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… President Donald Trump’s whirlwind, time-defying performance left me (and maybe you, too) with a nagging question/realization that I’ll try to explain today: How do you give a speech — particularly a speech of two hours — without giving a speech?

It was the longest State of the Union in history, but it was no slog.

“I wasn’t even planning to watch the whole thing and I just kept watching,” blogfaddah Glenn Reynolds posted to Instapundit last night, and my friend and partner in thoughtcrime Stephen Kruiser added in today’s Morning Briefing, “It may seem weird to say it about a speech of that length, but there was an economy to it that made it effective.”

A majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices were absent from President Donald Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address Tuesday night, a notable development that came just days after the high court struck down his global tariff policy.

Only Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Associate Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett attended the speech.

Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson did not attend.

Several Democratic representatives channeled Sleepy Joe Biden by snoozing on live TV during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.

In so doing, the congressmen spotlighted their inexcusable rudeness and shameful disdain for the voters whose taxes pay their lofty salaries.

Among the sleepy stooges was Rep. David Scott, 80, of Georgia, who appeared to be in deep slumber as Trump directly addressed Americans to discuss the current condition of the country.

Democrat Rep. David Scott is literally sleeping at the State of the Union.

Democrats are unserious people. pic.twitter.com/D0ZDHcMKzL

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 25, 2026

For House Majority Leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi has responded to President Trump’s State of the Union address.

Immediately after Trump’s address, Pelosi did an interview with CNN where she wasted no time in ripping Trump’s speech.

Pelosi claimed Trump’s speech was “lazy” and took jabs at the President over his Big Beautiful Big.

She also criticized him for not speaking longer about Ukraine.

Good morning! Welcome. This is Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, the morning after the night before. Kinda. Quite a night last night, but I’ll get to that. First, though, what has become a tradition for this column, Today In History:

President Donald Trump blasted Democrats and the gender transition industry Tuesday night during his State of the Union speech.

“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 can believe that we’re even talking about it? We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately,” Trump said in a video posted to X.

Trump then glared at Democratic lawmakers who refused to applaud protecting children.

TRUMP: “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.”

*Democrats stay seated*

TRUMP: “Look, nobody stands up. These people are crazy. I’m telling you, they’re crazy!” pic.twitter.com/3PPqvhaOn8

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) February 25, 2026

Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) reacted angrily during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address after he spotlighted massive fraud schemes in Minnesota and announced a new federal “war on fraud.”

“When it comes to the corruption that has been plundering America, there is no more stunning example than what’s been happening in Minnesota,” President Trump said.

The president was referring to a series of high-profile public welfare fraud cases in the state, including Somali-led schemes tied to federal pandemic relief programs.

DAY 3

It has not been a good week for Democrats. The clownishness, hystericism, and self defeat has not sputtered even slightly.

We’re now in Day 3 and it shows no signs of slowing down.

Trump delivered his SOTU last night. It spanned two hours. I want to say up front straight away: Most SOTU’s have almost no tangible effect on politics. They’re largely just public exhibitions. Their most tangible effect is on media programming for a week. Beyond that, it’s usually bupkis.

President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address since his triumphant return in 2024’s presidential election on Tuesday night and television viewers liked what they saw.

A CNN Instant Poll taken in the immediate aftermath confirmed that fact with some 64 percent of those polled affirming Trump is moving the country in the right direction.

Pre-speech only 54 percent of watchers said he was moving the country to their liking such was the impact of his words and deeds.

This result confounded critics who CNN’s own Abby Phillip who sneered at the president.

She called Trump bestowing the Presidential Medal of Freedom, two Medals of Honor, two Purple Hearts, and the Legion of Merit “gameshow type moments” that “he had to do” because his other messages are a “hard pill for Americans to swallow.”

Clearly viewers felt otherwise.

There were very few moments that led to bipartisan standing on Tuesday night, and one of them was President Donald Trump’s call to stop insider trading in Congress.

It got Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts to stand up, even. Which had Trump asking the question: Did former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California representative, stand up?

It doesn’t appear that way — and Pelosi herself answered with a word salad when asked about it on CNN after the speech.

As tradition, the opposition party gave its rebuttal following the President’s State of the Union address.

This year, the speech was given by Democrat Governor Abigail Spanberger from Virginia.

In her speech, the newly elected Governor spent most of her time calling out the Trump administration for its immigration polices.

She also claimed that, under Trump, Americans are now in an affordability crisis.

Fox News provided an overview of her speech:

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger slammed President Donald Trump over his mass deportation operations in her official Democratic response to the State of the Union and repeated claims her party favors “affordability” even as the Old Dominion sees scores of new taxes.

Spanberger, elected in November to succeed conservative Gov. Glenn Youngkin, has sought to claim the mantle of “affordability,” even as she and Richmond Democrats move to enact or raise new taxes in multiple forms.

Speaking from the original historic House of Burgesses at the head of Colonial Williamsburg’s Duke of Gloucester Street, Spanberger noted how in 1705, the colony first gathered with the “extraordinary task of governing themselves.”

“The United States was founded on the idea that ordinary people could reject the unacceptable excesses of poor leadership, band together to demand better of their government, and create a nation that would be an example for the world,” she said, contrasting that vision with what Trump has brought.

“Tonight, as we watched our nation’s lawmakers gather for a joint session of Congress, we did not hear the truth from our president,” she said, going on to rhetorically ask three questions:

“Is the President working to make life more affordable for you and your family? Is the President working to keep Americans safe — both at home and abroad? Is the President working for you?”

Spanberger recounted her 2025 election season, traveling around Virginia and addressing, “housing, healthcare, energy and childcare.”

She blamed Trump’s tariff policies for increasing costs, and claimed it has been Republicans trying to “make your life more expensive.”

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump broke his own record for a president’s longest-ever State of the Union speech at 108 minutes.

Trump began speaking at 9:11 p.m. ET and concluded his remarks at 10:59 p.m. ET, eclipsing the record he set in his 2025 joint address to Congress at 100 minutes on the dot, according to Axios.

For 25 years before that, former President Bill Clinton’s 2000 address was the longest at 89 minutes. Other marathon State of the Union addresses, per Axios, include:

• Clinton (1995) — 85 minutes

The state of the union is fantastic and hashtag this is what I voted for. The “State of the Union” is, R or D, the most useless piece of political theatre that We The People put ourselves through. However, if you’re going to put on a show, it helps to have the world’s greatest song-and-dance man on your side. Donald Trump took the pomp and circumstance of the event and the Democrat party’s telegraphed theatrics and crammed both down the throats of haters and losers alike. CNN was the hardest hit.

Democrat leaders advertised that they told members NOT to stand up an aplaud anything Trump did. It’s been the Democrat tactic since George W. Bush. He was literally Hitler before Trump was literally Hitler. Also, before John McCain and Mitt Romney were literally Hitler. The jury is still out if JD Vance or Marco Rubio will be the next literally Hitler, but I digress.