Trump Stages His Own ‘State of the Union’ After Biden’s Official Speech

Eager to burnish his 2024 bona fides as some Republicans raise doubts about his third bid for the White House, former President Donald J. Trump stood Tuesday between two American flags — in his signature blue suit and red tie — and offered his own assessment of the nation.

But even the first line was incorrect.

“Here’s the real State of the Union,” Mr. Trump said.

The real State of the Union was delivered earlier Tuesday by the sitting president, Joseph R. Biden Jr. For more than two years, Mr. Trump has repeated the lie that he won the 2020 election, falsely claiming that the election was stolen. His claims have been rebuked by numerous recounts, court rulings and assessments from his own administration.

There was no other allusion to the last presidential race during Mr. Trump’s two-minute videotaped speech, which he released after Mr. Biden finished his address.

Instead, Mr. Trump spent most of his video excoriating the Biden administration, while hitting on some of the same themes he had during two campaign events on Jan. 28, which were aimed at assuaging doubts about his 2024 campaign that have arisen in the establishment wing of the Republican Party.

Mr. Trump, who has presided over three disappointing election cycles as the Republicans’ leader, held his first event at a New Hampshire state party gathering and then introduced his South Carolina leadership team in Columbia, S.C., in the statehouse hallway where lobbyists prowl during legislative sessions. Both were extraordinary settings for a politician known for upsetting the establishment and taking direct aim at longstanding public institutions.

In his video on Tuesday, Mr. Trump said Mr. Biden was responsible for millions of undocumented immigrants who “have stormed across our southern border” and for a decline in real wages for 21 consecutive months.

Mr. Trump, who is facing a criminal investigation into his handling of classified government documents and a criminal referral to the Justice Department from the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, accused Mr. Biden of weaponizing the Justice Department. “And I’m a victim of it,” he added.

“But the good news is we are going to reverse every single crisis, calamity and disaster that Joe Biden has created,” Mr. Trump said. “I am running for president to end the destruction of our country and to complete the unfinished business of making America great again.”