As President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech sought to boost his economic message amid a turbulent season of high prices and unemployment, he primarily highlighted women and girls as beneficiaries of policy successes in his almost two-hour address.

Nearly every example of his policy wins was accompanied by reference to a woman, either hypothetical or present in the chamber. He named a woman who bought IVF drugs through TrumpRX after struggling with infertility; a mother with children who could qualify for money through his “Trump accounts”; and a mother he said will benefit from an expanded child tax credit and no tax on tips.

“I met Megan Hemhauser, a devoted mom who homeschools her children, beautiful, two children during the day while waiting tables at night as her husband works overtime,” Trump said during his speech. “Megan is here this evening, and she’s happy to tell you that she is so, so much richer … Megan and her husband will take home more than $5,000 extra just for the year, cutting her tax bill in more than half.”

His other shout-outs concentrated on women and girls who had faced violence and tragedy, including: Erika Kirk, widow of conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk; Milly Cate, a survivor of the Camp Mystic flooding in Texas; and “angel moms,” his term for the mothers of children who were killed by undocumented immigrants.

The medals and honors awarded to guests during the ceremony primarily went to men service members. One exception was a posthumous Purple Heart awarded to Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, the member of the National Guard who was killed in Washington, D.C., last year.

Absent from the president’s speech were the Jeffrey Epstein files, the release of which is currently roiling congressional lawmakers. An NPR investigation found that the Justice Department has withheld some of the documents related to allegations that Trump sexually abused a minor, and also removed files from the public database where accusations against Epstein mention the president. The files appear to include more than 50 pages of FBI interviews and notes concerning accusations against Trump. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice told NPR that the removed files were privileged, duplicates or related to an investigation.

Lawmakers’ guests to Tuesday night’s speech included several people who survived abuse under the purview of Epstein, a convicted sex offender with ties to many powerful people who died while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who was one of the most vocal proponents of releasing more batches of documents concerning the late financier’s sex offenses, brought Haley Robson, who says Epstein trafficked her starting when she was 16. In the chamber, he sat alongside Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, who partnered with Khanna to force the DOJ to release more files. 

Other Democrats wore pins, including “Release the files” white pins with a redaction line in the middle.

A number of Democratic lawmakers boycotted the event, attending counterprogramming like the “People’s State of the Union” earlier in the day, while a section of Democratic women wore white, in a reference to a voting bill that could make it more difficult for married women and LGBTQ+ people to vote.

During the counter-event, Democratic lawmakers addressed a small crowd near the Lincoln Memorial, framed by the Capitol building. Some brought guests, while others, like Pennsylvania Rep. Summer Lee, spoke about their constituents, including one in her district whose son-in-law was detained by immigrant officers, 

“That is the real state of our union, where families are being torn apart and traumatized,” Lee said. “Where the government would rather protect powerful people in the Epstein files than the women and the girls who were sexually abused.”

Lee also announced she would be introducing articles of impeachment against Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Trump’s approval rating among women has dropped since his last State of the Union address. One recent CNN poll showed a nine-point drop for women respondents since February 2025, while a Quinnipiac poll from this February showed a 30 percent approval rating for the president among women, with 64 percent disapproving.