{"id":42971,"date":"2026-02-25T13:57:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/?p=42971"},"modified":"2026-02-25T13:57:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:12:36","slug":"trump-uses-longest-ever-state-of-the-union-to-try-to-convince-voters-that-us-is-winning-so-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/trump-uses-longest-ever-state-of-the-union-to-try-to-convince-voters-that-us-is-winning-so-much\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump uses longest-ever State of the Union to try to convince voters that US is ‘winning so much’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Donald Trump declared during a marathon State of the Union on Tuesday that \u201cwe\u2019re winning so much\u201d \u2014 insisting he’d sparked an economic boom at home and imposed a new world order abroad in hopes it can counter his sliding approval ratings.<\/p>\n

Trump’s main objective was convincing increasingly wary Americans that the economy is stronger than many believe, and that they should vote for more of the same by backing Republicans during November\u2019s midterm elections. In all, Trump spoke for a record 108 minutes, breaking \u2014 by eight minutes \u2014 the previous time mark from his address before a joint session of Congress last year.<\/p>\n

The president largely avoided his usual bombast, only occasionally veering off-script \u2014 mostly to slam Democrats. As he did during such addresses in his first term, Trump relied on a series of surprise special guests to dramatically punctuate his message. They included U.S. military heroes and a former political prisoner released after U.S. forces toppled Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/p>\n

Trump drew some of the loudest applause of the night when he invited the Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. men\u2019s hockey team into the House chamber.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur country is winning again. In fact, we\u2019re winning so much that we really don\u2019t know what to do about it. People are asking me, ‘Please, please, please, Mister President, we\u2019re winning too much. We can\u2019t take it anymore,'” Trump said before introducing the team.<\/p>\n

The hockey players, wearing their medals and \u201cUSA\u201d sweaters, drew a bipartisan standing ovation. Trump pointed to the Democratic side of the chamber and quipped, \u201cThat\u2019s the first time I ever I\u2019ve ever seen them get up.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a made-for-TV moment, the president announced he would be awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America\u2019s highest civilian honor, to the hockey team\u2019s goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck. He also bestowed the Purple Heart on Andrew Wolfe \u2014 a National Guard member who was shot while deployed on the streets of the nation\u2019s capital. Wolfe made his first public appearance since then during the speech.<\/p>\n

That scene recalled a similar surprise announcement in 2020, when Trump gave the Medal of Freedom to conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh during his State of the Union speech.<\/p>\n

– Trump decries tariff decision as justices look on –<\/strong><\/p>\n

The president championed his immigration crackdowns and his push to preserve widespread tariffs that the Supreme Court just struck down. He drew applause only from Democrats while describing the high court’s decision, which he called \u201can unfortunate ruling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump vowed to plow ahead, using \u201calternative\u201d laws to impose the taxes on imports and telling lawmakers, \u201cCongressional action will not be necessary.\u201d Trump argued that the tariffs are paid by foreign countries, despite evidence that the costs are borne by American consumers and businesses. \u201cIt’s saving our country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The only Supreme Court justices attending were Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan. Trump greeted them personally before the speech, despite last week slamming Coney Barrett \u2014 who he appointed to the high court in his first term \u2014 for siding with the majority against his tariffs.<\/p>\n

Democrats also stood for Trump vowing to halt insider trading by members of Congress. But Rep. Mark Takano, a California Democrat, yelled, \u201cHow about you first!\u201d Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, called out, \u201cYou\u2019re the most corrupt president!\u201d<\/p>\n

When some heckling continued, Trump proclaimed, \u201cYou should be ashamed of yourselves.” Later, he pointed at Democrats and proclaimed, \u201cThese people are crazy.”<\/p>\n

Democratic Rep. Al Green was escorted from the chamber early in the speech, after he unfurled a sign of protest that read \u201cBlack People Aren\u2019t Apes!\u201d That was an apparent reference to a racist video the president posted that depicted former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as primates in a jungle. Green was also removed during Trump’s address last year.<\/p>\n

The president, meanwhile, was mostly optimistic and patriotic, but Trump struck a darker tone in large swaths of his speech to warn about the dangers posed by immigrants. He invited lawmakers from both parties to \u201cprotect American citizens, not illegal aliens\u201d and championed proposals to limit mail-in ballots and tighten voter identification rules.<\/p>\n

– Affordability gets relatively little time –<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump didn’t dwell on efforts to lower the cost of living \u2014 despite polling showing that his handling of the economy and kitchen-table issues has increasingly become a liability. Such concerns about the high costs of living helped propel Democratic wins around the country on Election Day last November.<\/p>\n

There also are persistent fears that tariffs stoking higher prices could eventually hurt the economy and job creation. Economic growth slowed in the last three months of last year.<\/p>\n

It is potentially politically perilous ahead of November elections that could deliver congressional wins to Democrats, just as 2018\u2019s blue wave created a strong check to his administration during his first term.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Trump blamed his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, along with Democratic lawmakers in the chamber, saying they were responsible for rising prices and health care costs, two issues his political opponents have repeatedly raised against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou caused that problem,\u201d Trump said of affordability concerns. He added a moment later, \u201cThey knew their statements were a dirty, rotten lie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump also said he\u2019d press tech companies involved in artificial intelligence to pay higher electricity rates in areas where their data centers are located. Such data centers tend to use large volumes of electricity, potentially increasing the cost of power to other consumers in the area.<\/p>\n

Another notable off-script moment came as Trump was referencing prescription drug prices, saying, \u201cSo in my first year of the second term \u2014 should be my third term \u2014 but strange things happen,\u201d prompting at least one chant in the chamber of \u201cFour more years!\u201d<\/p>\n

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who delivered the Democratic response to Trump’s speech, slammed the president’s aggressive immigration policies, his widespread cuts to the federal government and his tariffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though the Supreme Court struck these tariffs down four days ago, the damage to us, the American people, has already been done. Meanwhile, the president is planning for new tariffs,\u201d she said. \u201cAnother massive tax hike on you and your family.\u201d<\/p>\n

– A warning to Iran –<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump’s address came as two U.S. aircraft carriers have been dispatched to the Middle East amid tensions with Iran. Trump said, \u201cMy preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut one thing is certain, I will never allow the world\u2019s number one sponsor of terror \u2014 which they are, by far \u2014 to have a nuclear weapon,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The president also recounted U.S. airstrikes last summer that pounded Tehran’s nuclear capabilities, and lauded the raid that ousted Maduro in Venezuela \u2014 as well as his administration’s brokering of a ceasefire in Israel\u2019s war with Hamas in Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs president, I will make peace wherever I can,” Trump said. “But I will never hesitate to confront threats to America, wherever we must.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump declared during a marathon State of the Union on Tuesday that \u201cwe\u2019re winning so much\u201d \u2014 insisting he’d sparked an economic boom at home and imposed a new world order abroad in hopes it can counter his sliding approval ratings. Trump’s main objective was convincing increasingly wary Americans that the economy is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42971"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42971"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42974,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42971\/revisions\/42974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}