I can recall a textbook narrative from law school lauding a retired professor who returned to successfully teach a 50-minute class to the next generation of students. Donald Trump is almost certainly older than that gentleman and spoke for nearly two hours last night. Famously improvisational, he looked as though he relished every moment and was only limited by the endurance of others. He struck a marked contrast to his predecessor, President Biden, who seemed exhausted by the demands of office at the time of his anticlimactic exit. At the conclusion of the 2026 State of the Union, it seems impossible that Donald Trump will fade. Indeed, he couldn’t resist once again teasing about a third term he said he should currently be having.
There was no lack of energy or willingness to fight. While President Trump has often been combative rather than conciliatory in his State of the Union addresses, this speech may have set a new mark for confrontation. The combination of 70-plus missing Democrats and the almost total refusal to stand on the part of those who attended seemed to raise his ire. He repeatedly criticized them for not standing and pressed the issue forcefully by asking everyone to stand who agrees that it is the first duty of the American government to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens. Perhaps predictably, the Democrats in the room refused to rise. That moment is likely to get some serious play. Trump questioned their sanity and suggested that only he could save the country from such misguided souls.
In the past, it has been common for presidents to seek to offer olive branches to the other party. At the 2026 State of the Union address, neither side was reaching out. Just as Trump attacked, through their intense cold shoulder Democrats continued to press their case that he is alien to our democratic traditions and should be shunned. It is clear that he has calculated the right path for him is to fight and look strong rather than being diplomatic. The only opportunities to come together presented themselves in Trump’s tributes to various American heroes. Trump’s speech was leavened with a number of such moments where he pointed to athletes, military heroes, and other Americans with notable life experiences. But outside of those bits of relief for the gathered crowd, the dominant theme was attack, attack, attack.
Click Here to Read More (Originally Published at World Magazine )
Hunter (J.D., Ph.D.) is the provost and dean of faculty at North Greenville University in South Carolina. He is the author of The End of Secularism, Political Thought: A Student’s Guide and The System Has a Soul. His work has appeared in a wide variety of other books and journals. He is formally affiliated with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; Touchstone, the Journal of Markets and Morality; the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy; and the Land Center at Southwestern Seminary.