February 24, 2026 03:52 PM UTC

The State of the Union is...Not Great

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• by: Colorado Pols

If you’re planning on watching the State of the Union (SOTU) speech tonight, you might want to take a nap first.

President Trump has already indicated that his speech is going to be very long, which is notable considering that the Big Orange Guy is already well-known for delivering meandering remarks. Last year’s speech was the longest SOTU in history, clocking in at an hour and forty minutes, and there are reports that Congressional Republicans have been told to prepare for two hours of speechifying.

Trump is expected to address a number of topics that will almost certainly be loose on facts, with an expectation that he will focus on “affordability” (a word Trump has accused Democrats of inventing).

The SOTU is being branded, absurdly, as “America at 250: Strong, Prosperous and Respected.” The jokes write themselves.

As part of his effort to convince Americans that the economy is awesome, Trump will highlight a new tax cut proposal. As CNBC reports:

CNBC’s Joe Kernen attended the gathering and reported on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” that the president laid out his plans to advocate for new personal and corporate tax cuts, which Trump wants to be advanced using a second party-line budget reconciliation effort in Congress.

Reconciliation is a parliamentary process that allows a party in control of the House, Senate and White House to skirt the Senate filibuster’s 60-vote threshold and advance certain legislation along party lines. Congressional Republicans passed tax cuts and a swath of other domestic policies through reconciliation last year in a package known as the “one big beautiful bill.” The process also requires the Senate parliamentarian to rule that the legislation pertains to the budget.

Given that tariff refunds are likely to cost taxpayers even more money than they have already spent, it’s hard to see how the country can even afford more tax cuts for wealthy people while not spiraling further into debt that has already reached historic levels. Any new federal tax cuts would likely also lead to new financial problems for states such as Colorado; last August Colorado lawmakers were called into a special session to deal with declining revenue resulting from the “big beautiful bullshit bill.”

As POLITICO reports, Trump’s interminable SOTU speech comes as his popularity lags to new lows — though the President continues to convince himself otherwise:

Only 39 percent of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling the job of president, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released on Sunday. The poll also found that 47 percent of Americans “strongly disapprove” of Trump.

His disapproval is rising among independents, in particular. In a separate CNN survey released on Monday, only 26 percent of independents surveyed approve of his handling of the presidency — a 15 point drop from a February 2025 poll.

When it comes to some of the administration’s key priorities, respondents also disapprove of Trump’s approach.

Fifty-eight percent of adults in the Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll said they disapprove of the way Trump is handling immigration — once his signature issue — while 57 percent said they disapprove of the way Trump is managing the economy. Sixty-five percent said they disapprove of the way he is handling inflation and 64 percent said they disapprove of the way he is dealing with tariffs.

Only 38 percent of adults said Trump’s policies are moving the country in the right direction, according to the CNN poll.

Colorado Public Radio has more on the various guests who will accompany Colorado Members of Congress to tonight’s speech. Denver Rep. Diana DeGette is boycotting the speech.

The SOTU is scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm.