LIVE: President Trump Delivers State of the Union
Trump targets "unconventional" tax cuts and record-breaking speech length as Democrats stage mass boycott ahead of critical 2026 midterms.
In what some have reported could be the longest presidential address in history, President Trump is set to deliver his second State of the Union address of his second term tonight, when he is expected to highlight his administration’s accomplishments and seize the moment to shore up support for Republicans ahead of the critical 2026 elections.
At last count, there was 72 Democrats who had decided to boycott the President's address.
Historically, the president’s party almost always suffers midterm losses, and the House appears especially vulnerable this year.
Trump, eager to reverse the trend, is set to deliver a lengthy speech promoting the policy wins over the past year (reportedly over two hours).
“It’s going to be a long speech, because we have so much to talk about,” the president said during an event at the White House on Feb. 23.
In fact, as Polymarket odds show, his speech is expected to last 95 minutes...
President Trump is reportedly planning to outline an unconventional idea for personal and corporate tax cuts that he could implement without Congress.
Trump has previously floated rebate checks for Americans that would be funded by tariff revenue, but administration officials had said that would require congressional action. Further complicating the proposal, the Supreme Court’s decision striking down his global tariffs could open the door to refunding billions of dollars collected from the duties.
The president is expected to highlight lower gasoline prices and other metrics showing economic gains, as well as the expanded tax cuts he signed into law last year and his Trump Accounts investment program for children. He’ll also point to beneficiaries of his TrumpRx website that allows Americans to directly buy some medicines at a discount, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Tuesday.
“The president is, of course, going to tout his administration’s record-setting accomplishments over the past year while laying out an ambitious agenda to continue making the American dream more attainable and affordable for working-class people across the country,” Leavitt said on Fox News early Tuesday.He’ll also be “making a few new policy announcements as well to continue tackling the affordability crisis that Joe Biden created one year ago.”
Trump could emphasize plans his administration has teased to lower housing costs by barring institutional investors from snapping up single-family homes, and reduce upward pressure on electricity prices by asking technology companies to foot the bill for energy-hungry data centers.
Trump also could unveil plans to create retirement savings plans for adults that don’t already have employer-sponsored 401(k)s, Semafor reported.
Trump on Friday delivered a scathing dressing down of the justices who ruled against his tariff strategy.
A repeat of those criticisms could play out with the Supreme Court justices present. They historically attend the speech and sit feet away from the rostrum where the president delivers his speech.
That’s happened before.
Former President Barack Obama used his 2010 State of the Union speech to criticize the high court’s days-old decision striking down regulations limiting political spending by unions and corporations. But while Obama criticized the ruling — saying it would “open the floodgates for special interests”, he steered clear of personal attacks on the justices themselves, including the six sitting before him that night.
Chief Justice John Roberts later called the episode “very troubling,” and lamented that the annual addresses had “degenerated into a political pep rally,” with members of the president’s party cheering raucously even as stoic justices sit expressionless, upholding a tradition of protocol and decorum.
Separately, the anchors indicated that Trump was likely to address Iran during the speech.
They said the president expressed optimism over the prospect of continued talks - as well as frustration that Tehran has apparently been unwilling to unequivocally rule out building nuclear weapons.
The speech will also mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The address “will celebrate 250 glorious years of our nation’s independence and excellence, highlighting incredible stories of American heroes,” Leavitt said in a statement.
In case you cared, newly elected Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger is slated to deliver the Democratic response to Trump’s speech.
Senator Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, who was handcuffed at a news conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, will provide a Spanish-language rebuttal.