The 2025 State of The Union was noticeably like no other. Being the first State of the Union of Donald Trump’s second term, it broke the record for the longest State of the Union, a record previously held by Bill Clinton.
The length was almost one hour and forty minutes long, compared to the previous record of one hour and twenty-eight minutes. Seeing the address, it was clear how divisive the whole thing was.
The right side was seated with Republicans and the left with Democrats. The right side of the room was almost always standing up and applauding while the left was almost always seated.
In exchange for applause and standing up, the democrats opted for a protest of the current administration. Many democratic congresswomen wore pink to show solidarity for women who are being directly impacted by the Trump Administration’s policies.
In addition to wearing pink, many members of the democratic party in Congress decided to hold up signs as a form of protest to the administration’s policies. Some of these signs said “MUSK STEALS”, “SAVE MEDICAID”, and “FALSE”.
These signs directly protest the changes being made within the Trump Administration with the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The agency is headed by Elon Musk and serves to find what they deem waste and unnecessary costs in the government. One target for DOGE and the Trump Administration is Medicaid, which democrats think is vital.
The issue of Medicaid was brought up early in the State of the Union when Trump said the election was a “mandate”. This caused Representative Al Green of Texas to stand up and loudly shout, “You have no mandate,” before he was removed from the chambers.
Later in an interview, Green explained that he shouted “You have no mandate.” to refer to how Trump has no mandate to get rid of Medicaid. In a 224-198 vote, Green was censured for violating the decorum with ten democrats voting in favor.
The rest of the address was similar to one of Donald Trump’s rallies. During the address, he constantly praised the work done in his 2nd term, as well as the victory he had when winning the election.
In between praising himself, Trump took the time to downplay and criticize his predecessor, Joe Biden, his previous administration, and democrats.
He blamed the past administration for the current price of eggs that have been skyrocketing lately, before saying that he was working on a fix.
Other issues brought up during the address were nothing new as he campaigned on many of these issues during his run for the presidency. He talked at length about tariffs, the war in Ukraine, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), and immigration.
When talking about tariffs, he acknowledged the fact that prices would rise, but had a positive outlook on tariffs saying that there would only be a short period of discomfort and it would be better in the long run.
He said that he was working on a way to end the war in Ukraine, repeating his hope for peace. DEI was heavily criticized by Trump, being labeled woke by him and saying that he was going to end it.
The issue of immigration caused Trump to blame the previous administration for the rise of illegal immigration as well as highlight the death of student Laken Riley to the hands of an illegal immigrant.
One moment during the address he brought out a kid with brain cancer and made him an honorary secret service officer.
As the address ended he stated that “The golden age of America has just begun.”.