On Tuesday night, I stood on stage at the “State of the Swamp,” the rebuttal to the State of the Union (SOTU) hosted by Miles Taylor at Defiance.org, an event I was proud to help support and organize alongside an extraordinary team.
Rebuttals can easily become performance. That wasn’t my goal.
I deliberately chose a simple phrase: "I defy."
Not as defiance for its own sake. But as a declaration of what leadership requires in moments like this. Defying blind loyalty. Defying fear as a governing strategy and defying the idea that patriotism belongs to one party.
I served inside the first Trump White House. I took an oath to the Constitution. I have seen how quickly power can bend toward ego instead of country, and how easily people convince themselves to stay quiet because speaking up feels costly.
It is costly. But silence costs more.
What I said Tuesday night was not about applause. It was about reminding people, and reminding those in office, that government serves the people, not the other way around. That principle is not political to me. It is foundational. I was raised to believe that public service is about responsibility, not power, and that integrity is not negotiable.
Here is my speech, in full:
I defy blind loyalty to any man.
I defy fear as a governing strategy.
And I defy the idea that patriotism belongs to one party.
My name is Olivia Troye.
I served in the first Trump White House. I sat in the rooms where decisions were made. And I saw what happens when power stops serving the country, and starts serving itself.
So I walked away. Not because it was easy. But because integrity mattered more than my title.
I knew there would be consequences—not just for me, but for my family.
I was serving in his White House, and I stood up to him publicly when too many chose comfort over courage. Because I knew what a second term would unleash.
And now?
We are living it.
This isn’t law and order.
It is power demanding obedience.
That is not the America I swore an oath to protect.
Donald Trump demands loyalty to him.
We the People demand loyalty to the Constitution.
I stand here as the daughter of an all-American boy who grew up on a farm and became a lifelong truck driver, and a Mexican immigrant mother. ¡Mama, te amo!
I am the American Dream. And that promise is being broken.
While Republican leadership in Washington demands applause tonight, families like the one I grew up in are choosing between rent and groceries. Working full-time, and still falling behind.
Immigrant families are living with real fear. Parents are afraid to take their children to school. Workers are afraid to show up to jobs they’ve held for years. Families are hurting.
That’s the real state of the union.
But we will not let fear control us.
So here’s my message to those sitting in the Capitol tonight:
We are not your audience.
We are your employers.
And we will remind you of that at the ballot box.
I believe in ethics over ego. The American Dream is worth defending.
And I’m asking all of you in the audience here and at home to defend it with me.
Not with violence.
Not with hatred.
But with courage.
Keep showing up.
Organize.
Protect your neighbors.
Refuse to be silent.
And vote.
Fear doesn’t work here.
Not in our cities.
Not in our communities.
Not in this country.
We are not afraid.
We are not silent.
And we will not back down.
I stood up once. I never backed down.
And I know millions of Americans are ready to stand with me.
Let’s defy together!
Rallies create energy. Governing requires scrutiny. And after the applause fades, both on that stage and in the Capitol, it’s worth stepping back and examining what was presented in the President’s State of the Union address, and what was left out.
What the State of the Union Didn’t Address
The President’s address offered applause lines and selective statistics. But what was missing was an honest accounting of how these policies are actually affecting working families.
Inflation may have cooled from its peak, but cooling inflation does not mean lower prices. Housing, electricity, groceries, and insurance—these costs remain elevated. For many families, wages have not caught up. At the same time, recent tax policy disproportionately benefits higher earners, while reductions to safety-net programs place a new strain on those already on the edge.
Families are choosing between rent and groceries. Parents are working full-time and still falling behind. Small businesses are absorbing higher input costs from tariffs and passing some of those costs on to customers. That is the lived experience in communities across this country.
Tariffs were presented as if foreign governments were footing the bill. They are not. Tariffs are taxes on imports, and in most cases, those costs are borne by American businesses and consumers. Manufacturing has not experienced the renaissance promised. Job growth in that sector has slowed, not surged. If we are serious about strengthening American industry, we must be honest about what tools actually produce durable growth.
And then there is the language of fear. Crime statistics stretched beyond context. Immigration is framed through exaggeration. Claims of rampant voter fraud despite repeated audits showing isolated, microscopic cases. When rhetoric inflates threats beyond evidence, it does more than animate a base, it lowers the threshold for extraordinary action. Expanded authority begins to feel justified. Emergency framing becomes routine. Guardrails erode quietly.
Strong leadership does not require embellishment. It requires clarity about tradeoffs, humility about limits, and respect for constitutional guardrails.
Families who are anxious about their future. Workers who feel squeezed. Immigrant parents who fear routine interactions. Retirees watching costs climb faster than their savings. That is where the focus should be.
As I said in my rebuttal, that is the real state of the union.
And that is where accountability must begin.
The American people deserve more than applause lines. They deserve honesty and leaders willing to confront reality as it is, not as it polls.
If this kind of independent, constitutional accountability matters to you, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support allows me to continue speaking clearly and freely, in moments like this.
–Olivia
