Live updates: Trump's surgeon general pick to face Senate questions

President Donald Trump touted his administration's economic and immigration policies in his annual State of the Union address to Congress last night.

What to know today...

SURGEON GENERAL NOMINEE HEARING:Dr. Casey Means, a popular wellness influencer and architect of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s "Make America Healthy Again” agenda, will appear before the Senate this morning ina long-awaited hearingto discuss her highly scrutinized nomination for surgeon general.STATE OF THE UNION:President Donald Trumptouted his administration’s economic and immigration enforcement policiesin arecord-long speechlast night that grew contentious in the second hour, with tense exchanges betweenthe president and Democratic lawmakers.DEMOCRATS PROTEST:Near the beginning of Trump's address, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, wasescorted out of the House chamberafter he waved a sign that read “Black People Aren’t Apes,” an apparent reference to a video Trump reposted to his Truth Social account depicting the Obamas as apes.Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaiblater interrupted Trump’s speech by calling out at him during his remarks on immigration enforcement. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger gavethe Democratic Party’s official rebuttal.

Who is Casey Means, Trump's surgeon general pick?

Dr. Casey Means will go before lawmakers for a hearing about her nomination to serve as surgeon general, the nation's top public health spokesperson. She was previously scheduled to appear before the committee in October, but the hearing was postponed when she went into labor.

Means is a wellness influencer who served as a campaign adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his presidential bid and helped orchestrate his "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. Her medical license lapsed in 2024, and she has criticized parts of modern medicine like hormonal birth control and the childhood vaccine schedule.

Last year, she argued that the "total burden" of the vaccine schedule was "causing health declines in vulnerable children." She has said that hormonal birth control has "horrifying health risks," despite research showing that it is safe for most people.

Means has also generated controversy for selling dietary supplements and wellness products on social media. Critics have expressed concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

Frost bite and frozen weapons: How U.S. troops train in the Arctic

Temperatures at 30 degrees below zero. Punishing winds. Relentless snow. And only a few hours of sunlight.

Those are the conditions facing the U.S. troops known as the Arctic Angels, who are stationed in a region that is fast becoming a strategic battleground for global powers. Trump has made the Arctic a focus as he has threatened a U.S. takeover of Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory, saying it’s necessary for America’s national security. But since long before then, the U.S., Russia and China have been quietly battling for dominance on one of the world’s only remaining underdeveloped fronts.

NBC News joined troops with the Army’s 11th Airborne Division as they trained to guard against possible threats and potential warfare in a remote part of Alaska, where the battle is often one of logistics.

“Everything’s harder in the Arctic,” said Maj. Gen. John Cogbill, commanding general of the 11th Airborne Division. Weapons freeze, batteries die faster, and moving around takes much longer. “Just surviving up here is a challenge in and of itself,” he said.

‘You have killed Americans!’: Democrats and Trump clash at the State of the Union

Tensions between Trump and Democrats reached a peak during his State of the Union speech last night, with the two sides clashing over his remarks about immigration and allegations of fraud.

Democratic lawmakers shouted at Trump as he talked about illegal immigration and a fraud investigation into the Somali community in Minnesota.

He declared that Democrats should be “ashamed.”

“You should be ashamed!” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., shouted back at Trump.

“Liar!” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., yelled at one point.

Tlaib and Omar grew louder in their responses and heckling of Trump as his speech progressed. Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., could also be seen shouting at Trump.

“You have killed Americans!” Omar and Tlaib yelled. Later, they left the House chamber.

Fact-checking Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address

Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address in history last night, touting his administration’s economic policies and immigration enforcement, while condemning Democrats and the previous administration.

Trump also made a series of exaggerated, misleading and false claims throughout the evening about topics ranging from the economy to crime to elections.

Here’s what the president got right — and wrong — in his address.

Three takeaways from Trump’s State of the Union speech

Trump gave a triumphal State of the Union speech yesterday, proclaiming that he has ushered in a “golden age of America” while taunting Democrats in the chamber and blaming the country’s problems on them.

The speech comes at a perilous moment for Trump as his approval ratings have slipped. Americans have lost trust in him on the economy for the first time in his political career, according to a wide range of polls, presenting troubles for his party ahead of the November midterm elections.

Still, Trump didn’t suggest he would adjust his domestic or foreign policies in response. On issues from immigration to the economy to foreign policy, Trump’s speech was heavy on touting his existing policies and light on offering new ones.

Instead, he sounded defiant and took pride in his first year back in office while sparring with Democrats and goading them to respond to him. Respond they did, with a mix of silence, angry shouts and even mocking laughter.

Here are three takeaways from his speech, which clocked in at over 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Trump touts a ‘roaring economy’ in his State of Union as Americans continue to struggle

Declaring “a turnaround for the ages,” Trump offered a version of America’s standing in his State of the Union address last night that is at odds with the perceptions of the electorate.

Wearing a red power tie with a flag pin on the lapel of his navy suit and speaking to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber, Trump rolled off a list of statistics and policies to support his view that the nation is “back bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before” — a “golden age of America.”

A “roaring economy,” Trump said near the start of his record-breaking 1-hour, 47-minute speech, “is roaring like never before.”

He vowed to maintain unilateral tariffs on foreign goods despite an adverse Supreme Court decision, promising that “these powerful, country-saving, peace-protecting tariffs will remain in place under fully approved and tested alternative legal statutes.”

Trump touted popular policies in his controversial 2025 tax cut, from eliminating taxes on tips for wage workers to investment vehicles for newborns dubbed “Trump accounts.”

But Americans tell pollsters, in survey after survey, that they are not satisfied with the economy 13 months into Trump’s second presidency. Nor do most of them approve of his handling of the other key pillar of his agenda, a mass deportation campaign, or of the overall job he has done in the Oval Office..

Trump’s surgeon general pick to appear before Senate in highly anticipated hearing

Dr. Casey Means will appear before the Senate on this morning in a long-awaited hearing to discuss her highly scrutinized nomination for surgeon general.

Means, a popular wellness influencer, was a campaign adviser during Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential bid and an architect of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. Her brother, Calley Means, is a Kennedy ally and senior adviser to the Health and Human Services Department.

If confirmed to the role, Means would be an outlier among surgeons general: She does not hold an active medical license (her license lapsed in January 2024) and she did not complete her medical residency (she graduated from Stanford University School of Medicine but left a surgical residency program at Oregon Health and Science University in 2018, just months before she was due to complete it).

As a result, many medical professionals have questioned whether Means is qualified to become America’s top doctor with the authority to issue health warnings and advisories for the entire country.