Trump Insiders Reveal New Details Ahead of State of the Union Speech

President Trump is set to deliver the State of the Union tonight amidst sagging poll numbers and challenges to his policy initiatives.

The U.S. Supreme Court has undone many of his tariff policies. His federal immigration agents have retreated from Minneapolis following two high-profile shooting deaths of U.S. citizens. And his approval ratings have sagged into President Biden territory.

“We were 1,000 percent on offense a year ago,” a former administration official told Politico. “We felt like we were firing on all cylinders. And early on, we didn’t have many points for scrutiny. Now, a year in, there is a record to kind of hang the president on. That makes this much more challenging.”

Trump will address the nation tonight at 9 p.m. EST.

An AP-NORC poll earlier this month found that 69 percent of the country believes that the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction. The same poll found Trump’s job approval rating at 36 percent.

A CNN poll this month produced similar results, with Trump’s approval rating coming in at 36 percent. That poll found that 68 percent of the country does not believe Trump has the right priorities.

Politico reported that the administration has realized that the speech needs to hone in on economic concerns and address affordability.

“Last year was all about promise and potential. This year has to be about the current reality,” Kevin Madden, a longtime GOP communications strategist in Washington and senior partner at Penta, a consulting firm, told Politico. “I expect the President and his team know that this speech presents a moment of opportunity to really address the affordability angle. We know it was the driving issue of 2025, and we know it’s going to define 2026.”

Among the president’s biggest initiatives was the Department of Government Efficiency, which pledged to slash government waste and save taxpayers billions, possibly even delivering “dividend” checks. Instead, federal spending increased from about $6.7 trillion to more than $7 trillion, driving the budget deficit to more than $1.7 trillion.

The New York Times found that many of DOGE’s alleged savings were either incorrect or misleading. In a December report, the newspaper noted that, “In DOGE’s published list of canceled contracts and grants, for instance, the 13 largest were all incorrect.”

Meanwhile, an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that American consumers were paying for 90 percent of the costs of Trump’s tariffs.

“He is currently at his lowest point in the second term,” Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster in Washington told Politico. “The single most important variable in midterm elections is the president’s job approval. When it’s above 50 percent, the party loses seats but not that many. When the president’s job approval is below, the average loss of seats is 32.”