1. Working to Raise Tariffs to 15% —A White House official said Tuesday that the Trump administration is working to raise the newly announced temporary global tariff rate from 10% to 15%. Trump's "mindset" regarding the 15% tariff rate remains uncha

2026-02-25

1. Working to Raise Tariffs to 15% —A White House official said Tuesday that the Trump administration is working to raise the newly announced temporary global tariff rate from 10% to 15%. Trump's "mindset" regarding the 15% tariff rate remains unchanged. No further details were provided regarding the specific timing of the tariff increase. 2. Says Tariffs Will Remain in Effect —Trump stated that U.S. tariff measures will remain in effect under other legal provisions. He also stated that the tariff policy will continue, tariffs will replace income taxes, and Congress will not need to take action on tariffs. He also expressed regret over the Supreme Court's ruling and noted that almost all countries and partner organizations want to maintain the existing tariff agreements. 3. White House Briefing May Signal Timing of Action Against Iran —U.S. Secretary of State Rubio and the CIA director held a closed-door briefing at the White House on the situation in Iran. According to Washington's security decision-making practice, this level of briefing is typically used to inform the highest levels of Congress about key intelligence and risk assessments related to potential military action. It is widely believed that this signifies that the U.S. has entered the "executable options phase" on the Iran issue. Analysts say that if this round of negotiations fails to meet expectations, this weekend and early next week will be a window for observing US actions. 4. Trump delivers a nearly two-hour State of the Union address —Trump's State of the Union address lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes, a record long. The speech focused on economic achievements and "Make America Great Again," including policy statements on immigration, borders, security, trade, and foreign policy, while also touching on political and cultural issues. US media pointed out that some of Trump's policy proposals and achievements were controversial. 5. Claims prices will soon fall to "unimaginable" levels —Trump: Soon prices will fall to levels many people think are impossible. Under government policies, the prices of commodities such as eggs are falling. This price drop is comparable to another large-scale tax cut. 6. Promises to address housing issues while maintaining home price stability —Trump stated that he will address housing affordability while protecting the property values of existing homeowners. Trump has publicly expressed concern about any policies that could lead to lower home prices and consequently affect homeowners' net worth. 7. High-profile promotion of his economic achievements —In his State of the Union address, Trump emphasized that his administration had brought inflation to its lowest point in five years, mentioning that core inflation had fallen to 1.7% in the last three months of 2025. Furthermore, the US is currently the world's hottest economy, and its stock market has reached record highs. 8. Announcement of fulfilled oil and gas drilling commitments —Trump stated that he had fulfilled his commitments regarding oil and gas drilling, with US oil production increasing by more than 600,000 barrels per day and natural gas production reaching record highs. He also claimed that the US had received more than 80 million barrels of oil from Venezuela, and that the government had control over the country's oil sales. 9. Claims Iran has not abandoned its nuclear ambitions —Trump: Iran is developing missiles capable of quickly reaching the US and continues to rebuild its nuclear weapons program; they are still pursuing nuclear ambitions. While Iran is willing to reach an agreement, it has not explicitly committed to "never building nuclear weapons." My first choice remains to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic means. 10. Claims NATO Will Purchase Weapons from the US in Full for Ukraine —Trump stated that all weapons delivered by the US to Ukraine are procured through NATO, with full payment made. NATO countries are US allies and, at his request, agreed to contribute 5% of their GDP to the NATO common budget. 11. Lawsuit Against the University of California—The Trump administration filed a lawsuit against UCLA, alleging its long-standing disregard for "anti-Semitism." 12. Criticizes Pelosi by Name —In his State of the Union address, Trump called on Congress to pass legislation banning insider trading in securities and specifically asked his "arch-rival," former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "Are you standing?" 13. Denies Naming "Trump-Named Projects" —In his State of the Union address, Trump mentioned several new projects named after himself, including the newly established "Trump Account." However, he repeatedly stated that he did not personally name these projects.