficient".

Let's go to CNN's Clare Sebastian who joins us live this morning from London.

Clare, this brief mention of the Ukraine war, is this a positive development or a negative development? How is this being viewed in terms of where peace talks go from here?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I think, Rahel, it's important to point out were getting little to no official reaction to the lack of mention or lack of sort of extensive mention of Ukraine in that speech, but I think it will have been noticed. Obviously, the speech coincided with the fourth anniversary of the war, President Zelensky had told CNN this week that the one thing he was looking for from President Trump, from the State of the Union, was that he would, quote, stay on our side. But we didn't get any explicit expressions of support for Ukraine, no explicit condemnation of Russian aggression, no mention even of the fourth anniversary.

Very stark contrast what we heard from President Biden two years ago, and especially, I think, a stark contrast to what we saw from European leaders on Tuesday, many of whom visited Kyiv. President Zelensky even got a standing ovation when he addressed virtually the European parliament. New sanctions packages were announced, all sorts of expressions of solidarity and support.

So no mention of this from the U.S. would have been quite striking in Ukraine but I think there's a clear reason why they're not saying much about this, and that is because they still believe that U.S. support and U.S. diplomacy is their best hope of ending this and as you said we have a new round of bilateral talks. The Ukrainian side says that will start tomorrow, Thursday. Bilateral talks with the U.S. negotiating team which they hope will then advance to another round of trilateral talks with the Russians, possibly at the beginning of March President Zelenskyy said today.

So, this is a critical opportunity to try to convince the U.S. to put more pressure on Moscow. They don't want anything to get in the way of that -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: Clare Sebastian, for us there in London -- Clare, thank you. Still ahead for us, fallout from the Epstein files is looming over the

British government, and lawmakers could decide to release documents about the former Prince Andrew's time as a trade envoy.

We'll have the latest from London after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)