WASHINGTON, D.C. — Florida lawmakers were as divided as ever on their opinions regarding President Trump’s State of the Union address given Tuesday night in Washington.

▶ LISTEN TO ORLANDO’S MORNING NEWS EXPRESS PODCAST ON WDBO

While some, such as Representatives Byron Donalds and Ashley Moody fully supported the President’s words, others like Rep. Darren Soto outright criticized the address, with Rep. Maxwell Frost even refusing attendance in favor of an alternative counter-event.

Rep. Byron Donalds

Prior to the address, Donalds joined NEWSMAX’s Carl Higbie to tout the Trump Administration’s successes, while also condemning those lawmakers who chose to skip the State of the Union address. In a post on X, Donalds called their actions “performative.”

“All they’re trying to do is show that they can stand up to Donald Trump,” said Donalds. “But what does that even mean? Oh, you want to go back to high inflation and low wage growth, or no wage growth at all? Or maybe the Democrats want to go back to wide-open borders and another ten million illegals coming into our country, because that’s what they’re standing for.”

Throughout the address, Donalds took to X to praise Trump and his administration. Alongside mentions of the “booming” economy, Donalds showed support for both the WEIGH Act (which, in Donalds’s words, seeks to “crackdown on illegal alien truckers”) and the Save America Act, which would require a valid ID to vote in U.S. elections.

When leaving the House Chamber, Donalds spoke with CNBC, saying that of all the presidential addresses he had attended during his time in office, “this was the best one, because in there as the president is acknowledging heroes of this nation and actually giving them their military honors in front of the world, I think it helps us all remember why we run for office and come here.”

Rep. Randy Fine

Congressman Randy Fine was “excited” to attend his first-ever State of the Union, to which he brought two very special guests: his father, Dr. H. Alan Fine, and his seeing-eye dog, Sadie, the latter of whom was dressed in a shirt that read “Don’t Tread on Me,” a reference to Fine’s newly introduced bill, the Protecting Puppies from Sharia Act.

Fine spent the night posting his reactions to X, all in his habitual fashion. When Rep. Al Green (D.-Texas) was removed from the State of the Union address after waving a sign reading “Black People Aren’t Apes!”, Fine posted: “Al Green is going home to mommy tonight. Bye bye!”

When Rep. Ilhan Omar (D.-Minn.) shouted at President Trump ‘you have killed Americans’ after he lobbed an attack at Minnesota’s Somali community, Fine wrote: “You should be deported.”

Fine concluded his posting spree by simply retweeting a statement from the White House, reading: “The State of the Union is strong because we finally have a president who puts America First.”

Rep. Maxwell Frost

More than a dozen lawmakers, including Florida’s own Rep. Maxwell Frost, abstained from attending the President’s address, instead calling for a boycott.

In a video posted to his X account, the congressman shared his reasons for not attending.

“We know Donald Trump is going to just completely lie about the state of this economy, the state of this country, how safe we are,” said Frost. “We know under his leadership, we’ve become less safe, and it is important that we not normalize an authoritarian, fascist president like Donald Trump.”

Instead, Frost attended a counter-event, the People’s State of the Union, hosted by media company MeidasTouch and the advocacy group MoveOn Civic Action.

The event, described by organizers as a “rally counterprogramming President Trump’s night full of lies and misplaced priorities,” was attended by dozens of Democratic lawmakers and hosted by political commentators Katie Phang and Joy Reid.

While there, Frost spoke with Alice Goldberg, a music teacher “whose healthcare jumped from $28 to $248 a month due to Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill.” Goldberg has since lost her home.

“It’s the same issue for 25 million Americans. Donald Trump kicked 17 million people off of Medicaid through the Big Beautiful Bill. [There’s] nothing beautiful about it,” said Frost.

Rep. Cory Mills

“There is still work to be done, but tonight, I can confidently say that our state of our Union is strong, and America is back.”

That’s how Rep. Cory Mills began his long string of X posts sent throughout the President’s address.

Mills wrote that he had previously asked FL-07 constituents what policy issues they would like to see Trump address during his speech, issues that ultimately included the economy and inflation, and what Mills described as “the crushing cost-of-living pressures hitting working families the hardest.”

“Tonight, POTUS will deliver exactly that,” Mills wrote, “real, tangible wins putting money back in YOUR pocket and making life more affordable.”

Most of Mills’s posts centered around supporting the SAVE America Act, the Big Beautiful Bill, and the Trump Administration as a whole. Mills especially took time to highlight the presentation of military honors, including the Congressional Medal of Honor to Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover and Navy Fighter Pilot Royce Williams. Mills wrote that he is “forever grateful for ... the men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line to keep our nation safe.”

Mills concluded his reaction by saying that “President Trump reminded the world that America is back, stronger than ever, and putting working families first. God bless President Trump and God bless the United States of America.”

Rep. Darren Soto

In a post on X, Soto characterized the State of the Union as “a deeply UNPOPULAR President” addressing the nation in a way that is “delusional. Divisive. And full of deception.”

Prior to the address, Soto gave a speech of his own, joined by his guests, criminal defense and immigration attorneys Phillip and Josephine Arroyo. Soto cited several reasons as to why he described Trump as “deeply unpopular,” centering much of his argument around tariffs and the attack on immigrants.

“[Trump is unpopular because of] tariffs that are raising up prices, corruption where his cronies get rich while American working families get poorer, and mass deportation that’s splitting apart families in Central Florida,” said Soto.

His guests took to the podium to describe what they as lawyers are doing to help the local Hispanic community and to “protect” the Constitution.

“As attorneys, we went to law school to find justice,” said Phillip Arroyo, “and never in our lives did we expect our beloved Constitution to be violated over and over and over again.”

Arroyo went on to share that his office has won over 18 habeas corpuses.

“No matter how hard, how many obstacles they place in our way, we will continue to fight,” said Josephine Arroyo. “And I ask everyone to do the same, because it’s going to take a village for us to defend this country and our Constitution.”

On X, Soto thanked the Arroyos for attending and “for standing up for immigrant families.”

Click here to download our free news, weather and traffic app. And click here to subscribe to our daily 3 Big Things newsletter.

Download the WDBO app

©2026 Cox Media Group