The American President on Tuesday during his State of the Union address in Washington.Image: keystone
analysis
For 108 minutes, the US President praises the hockey team, the Republicans and himself. What the Republican didn’t say during the speech could be his downfall in the election year.
February 25, 2026, 9:20 p.mFebruary 25, 2026, 9:20 p.m
Donald Trump has done it again. With a targeted provocation, the American president infuriated the Democrats on Tuesday to such an extent that they once again overreacted.
The moment occurred during his State of the Union address, the annual keynote address a president must deliver to Congress. Trump spoke about his merciless immigration policy and that his political opponent had no interest in fighting crime in the country with a hard hand. It is an American politician’s “first duty” to protect American citizens, he said, and not “illegal immigrants.”
Trump demands “legislature” if they “agree that the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.” Most if not all Democrats do not while Republicans do. pic.twitter.com/83u4tom7Nm
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 25, 2026
Anyone who agrees with this “fundamental principle” should stand up, he called out to all the Republican and Democratic representatives present. The right-wing parliamentarians followed his call and clapped for minutes. But left-wing MPs remained seated in a demonstrative manner. They also did not react when Trump spoke about shocking acts of violence in the country and encouraged the mother of a murdered young woman. Trump acknowledged this several times at the lectern, shaking his head, and said to the Democrats: “You should be ashamed of yourself!”
Some Democrats don’t want to cheer for the Olympic champions
Of course, this was a carefully rehearsed confrontation. Trump knew that Democratic representatives would not let him tell them when to cheer. Things haven’t gotten that far in the USA yet, even if the president’s 108-minute justification speech resembled the speech of an autocratic ruler.
Trump will still have been happy about the verbal battles he had with the Democrats. They turned out to be harsher than expected because some MPs overreacted. In any case, CNN commentator Scott Jennings spoke on Tuesday of a “moment that people won’t forget.” The Democrats’ protests were perfect for patriotic advertisements in the upcoming election campaign, said the Republican.
Might be. Maybe there are actually voters who are upset that some Democratic representatives are falling for Trump’s every provocation. There were representatives of the people who did not want to join in the raging cheers when the President applauded the victorious hockey team and the spontaneous chant of “USA, USA, USA!” in the assembly hall. broke out. The American Olympic team in Italy managed to defeat their arch-rivals Canada in a breathtaking final game.
Video: Watson/Lucas Zollinger
Trump sees no reason to change course
But with his political tricks, the president is also trying to cover up the fact that he is in a political dead end. While the majority of the population is dissatisfied with the state of the economy, Trump insisted on his view: Everything is going great, he said, and his country is now in a “golden age.”
Trump therefore largely refrained from making any new, major political initiatives in his speech. Instead, he pursued pavement politics and warmed up some old ideas that have no political chance in Congress – for example, his proposal to redirect the flow of money in the complex American health care system. Such ideas also have no chance because Trump makes no attempt to respond to the Democrats’ objections.
It was also striking how little the president dealt with foreign policy in his speech. The threatened attack against Iran was only worth a few sentences to him. Trump once again refrained from explaining to the American people why he moved so much war material to the Middle East. It remains unclear whether the American president is aiming to overthrow the regime in Tehran or whether he is simply targeting Iran’s nuclear program. Trump also only mentioned Ukraine for a few seconds and did not speak at all about China, the US’s global political rival.
Video: Watson/Lucas Zollinger
In eight months, when the next national ballot takes place, this may all be a thing of the past. American politics moves at an express train pace. The high the Republicans felt on Wednesday will also have evaporated. Many voters have lost trust in Trump’s policies because he is not really interested in their concerns.
Trump cannot distract from this even with his political tricks. (aargauerzeitung.ch)