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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I'm Katrin Benhold, host of The World, a daily newsletter from The New York Times. I spent 20 years reporting from more than a dozen countries, and it occurred to me one day, what kind of newsletter would I like to read? I don't live in the U.S. I want something especially for a global audience. The World is just that.
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In President Trump's first State of the Union of his second term, he offered a rosy portrait of a country that has lost confidence in his leadership and relentlessly baited Democrats as they try to win back control of Congress this fall. My colleague, Chief Washington Correspondent David Sanger, takes us inside the room. It's Wednesday, February 25th. David, good evening.
Hey, Michael, we're back again.
We're back again. This is your second episode, I think, in two days. It's about 11.30 p.m. on Tuesday night, and the president just wrapped his State of the Union address, and it was a very long State of the Union address.
Oh, yeah. It was an hour and 47 minutes. You know, for years, we thought that Bill Clinton set the record at 99 minutes. Right. And people couldn't believe how verbose he was. But Donald Trump has shown consistently he can go longer.
And he did go longer. This was the longest... By New York Times calculations, State of the Union in history.
Yep.
Well, David, as you know well, every State of the Union, no matter its length, feels deeply grounded in the moment in which it is delivered. And I want to start there with you, with the stakes of this speech for President Trump as we went into this speech on Tuesday night.
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Chapter 2: What key themes did President Trump address in his State of the Union speech?
I would say that an economy Americans are extremely anxious about, a tinderbox potential war in the Middle East, a tariff ruling that went against him, all in an election year, makes for about as high stakes a State of the Union as you can really imagine. So take us into the room as this speech gets underway.
Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States...
So the president walked in with the usual introductions, each one of which leads to a burst of applause. There are protests among some of the Democrats. But, you know, he immediately diffused the big issue, which was how would he deal with the Supreme Court that he had denounced as unpatriotic just days before. Right.
And he went up and shook the hands of a couple of the justices, the ones who he said a few days ago their families would be ashamed of them.
Well, thank you very much, everybody.
It's really an honor. And then, after that brief moment of surprise diplomacy, he takes to the podium.
Less than five months from now, our country will celebrate an epic milestone in American history, the 250th anniversary of our glorious American independence.
He does. And, you know, he opens up with an immediate reference to the 250th anniversary of the United States.
This July 4th, we will mark two and a half centuries of liberty and triumph, progress and freedom in the most incredible and exceptional nation ever to exist on the face of the earth. And you've seen nothing yet. We're going to do better and better and better. This is the golden age of America.
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Chapter 3: How did Trump's speech compare in length to previous State of the Union addresses?
And then just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court. It just came down. It came down.
Very unfortunate ruling. Well, I actually thought, Michael, that compared to what he said last week when he was making specific accusations against the individual justices who had ruled against him, he was pretty moderate.
So despite the disappointing ruling, these powerful countries saving, it's saving our country the kind of money we're taking in. But this didn't last long. Congressional action will not be necessary. It's already time-tested and approved.
And he basically made the argument, I'm going to reimpose all of those tariffs under different authorities, and he moved on.
Moving forward, factories, jobs, investment, and trillions and trillions... Right.
I did think it was notable that the president, when he said he was going to reimpose the tariffs... said he didn't feel like he needed congressional action to do that because the context, of course, is that he's in a room filled with members of Congress who, in theory, should covet the ability to influence this decision. The Supreme Court said it's their job, not the president's.
And instead, the president looks at all these members of Congress and basically says, I don't need you. I'm going to do this anyway.
You know, that's a theme throughout his presidency. This is not a president who wakes up in the morning and thinks about bills he's going to go push through Congress. This is a president who wakes up in the morning and thinks about what authorities he has or can claim to have so that he can do things by executive order.
Because we finally have a president who puts America first. I put America first. I love America.
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Chapter 4: What were the stakes for President Trump leading into this State of the Union?
One of the great things about the State of the Union is how it gives Americans the chance to see clearly what their representatives really believe. And then at one point, after he has built up to this crescendo... So tonight I'm inviting every legislator to join with my administration in reaffirming a fundamental principle. If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support.
The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.
He asked everyone to stand if they agree with him, knowing that he would get the image of Republicans who are standing and Democrats who remain sitting.
Isn't that a shame? You should be ashamed of yourself not standing up. You should be ashamed of yourself.
So if you ever wanted a moment where you could sort of capture the division between the Trump Republicans and the Democrats, President Trump was creating it right there for the cameras. And then eventually the Democrats take the bait.
to end deadly sanctuary cities that protect the criminals and enact serious penalties for public officials who block the removal of criminal aliens, in many cases drug...
And not surprisingly, Representative Ilhan Omar, who he has attacked repeatedly, begins yelling at him. And he has a few exchanges with her.
Right. At one point she says, you killed American citizens. She wants to distinguish between what he's arguing, which is there's a problem with illegal immigration, and what she says is the problem, which is you guys are so overzealous that you're hurting American citizens.
Right. This was exactly the contrast that I think President Trump wanted to bring up. This was the moment he wanted for the cameras. Because what he was building toward, once the yelling laid down, was this one line that may remain as the one that people remember from the speech. These people are crazy, I'm telling you. They're crazy. These people are crazy, I'm telling you.
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