Big ideas from Trump's State of the Union speech, from federal 401k payments to Dalilah's law
A federal matching payment for Americans' 401k retirement accounts was among Trump's promises
After a whirlwind year of action abroad and home, President Donald Trump on Tuesday night used the first State of the Union address of his second administration to propose sweeping new ideas – ranging from trucker safety to an historic change to the energy grid in a signal he has no plans to relent on his agenda in the face of the midterm congressional elections.
Here are some of the big ideas the 47th president put on the table during a joint session of Congress:
A federal matching payment for Americans' 401k retirement accounts
Trump announced he will be creating a new program giving Americans up to $1,000 to match their retirement savings in 401k accounts, promising more details in the near future.
"Your 401ks are way up, yet half of all of working Americans still do not have access to a retirement plan with matching contributions from an employer," Trump declared. "To remedy this gross disparity, I'm announcing that next year my administration will give these often forgotten American workers, great people, the people that built our country, access to the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker.
"We will match your contribution with up to $1,000 each year, as we ensure that all Americans can profit from a rising stock market."
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A plan to protect electricity rate payers from the costs of Artificial Intelligence grid expansion
Trump announced a “rate-payer protection pledge” being executed with major tech companies requiring them to provide for their own power needs by building their own power plants and grids. It's a major revolution in power policy, allowing private companies to do what major governments have handled for decades.
U.S. electricity rates have soared an average of 6.3% in the past year as the AI revolution rages forward with massive data center construction.
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Delilah's Law: A Major Reform for Commercial Truck Driver Licenses
Trump called on Congress to pass a "Delilah's Law," barring states from issuing commercial driving licenses to illegal immigrants. In announcing the proposed law, he turned to the audience and Dalilah Coleman, a first-grader who was severely injured in a car accident caused by an illegal alien driving a semi-truck.
"Many, if not most, illegal aliens do not speak English and cannot read even the most basic road signs," Trump said. "That's why tonight I'm calling on Congress to pass what we will call the Delilah law, barring any state from granting commercial driver's licenses to illegal aliens."
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Tariffs to income tax freedom?
Trump said he will make new legal justifications for his tariffs to preserve them after a recent loss at the Supreme Court and predicted they would one day put the country on a path to reducing federal income taxes.
"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," Trump said.
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A new commander for the war on fraud and a goal for a balanced budget
Trump turned to tech entrepreneur Elon Musk at the beginning of his second term to run the DOGE review to identify waste, fraud and abuse in taxpayer programs. Musk finished his temporary assignment identifying tens of billions of dollars in potential savings before returning to his suite of companies.
On Tuesday night, Trump said the next phase of the “war on fraud” would be led by Vice President JD Vance. He also suggested there were enough savings to be achieved that could put America on a path toward a balanced budget after years of annual budget deficits of $2 trillion or more.
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Redirecting federal health subsidies from big insurers under Obamacare to American families instead
Trump proposed anew redirecting the billions of dollars in subsidies given to health insurers under Obamacare to individual health savings accounts, allowing people to choose health care services directly.
"I want to stop all payments to big insurance companies and instead give that money directly to the people so they can buy their own health care, which will be better health care at a much lower cost," Trump said.