Donald Trump set a new milestone during his latest address to Congress. The president surpassed a record he had established for himself, delivering the longest State of the Union speech in modern recordkeeping. The extended remarks added another entry to his history of lengthy appearances before lawmakers.
Donald Trump delivers longest State of the Union address
President Donald Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address on record Tuesday. He spoke for one hour and 47 minutes, according to NBC News. The American Presidency Project said it was the longest since recordkeeping began in the 1960s. Recordkeepers measure the speech from the moment the president addresses the Speaker of the House. Trump set the record for the longest speech to a joint session of Congress in 2025 at 100 minutes. During his first term, he delivered his longest address in 2019, lasting 82 minutes.
Bill Clinton delivered the longest State of the Union before Tuesday, giving a one-hour and 29-minute speech in 2000. Richard Nixon averaged just over 35 minutes per address. Gerald Ford averaged 45 minutes. Joe Biden delivered four speeches to Congress that each exceeded one hour. Barack Obama delivered the last State of the Union address in under one hour in 2016. Of the nine longest such speeches, Trump delivered five and Clinton delivered four.
In his address, Trump said, “Members of Congress and my fellow Americans, our nation is back, bigger, better, richer, and stronger than ever before.” He added, “Inflation is plummeting,” and said, “In 12 months, my administration has driven core inflation to the lowest level in more than five years.” He also said tariffs “will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax.”
On foreign policy, Trump said of Iran, “My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy but one thing is certain — I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror to have a nuclear weapon.” He told Democrats, “You should be ashamed of yourself not standing up,” and said, “We want homes for people, not for corporations.”
Originally reported by Vritti Johar on Mandatory.com.
