President Trump has never addressed Congress with poll numbers this low, with so little to ask Congress to do.
In a CNN poll released Monday, 68 percent of Americans said Trump was not focusing on the right issues, a rebuke that underscores the gap between his priorities and the public’s. At a time when affordability, housing costs, and economic stability remain dominant concerns, Trump has spent much of his energy on immigration enforcement, foreign policy brinkmanship, and cultural flashpoints.
Historically, a State of the Union address offers a struggling president a chance at a reset. The audience is massive. The speech is unavoidable. And in a midterm election year, it can help frame the national conversation heading into the fall.
But Trump’s address Tuesday night suggested he sees the purpose of the speech differently. Rather than use the moment to reconnect with Americans or lay out a legislative agenda, he delivered something of a campaign rally, punctuated by theatrics, and only barely mentioning the economic anxieties voters say they care about most.
First, it was long. Very long.
Trump has never been known for brevity, but even by his standards, this speech stretched the limits. Clocking in at roughly 1 hour and 48 minutes, it was less a focused argument than a sprawling recitation of grievances, boasts, and detours.
Length alone isn’t disqualifying. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama both delivered lengthy State of the Union speeches at pivotal moments. But those addresses were anchored by clear policy goals and specific asks of Congress.
Trump’s speech often felt untethered. It wandered. It lingered. At times if felt like a rally speech rehashing what he did (whether or not the retelling was accurate). And it reinforced something that has become a defining feature of his presidency: He talks a lot, but he doesn’t ask Congress to do much.
For example, he made just five asks of Congress, including passing a law to ban private equity firms from buying real estate, to prevent members of Congress from buying stocks, to require voter ID, and to restore funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which is currently shut down. But even though the Supreme Court ruled last week that Trump illegally imposed tariffs last year, he said in the speech that he will continue to impose tariffs - including those that must be approved by Congress after 150 days - and that, “Congressional action will not be necessary.”
Second, he didn’t answer the burning question of the moment.
State of the Union speeches are delivered in the House chamber, but their audience is global. Trump was expected to lean into that reality, but he did not.
There is now more military presence in the Middle East than in any time before the second Iraq War, including two different aircraft carrier battle groups. All of this appears to be a pressure campaign in Iran to end their nuclear weapons programs, which the US significantly curtailed in bombings last summer. It is unclear whether Trump will do any military action in Iran or even why. And Trump didn’t offer much in explanation beyond saying Iran was “working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.” What “soon” meant, he didn’t say.
Third, the theatrics overshadowed the substance.
State of the Union speeches are always political theater. But this year’s production was especially heavy on symbolism.
First, there was the headlines around those that simply decided not to even attend. A majority of the Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island delegations didn’t attend the speech. Nor did a majority of the US Supreme Court.
The court, itself, was part of the show. After giving a rebuke to Trump last week over tariffs, he scolded the court during his speech calling it calling it a very a “very unfortunate decision” as the television screen showed Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whom Trump said last week was an “embarrassment” to her family.
Trump also lingered in heaping praise on the US Men’s Olympic Hockey team, which made a brief appearance just 12 minutes into the speech. Periodically, medals of valor were awarded to soldiers present in the gallery with game show-like flare.
And throughout the speech, Trump frequently trolled Democrats, calling them, at one point, “crazy.”
Finally, the main thing wasn’t the main thing.
If there was one glaring omission, it was sustained attention to affordability.
For months, polls have shown that economic concerns dominate voters’ thinking. The cost of housing, groceries, health care, and education remains stubbornly high. It is the issue that cuts across party lines.
Yet affordability made up only roughly 10 minutes of the 108 minute speech was devoted to what he claims he has done for the economy, much of it, like on what he claimed were sub-$2.00 a gallon for gas were false claims.
Feel your pain it was not. In fact, there was no mention of pain.
James Pindell is a Globe political reporter who reports and analyzes American politics, especially in New England.