108 minutes of self-praise

What Trump said in his speech, what he left unsaid

Trump was frenetically cheered by his supporters.(Bild: AP/Kenny Holston)

In his 108-minute State of the Union address, Donald Trump praised himself and criticized his predecessor and the opposition. It shows how far removed the US president is from reality. That could soon come back to haunt him.

Trump's self-praise also highlighted the blind obedience that Republicans show their president. After practically every sentence, they jumped up and applauded Trump. When black congressman Al Green protested against Trump's racism with a placard, he was escorted out of the chamber to loud chants of "USA, USA, USA" from the Republicans.

Speech read out almost without exception
The Democrats remained demonstratively seated during the speech. Several times, the US president called on the opposition to show their approval of his policies by standing up. This was refused and met with heckling. Trump then rebuked the Democrats: "You should be ashamed of yourselves." Otherwise, the president followed the text on the teleprompter almost exclusively. This was remarkable for Trump, who otherwise likes to digress at length. It shows how important the State of the Union address is.

Trump received standing ovations from his allies for almost every sentence.(Bild: AFP/KENNY HOLSTON)

Trump was frenetically cheered by his supporters.(Bild: AP/Kenny Holston)

With his eulogy to himself and what he has achieved in the past year, Trump also demonstrated how far removed he is from reality. He served up one lie after another. The president spoke of being "tired of winning," while his approval ratings are in the basement. According to a poll commissioned by CNN, 63 percent of US citizens disapprove of Trump's performance in office.

A string of untruths
Trump also claimed that housing and food prices had fallen. However, inflation is still at 2.4 percent, and last year it was mainly food and healthcare costs that became more expensive. He also complained that he had inherited a "wide-open border" from his predecessor. Only now, he said, is it secure. In reality, illegal border crossings had already declined significantly under Joe Biden.

Trump repeatedly accused the Democrats of election fraud. There is no evidence for this. However, the accusations serve as a pretext for taking measures in the midterm elections in November to make it more difficult for Democratic voters to cast their ballots. There have already been signs of this, and the reason is obvious: Republicans are nervous about losing their majority in the House of Representatives in November, with Democrats ahead in the polls.

What the president left out
The president did not mention the conflict over Greenland, which caused chaos in foreign policy and undermined the credibility of the US as an ally. Nor did he mention the Epstein files, which reveal the scandals in which he himself and countless politicians are embroiled and which have caused outrage around the world.

He also failed to announce any new measures on housing and healthcare, even though these are issues that will be decisive in the midterm elections and are of pressing concern to voters. No wonder Virginia's Democratic governor, Abigail Spanberger, focused on precisely this in her response to Trump, castigating the president for making life more expensive for US citizens. What Trump left out of his speech could come back to haunt him in the fall.