President Donald Trump made a passionate defense of the US economy during his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

GDP grew at an annualized rate of 1.4% in the fourth quarter, down from 4.4% in the third quarter. The report was originally scheduled for Jan. 29, but was released at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday because of government shutdown-related delays.

The report also underscores an odd aspect of the U.S. economy: It is growing steadily, but without creating many jobs. Growth was a fairly healthy 2.2% in 2025, yet a government report last week showed that employers added less than 200,000 jobs last year — the fewest since COVID struck in 2020.

The US economy grew at a much slower pace in the final months of 2025 as the historic government shutdown weighed on economic activity, ending a year that saw the weakest growth since the pandemic.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 1.4 percent annual rate in the last quarter of the year, hit by the effects of the government shutdown.

President Trump vowed to hit Iran hard Saturday in an online post where he claimed Tehran “is being beat to HELL.” The post came as the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Defense said it has continued to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.

Responding to the U.S. demand that Iran surrender, its president said, "That's a dream they should take to their grave."