Trump: ‘We’re winning’; Democrats say we’re not

By OC Tribune Staff on February 25, 2026 • ( Leave a comment )

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP addresses Congress (File photo).

President Donald Trump addressed Congress and the nation with his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, claiming that America was “winning” and criticizing Democrats for their emphasis on “affordability.”

According to The New York Times, a focus of his remarks was to urge lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and add a national requirement to show a photo ID to cast a ballot.

Trump has maintained – without evidence – that Democrats have conspired to rig elections by allowing non-citizens to vote.”They want to cheat,” he said. “They have cheated. And their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat.”

Historically, states have conducted presidential elections, and it’s uncertain if the bill – if passed by Congress – would pass constitutional scrutiny.

Democrats, in response, focused on economic issues. “Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family?” said Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger. “We all know the answer is no.”

Ukrainians ‘not broke’ by war

Four years of war with Russia has “not broken Ukrainians,” said Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Tuesday.

UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT Volodymyr Zekenskyy (Flickr/Ukrainian Govt.)

According to the Associated Press, Zelensky said that despite having much larger armed forces, Russia in the last year has captured less than one percent (0.79 percent) of Ukrainian territory.

European leaders gathered in the capital city of Kyiv on the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion to show their support. Initially it was expected that Russia – with a much larger population and resources – would triumph quickly.

But the Ukrainians showed surprising strength and with billions of dollars of aid from the U.S. and other Western nations, they have been able to battle the Russians to what’s become a stalemate.

Negotiations among Russia, the U.S and Ukraine have been unable to move the parties toward a peaceful conclusion to the war.

Crackdown on cartels leads to crisis

A crackdown on the powerful drug cartels that wield much power in Mexico has resulted in a bloody crisis that has cast a shadow over Mexico’s large tourism trade.

United Press International is reporting that unrest in the Mexican state of Jalisco is continuing, with a jailbreak that has turned loose 23 inmates at large and at least 41 persons detained.

The turmoil began when the Mexican government moved against Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. He was killed by Mexican soldiers.

The government has dispatched 20,000 troops, but violence has spread with attacks on people, looting and ransacking buildings and burning motor vehicles. In retaliation for the death of Cervantes, cartel forces killed 25 members of the Mexican National Guard.

Roadblocks and blockades have been set up and “in-person” school activities have been suspended.

Weather:Way up, way down

There will be a good variety in conditions outdoors in or West Orange County cities. The forecast for Wednesday calls for a daytime high of 76 with an overnight low of 53 under partly cloudy skies. Thursday is expected to warm to 79 (55) and also be partly cloudy. Friday should see a spike in temps to 87 (57) and again, partly cloudy. Then it cools to 79 (55) on Saturday with mostly sunny skies.