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Chapter 1: What is the main theme of Trump's State of the Union address?
After a tumultuous start to his second term, President Donald Trump is looking to reset the reigning narrative about his leadership with Americans. In his first State of the Union address of his second term, the president tried to sell the country on his economic agenda, working to counter increasingly dim views of his economic stewardship. Did he succeed?
Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Wednesday, February 25th, 2026. Here to help me break down Trump's message to the American people, I'm now joined by USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page. Susan, thank you so much for joining me.
It's great to be with you, Dana.
Susan, the bulk of Tuesday night's speech was really all about the economy. While Trump has been boasting about how he's transformed the economy, Americans really aren't feeling it. What did the president say to try to shift the narrative here?
Dana, what an interesting speech this was. I mean, put aside the fact it's the longest State of the Union in recorded history. You know, he broke his own record from last year's speech to a joint session of Congress. But he also did something he almost never does. He stuck to his script. There were a few asides. He made fun of Nancy Pelosi at one point, for instance.
But generally, he was reading from the teleprompter, something he almost never does. And he did that with a very carefully crafted economic message. And his message was, the economy is great. I inherited a mess and I've turned it around. And he cited some positive economic statistics to make his case.
Now, there wasn't a sort of I feel your pain kind of moment that would have maybe made Americans who feel uncertain about the economy feel better. And he kind of dismissed the idea of affordability as a word that Democrats had concocted. But he did make sort of his best case. Now, will it be good enough?
You know, the history of presidents trying to convince Americans the economy is better than they think it is, that is not a promising one. You can just ask Joe Biden. But I did think it was a more disciplined speech than we've seen President Trump give before. And that, I think, was a little bit of a surprise to congressional Democrats in the audience.
The president also brought up tariffs, a sore spot for him, given the high court's rare rebuke of his exercise of power just last week. Let's give a listen to what he said.
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Chapter 2: How does Trump attempt to shift perceptions of the economy?
What did the president say on this, and did he make a strong case? Will Americans ever see a Republican proposal to replace Obamacare?
Well, he referred to the Republican proposal, which would be to, instead of Obamacare, to contribute to Americans' health savings accounts so they could buy their own insurance. This is not a proposal that has been fleshed out. It's not one in which we understand how it would work. Many health care experts believe it could not possibly work.
And in any case, the Affordable Care Act has, after kind of a rough start, become very well established in the United States. So this seemed to me something that the president was trying to be able to say he had talked about health care without really talking in a serious way about replacing the Affordable Care Act. I can tell you, I think Obamacare is here to stay.
As the US continues to build up its presence in the Middle East, the threat of a war with Iran looms large. Did he give any indication of an impending strike?
We were listening closely to this section on Iran because we have now deployed two aircraft carriers to the region. It's the biggest buildup we've seen in the Middle East in more than 20 years since before the Iraq War when we were preparing for that invasion. So a lot of curiosity about whether the United States actually plans a military strike of some sort against Iran.
What the president said was he prefers diplomacy, we have talks going on, but that he will not allow Iran, who he described as the world's number one sponsor of terror, there's some evidence of that, to have a nuclear weapon. And he said that they hadn't said the secret word, we won't build a nuclear weapon. I think he actually meant the magic word,
But and of course, Iran has repeatedly insisted that they don't plan to build a nuclear bomb. Not everybody believes them. So we got no guidance from the president on whether a strike on Iran is ahead. But he certainly held it out as a possibility if diplomacy fails.
As he has on almost every big speaking occasion, Trump also brought up his 2020 election loss and his false accusation that illegal votes were the cause. Let's give a listen.
The cheating is rampant in our elections. It's rampant. It's very simple. All voters must show voter ID. All voters must show proof of citizenship in order to vote. And no more crooked mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military, or travel. None.
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Chapter 3: What specific economic statistics does Trump use to support his claims?
It's the economy, stupid. I think this was probably helpful. But the real issue, how do Americans feel? Will Americans be persuaded that the economy is roaring, as the president said, or will they continue to have these deep concerns about the cost of healthcare and food and rent? That'll be the question in November.
Dozens of Democrats boycotted the address as a statement to reflect how they're feeling about this administration. And Trump was very combative toward them in his speech, calling them, quote, crazy and saying they're destroying the country. What did you take away from this?
I thought the Democrats were in kind of a tough spot there because Hakeem Jeffries, the New York Democrat who leads House Democrats, had basically tried to enforce a silent defiance approach where they would go to the speech, but they would sit there silently. And that's awkward for two hours to sit there silently. At one point, Trump basically dared them
to stand up when he said the fundamental job of government is to protect American citizens, not illegal immigrants. Well, the Democrats stayed seated for that, and Trump looked at them with, I thought, a combination of contempt and satisfaction, as though he had forced them into a response that we may see in TV ads, political ads this year.
There was also a few incidents of some shouted objections. Ilhan Omar, the congresswoman from Minnesota, at one point accused Trump of being a murderer. There was a little byplay with Trump on that. We also heard from Al Green.
The Texas Democrat who last year was escorted out of Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress because he kept tackling him, this time he brought a cardboard sign and held it up saying, Black people are not apes. That's a reference to a racist video that Trump had reposted. He got escorted out again because handmade signs violate House rules.
And Susan, finally, what's your biggest overall takeaway from the speech? What was the most noteworthy to you?
Dana, I'll tell you what my favorite moment was. It was when the president introduced the hockey players, the men's hockey players from the U.S. team, just back with gold medals. It was great to see them up in the gallery wearing those medals and being applauded by everybody in the hall.
Susan Page is USA Today's Washington Bureau Chief. Thank you so much for joining me, Susan.
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