Trump’s Very Long, Very Partisan State of the Union Speech
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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. Each weekday morning, we bring you the biggest stories, dispatches from my colleagues on the ground, and a few surprises. From New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today. 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.
Well, he had a lot to get done because a year ago, he was coming in fresh from a big electoral victory. People were kind of tired of the Biden years. Now he came into this one with polls showing that voters have turned on President Trump pretty severely, that more than 60 percent are saying that his priorities are not their priorities. They're concerned about affordability and inflation. They're worried about tariffs and were a little bit relieved when the Supreme Court seemed to step in and say the president overstepped his authority. They're concerned that we've put a good percentage of our Navy and Air Force off the coast of Iran for what may be an invasion that people are still pretty apprehensive about.
And there's a midterm election looming and a lot of very nervous Republicans who have backed President Trump sitting in that audience worried about what it is that they'll be stuck with come November. So he had a lot of hurdles to go across tonight.
Right.
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.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:43
2
What key themes did President Trump address in his State of the Union speech?
3:43–9:54
3
How did Trump's speech compare in length to previous State of the Union addresses?
9:54–14:16
4
What were the stakes for President Trump leading into this State of the Union?
14:16–38:49
Speakers
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