President Donald Trump invited Anna Zarutska, the mother of a Ukrainian refugee killed on a train in Charlotte last summer, to be one of his guests at the State of the Union on Tuesday.
“We are honored to be joined tonight by a woman who has been through hell,” Trump said. “Anna Zarutska.”
Cameras panned to where Zarutska sat. She didn’t speak but stood up and dabbed her eyes as the audience clapped. She sat next to Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, a right-wing activist who founded Turning Point USA and was assassinated just weeks after Iryna Zarutska was fatally stabbed on a Charlotte light-rail train.
Typically, guests of the president are used to punctuate points in the speech. During the second half of a nearly two-hour speech, Trump explained Iryna Zarutska’s death in detail from the House dais.
Trump also falsely said Zarutska’s accused killer “came in through open borders.”
“Last summer, 23-year-old Iryna was riding home on the train when a deranged monster, who had been arrested over a dozen times and was released through a no cash bail, stood up and viciously slashed a knife through her neck and body,” Trump said.
On Aug. 22, Zarutska boarded a train at the Scaleybark station and moments later was fatally stabbed. Police accused 34-year-old DeCarlos Brown, a Charlotte native, in Zarutska’s death.
At the time, Brown was out of jail without bail for a charge of misuse of the 911 system.
Brown has a history of mental health issues, including a schizophrenia diagnosis, but his mother told The Charlotte Observer that despite seeking treatment for her son, she was repeatedly turned away.
“No one will ever forget the expression of terror on Iryna’s face,” Trump said, “as she looked up at her attacker in the last seconds of her life.”
Trump noted that Zarutska had escaped the war in Ukraine only to be killed in Charlotte.
“And by the way, what’s going on in Charlotte?” he asked.
Tuesday marked the fourth year since Russia launched a full-scale invasion against Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, has repeatedly asked Trump for help against Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Trump has gone back and forth in his approach to the two leaders.
On Tuesday, his allegiance was to Anna Zarutska.
“I promise you, we will ensure justice for your magnificent daughter,” he said.
This story was originally published February 25, 2026 at 12:10 AM.
Danielle Battaglia
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