A day after the longest State of the Union speech in modern U.S. history, Sen. Andy Kim had one word — “delusional” — to describe President Donald Trump’s 108-minute presentation. While Kim (D-NJ) witnessed the speech, some fellow Democrats — the minority party in Congress — didn’t attend. Rep. Al Green, a Democrat from Texas, was ejected for holding up a sign reading: “BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES,” a reference to a Trump Truth Social post that cast Barack and Michelle Obama as primates.
The president painted the picture of an America that’s thriving economically, with lower energy costs, revitalized cities and more safety than a year ago because of his immigration policies. He called on Congress to pass the Save America Act, which would make a number of changes to voting laws, including a proof of citizenship requirement to cast ballots. The president took the opportunity to call out Democrats throughout the speech, particularly when he asked all members to rise if they agree: “The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
Republicans applauded for nearly a minute. Democrats didn’t stand.
Kim, a former congressman who was elected to the Senate in 2024, shared his reaction to what he saw and heard on Tuesday night. This NJ Spotlight News interview has been lightly edited.
Joanna Gagis, anchor: How do you react to President Trump saying that this is the golden age of America and the safest our country has been?
Andy Kim: Well, his speech is delusional. It’s so out of touch with what the American people are actually feeling. You know, I did a town hall in Asbury Park a couple of days ago, and when I asked people what the state of the union they think is and they would use words like “unaffordable” and “chaos.”
Trump spoke for nearly two hours. He spent less than three minutes talking about affordability, less than four minutes talking about health care. He’s not focused on the issues that people really care about. Instead, he’s going on these tirades about democracy protection, but he’s not trying to protect it. He’s trying to subvert it. He’s trying to sow disinformation into the minds of the American people with his lies.
And just to be there in the chamber — and to see just how rabid his supporters are about the lies that he’s saying — very much worried me about the state of our democracy in our country right now.
Credit: (Taylor Jung/NJ Spotlight News)JG: You mentioned health care. The president did say that he had laid out a health plan that would be better than what we colloquially call Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act. Have you heard any specifics of a plan that would replace or improve upon the ACA?
AK: Zero. And the president has said that in the past that they don’t have a plan yet. This has been just something that they have been gutting and kneecapping. Their plan was to gut Medicaid, as they successfully did last year.
Their plan is to take away the support and the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act that millions of Americans depend on. We already saw over a million less people on the marketplace this year. We’re already seeing many, many Americans suffering and struggling. I heard from a number that attended yesterday that talked about how their premiums have gone up to three-, four-fold.
That’s their plan. That’s what they’re enacting. And that’s something that’s hurting so many people. And it’s why the American people are furious at Trump right now. You can go on and on and throw red meat to his base. But the vast, vast, vast majority of Americans disapprove of what this president is doing.
JG: Yeah, he referenced polling that says that he’s actually polling very well among the American public.
AK: I know he can just keep making things up. But it doesn’t make it true.
JG: He says that America is finally respected all over the world. It’s something we hear — kind of the ping pong ball of which party is in power says we’re finally respected.
You say: Not so. In fact, you said we’re no longer seen as the indispensable nation. We’re seen as the unreliable nation.
“I worked in national security my whole career. I find it to be appalling how we have just shot ourselves in the foot and abdicated our title as a leader of the free world.”
AK: I was at the Munich Security Conference about a week ago and talked with a number of world leaders, including leaders of our allied nations. And every single one of them told me that that they can’t even comprehend what is happening to America right now. That especially after Trump’s threats of military action against Greenland, that they have moved on. They have just seen this as a threshold that we have broken through and they cannot trust us.
And it’s not just about Trump anymore. They just don’t trust our system of governance anymore. So this is something that’s going to leave us weaker, leave us poorer, and something that is a direct result of Trump alienating the rest of the world, turning our backs — not even just turning our backs, but actively attacking our allies and our partners. And who is that boosting? It’s just boosting Russia. It’s boosting China. Our competitors and our adversaries. I worked in national security my whole career. I find it to be appalling how we have just shot ourselves in the foot and abdicated our title as a leader of the free world.
JG: Senator, one of the deepest divides in America right now is the way that ICE and immigration enforcement is being carried out. Democrats did not rise when the president asked who agrees that the first priority is to serve the American citizens rather than, as he says, illegal aliens. Did you rise? I’m not going to ask you to speak on behalf of your entire party, but how did you see that moment and how did you respond?
AK: I am not a prop to Donald Trump when he is saying that, without taking any accountability that ICE and CBP killed American citizens in Minnesota.
Not once did he mention Alex Pretti. Not once did he mention Renee Good. The fact that they are continuing to deny any accountability with the deaths of Americans. So when he goes up and tries to make this some type of show, I’m not going to play along to that game. His administration is directly responsible for the deaths of American citizens, and they should be held to account. And they shouldn’t be able to pretend like that didn’t happen and that he can just use this performance to cover it up, which is exactly what they’re doing. They’re doing a cover-up about those killings.
“They’re just literally lying to us. If you said you did these studies, well, show it to me, and show it to the people in Roxbury.”
JG: You recently got involved in what’s happening with ICE in Roxbury, the purchase of a facility, a warehouse from Dalfon Industrial, a company there in the township. The Republican-led town council does not want to see this and tried to pass an ordinance to block it. I know you met with local and state officials this weekend. What did you talk about? What are they hoping they can still do to block the purchase of this warehouse to be used as a detention facility?
AK: This is a Republican-led town that voted for Trump. And even they are saying this is not something we want to see here. Nobody wants this detention facility in Roxbury. We don’t want it anywhere in New Jersey. We are seeing just the problems there. Not only is it just that ICE is trying to ram this down the throats of the folks in Roxbury, but they’re doing it without even talking to them. I mean, the administration put forward a letter saying that they’ve done surveys and assessments about sewage and water and feasibility.
They’ve done none of that. They’re just literally lying to us. If you said you did these studies, well, show it to me, and show it to the people in Roxbury. This is something that’s going to have a huge and immediate impact not only on Roxbury, but the surrounding communities.
So people are furious — and not just the fact that they’re doing this, but the fact that they have not engaged the locals at all — and the level of disrespect coming out is just palpable. And they’re not just doing it here in New Jersey. They’re doing it all over the country. I talked to Republican senators this week about where they are as this administration is trying to push this in their states, too, and they can’t stand how this is happening.
JG: Do you believe that Republicans in Congress — including Congressman Tom Kean Jr., who does represent Roxbury as part of his district — do you believe the Republicans need to do more to, one, represent the folks who they were elected by, and two ,to push back against ICE and this administration?
AK: Look, they should. But I don’t have confidence in Tom Kean taking up this.
This is something we put forward in a letter to the administration, trying to halt this, and he refused to sign on. I’m hearing left and right — like you saw in the State of the Union yesterday — just the Republicans in Congress continuing to just back this president for whatever he’s doing. It’s not the right approach and it’s certainly not serving our constituents.
