NPR News: 02-25-2026 12AM EST
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. President Trump's State of the Union speech was a record-setter. Trump spoke to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night for about one hour, 48 minutes, using his speech to claim the country is stronger than ever, even though polls show voters are worried about the economy. He also confronted Democrats, some of whom shouted at the president over his immigration crackdown.
They're blocking the removal of these people out of our country, and you should be ashamed of yourself.
Democrats largely stayed seated while Republicans stood to applause. And Piers Domenico Montanaro has more on President Trump's reset on immigration.
He tried to rebrand on immigration. He tried to reset this message of his that he's always focused on, which are these kind of gory anecdotes, talking about border security and deporting criminals. And it's sort of this warning to voters that if Democrats are back in office, they'll let the immigrants back in. And that's part of the midterm message. And it's something that Trump – believes that he was elected on in the first place. Remember, there have been more than a couple of times in this first year when he's said that he doesn't think that the economy was the thing that got him elected, that it was immigration and crime, even though the exit polls would tell you something different.
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger delivered the Democratic response, disputing President Trump's assertion that the nation is in a golden age, saying many Americans are feeling the pinch of high costs more than a year into his second term.
As I campaigned for governor last year, I traveled to every corner of Virginia and I heard the same pressing concern everywhere. Costs are too high. in housing, health care, energy, and child care. And I know these same conversations are being had all across this country.
Spanberger delivered the response from Colonial Williamsburg. She won the Virginia governor's office by double digits last November. Fewer congressional races are expected to be competitive this fall, and experts say the extraordinary mid-decade redistricting efforts initiated by President Trump are largely to blame. NPR's Ashley Lopez reports.
David Wasserman is with the Cook Political Report, which ranks the competitive and partisan leaning of political districts. He says efforts in states across the country to create more safe seats for their respective parties has led to a situation where there are fewer seats that will be competitive come November.
There's no doubt that this mid-decade redistricting war has diminished the ranks of competitive seats to the point where likely fewer than 5% of Americans are going to have a genuine say over who controls the House in November.
Wasserman says in Trump's first term, his group rated 48 seats as either toss-ups or leaning toward one party. This year, though, there are just 36 of those seats. Ashley Lopez, NPR News.
And from Washington, you're listening to NPR News. A phone call has ended a diplomatic spat that risks damaging U.S.-France relations. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports on the dispute over accusations by France that the U.S. was weighing in on French domestic affairs.
The French government was irked when the American embassy retweeted a State Department comment after the killing of a young right-wing activist. The Post declared, violent radical leftism is on the rise in France and is a threat to public safety. Ambassador Charles Kushner was summoned. When he did not appear, he was barred from meeting with members of the French government. The punishment has since been rescinded after Kushner put in a call to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barreau. The U.S. Embassy in Paris says the two men had a frank and amicable call and reaffirmed their shared commitment to working on issues that impact the U.S. and France. Eleanor Beardsley in Pierre News, Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron has accepted the resignation of the president of the Louvre Museum.
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