On February 26, 2026, President Trump delivered his State of the Union (SOTU) speech before a joint session of Congress.
In doing so, Trump fulfilled the requirement in Article II, Section 3, clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution – “the President shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”
The very first SOTU message was not a speech. It was delivered by George Washington as a written report with only slightly more than one thousand words. By contrast, Trump’s televised speech was the longest SOTU speech in modern history, an hour and 48 minutes.
The in-person audience for the Trump speech was to be every member of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, and special guests. The public could watch it via live national television and radio broadcasts. It was also available to the public on a wide range of digital media platforms.
Prior to Trump’s SOTU speech in the House of Representatives chamber in the Capitol, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy said, “These are not normal times, and Democrats have to stop behaving normally.”
To a large degree, that is what occurred.
Well before the speech, roughly half of the Democratic members of Congress announced to the world they would not attend. Some even suggested the public attend an open to the public “People’s State of the Union” event outside of the Capitol.
Inside the Capitol and before Trump started to deliver his speech, one member of Congress was removed from the House Chamber for holding a sign suggesting Trump is a racist and refusing to sit down. That was reminiscent of similar actions by the same member of Congress who was removed from the SOTU speech last year after repeatedly interrupting the President’s remarks and waving his cane at him.
During the speech, some Democratic members of Congress made a point of being seen walking out on the speech. Others wore badges with vulgar language about ICE agents.
Trump began his speech by touting his track record so far in his second term in leading a national “turnaround” from the Biden presidency and on what he considered to be his achievements on issues such as immigration, housing, and the state of the economy.
In the middle of his remarks, Trump said, “One of the great things about the State of the Union is how it gives Americans a chance to see clearly what their representatives really believe.”
“If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
That resulted in prolonged and enthusiastic expressions of agreement including a standing ovation from all Republicans in attendance.
Conversely, almost every Democrat present remained in their seats and offered no applause.
Some Democratic members also yelled at Trump — “You have killed Americans,” “You are a murderer,” and “You are a liar.”
After a long pause, Trump said, “Isn’t that a shame? You should be ashamed of yourself, not standing up.’
Then he said ” That is why I’m also asking you to end deadly sanctuary cities that protect the criminals and enact serious penalties for public officials who blocked the removal of criminal aliens, in many cases, drug lords, murderers all over our country. They’re blocking the removal of these people out of our country. And you should be ashamed of yourself.”
On another hot topic issue – limits on transgender transition surgery for minors without parental knowledge and consent, Trump said, “But surely, we can all agree, no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will. Who would believe that? … We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately.” This comment also drew applause from Republicans in the chamber, but not from Democrats.
In response to the Democratic inaction, Trump said “These people are crazy. I’m telling you. They’re crazy,” while pointing his finger at the Democratic senators and House members who remained seated and silent.
Trump also criticized a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling against his sweeping tariff initiatives. This criticism followed his saying previously and publicly that the ruling was “a disgrace.”
All things considered, the 2026 SOTU speech event was political theater, a political campaign rally, a test run of campaign messaging for both parties for the 2026 midterm congressional elections, name calling, and a lack of civility, respect, and common decency.
The events before and during latest State of the Union speech are further examples of why our society is increasingly divided and disillusioned with politics and politicians.
This summer will be the 250th anniversary of the launch of America as a constitutional and federal republic.
How better to honor it than bi-partisan commitments from every elected and appointed official in Washington to be role models engaging in discussions, deliberations, and decisions on public policy issues by agreeing to disagree without being disagreeable.
Going forward, failure to do that will be an enormous existential threat to our republic and our form of government that has served us well.
