President Trump will address the nation Tuesday night in his State of the Union address. The stakes, for the president and for the country, could not be higher.
Will President Trump reenergize his voters and help the GOP keep control of Congress in November? He could, and he must. The Trump agenda is not done, and the prospect of Hakeem Jeffries becoming House speaker should make your hair stand on end. Not because Jeffries is a Democrat, but because he is the face of Trump-hating, brainless opposition that would rather hurt the U.S. than accommodate a president he doesn’t like. Exhibit A: ridiculous government shutdowns.
With betting sites showing 79% to 81% odds that Democrats will take over the House in November, and with Democrats leading the “generic ballot” by about five points, Trump needs to deliver a barnburner — he needs to be upbeat, likable and accurate. The facts are on his side; there is no need to embellish.
First, he can blow off inevitable Democratic razzing by showcasing Jack Hughes, the Olympic hockey player who scored the winning goal in overtime Sunday and led the U.S. men’s team to Olympic gold. Hughes, who lost three teeth during the game, proudly proclaimed afterward, “This is all about our country. I love the USA.” What an inspiration.
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Moving on, the president must convincingly address the issues that matter most to the majority of Americans — not just his base. Gallup reports that, unsurprisingly, top voter concerns include the economy, especially the cost of living. Trump cannot dismiss “affordability” as a hoax; it is not. He is understandably frustrated to have to fix what his predecessor, Joe Biden, broke — and that he is being blamed for the 20%-plus surge in prices he inherited. But the weaker buck now stops with him.
Trump must report that inflation is coming down and that the slowdown will continue, partly due to his energy policies. U.S. oil production is at record highs; that isn’t an accident. After years of the Biden White House discouraging oilfield investment — including pausing lease sales and slow-walking drilling permits — Trump is accelerating both. From Jan. 20, 2025, Inauguration Day, until Jan. 6 of this year, the Trump administration approved 5,742 drilling permits for public lands, a 55% increase over the same period under Biden. The White House has also published an ambitious lease schedule, especially for offshore waters, which will guarantee high output for years to come.
Removing obstacles to producing homegrown fossil fuels is critical. So is axing renewable mandates and rules that push consumers toward high-cost electricity. The president cannot undo the foolish and costly energy decisions made over the past decade by Democratic officials, which have lifted electricity prices in New York and other blue states to as much as 50% above the national average. But his administration can roll back regulations — as EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is doing — that drive energy costs even higher.
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Trump’s push for lower interest rates will also drive costs down, especially for housing. Moreover, his executive order signed last month restricting institutional purchases of homes may relieve price pressures in targeted markets. Conservatives don’t like the White House interfering in private investment, but homebuyers will.
Elsewhere, Trump must reassure Americans that the explosive growth of artificial intelligence will make their lives better, not worse. People worry about losing their jobs to AI and about the new industry’s enormous power demands. Democrats have stoked those fears, in some cases opposing new data center construction and generally pushing back on Big Tech.
Our preeminent technology firms have much to answer for — from purposefully ensnaring and harming young people to inserting left-leaning bias into supposedly neutral tools like search — but leading the country to AI dominance isn’t one of them.
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Trump should highlight the productivity gains AI promises. It will displace some workers, but it will also make nearly everyone more productive. Greater productivity means higher incomes. In industries such as health care, AI goes beyond efficiency — enabling more accurate diagnoses and accelerating the discovery of new drugs.
Gallup reports that another top issue for voters is “government and poor leadership.” Some will interpret that as a lack of confidence in the Trump White House; animosity toward the administration is certainly intense. But the president can turn that sentiment against Democrats, too, by reminding voters how much of their hard-earned tax dollars are lost to fraudsters or wasted through incompetence.
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Minnesota has become a poster child for elected officials enabling or ignoring massive corruption, but the problem is widespread and appears concentrated in Democratic-run states that thrive on massive welfare spending. California has come under scrutiny for allowing billions in pandemic relief intended for small businesses and the unemployed to go missing. Medicare fraud in the state also reaches into the billions. New York is under investigation as well.
Immigration is another top concern for voters. It was key to Trump’s election and is an issue he must address. He should highlight the deportation of criminals that the Department of Homeland Security has achieved — and that Democrats have opposed. He should also differentiate between murderers and rapists and those who have lived in the country for years and whose only crime was entering illegally. For those individuals, Trump should offer access to legal resident status if they meet certain requirements — but make clear they will never become citizens. Americans would back such a resolution.
Finally, Trump should insist that Congress pass a voter ID law — if not as part of the SAVE Act, then as a stand-alone bill. The vast majority of Americans want secure elections.
The GOP must earn its majority, and this would be a good start.
