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LEE CARTER: Trump's State of the Union wasn't a pivot — it was a power play
By Lee Carter
Published February 25, 2026
If you tuned in last night hoping for a softer, more conciliatory Donald Trump, a president shaped by polls, eager to reach across the aisle, you were watching the wrong show.
The 2026 State of the Union wasn’t a pivot. It was a power move. A flex. A signal that the old rules: measured rhetoric, polite bipartisanship — are dead. Trump continues to write new rules in real time, as audaciously as he's writing everything else.
From the opening line, a "speech to set the record straight," Trump made it clear: he wasn’t there to negotiate facts. He was there to define them. He understands something that confounds his opponents: in contemporary American politics, a good story doesn't just compete with statistics, it obliterates them.
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While critics were fact-checking, Trump was storytelling. And in today’s politics, a story like his can outweigh nuance or evidence.
He delivered a narrative so simple, so emotionally resonant, it could fit on a bumper sticker: America is in a golden age. The economy is roaring. The border is impenetrable. Crime is plummeting. Fentanyl is down. The stock market is shattering records. More Americans are working than ever before.
"We are winning so much we don't even know what to do about it," he crowed.
That wasn't persuasion. It was affirmation. It was focused on the faithful. In a country this fractured, politicians are hard-pressed to win converts anymore, but they can energize their base and give fence sitters a reason to support them. Trump abandoned the moderation game years ago. He's all-in on mobilization, and he's playing to win a turnout war, not a debate.
A Theme That Resonates: Protection
Forget the orthodoxy about growth and prosperity. And, interestingly, forget about affordability. Strip away the applause lines and the theatrics and one word drove the speech: protection.
Protect the border.
Protect American workers.
Protect Social Security.
Protect families from crushing healthcare costs.
Protect children’s financial futures through tax-free investment accounts.
Protect consumers from "wild prescription drug prices."
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Even "no tax on tips, overtime, or Social Security" isn’t just tax policy — it’s framed as shielding working Americans from government overreach.
For many, protection is more important than prosperity. Prosperity is aspirational. Protection is emotional. When Democrats sat stone-faced during key applause lines focused on protecting Americans, Trump didn't flinch. He smiled. Those frozen faces weren't distractions; they were props. The visual of one side celebrating protection and the other sitting still is not accidental, it’s strategic.
Healthcare: The Night’s Smartest Move
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One of the speech’s most politically sophisticated moves came on healthcare.
Trump didn’t defend insurers or pharmaceutical companies. He obliterated them.
He blamed "crushing healthcare costs."
He declared "maximum price transparency" a governing principle.
He revived the "most favored nation" promise, that Americans should pay the lowest drug prices on the planet.
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Then he pulled a punch: he blamed Democrats for defending the "healthcare establishment."
Healthcare anger isn’t partisan. Voters think the system is rigged. By transforming insurers and "wild prescription prices" into common enemies, he tapped into genuine, bipartisan fury while keeping the partisan accountability laser-focused on the other side.
The Rally Presidency: The Theater Was a Big Part of the Message
The U.S. men’s hockey team appearance. The goalie story.
The families honored.
The medals given.
The perfectly timed applause lines.
The calculated glances across the aisle.
This was less State of the Union, more arena rally with a teleprompter. But dismissing it as theatrics misses the point. The theater is the message.
Trump understands the visual theatrics of politics in a way that most presidents never quite master. The standing ovation. The stony opposition. The camera that cuts away at precisely the right moment. He doesn't waste imagery; he weaponizes it.
And those images, not the fact-checks that will follow, will echo through screens, social feeds and campaign ads for months to come.
Intensity Over Conversion
Moderation? Outreach? Forget it. That is not Trump. It wouldn’t be authentic. And frankly, it wouldn’t be strategic. Trump’s goal is mobilization. Turnout over persuasion. Base over critics. Swing voters over skeptics.
The anxious voter, the voter worried about inflation, crime, drugs, borders, saw in Trump a fighter who was ready to defend them. The speech energized the base while signaling to swing voters that Trump is taking action on the issues that affect them directly.
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The Bottom Line
This speech will enrage critics, electrify supporters, and frustrate fact-checkers. But strategically? We can all see what he was doing.
He reframed healthcare.
He amplified economic confidence.
He created visual contrast.
He rallied his base.
This wasn’t a pivot.
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It was a power play (every pun intended).
And in American politics, whoever controls the narrative controls the moment.
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https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/lee-carter-trumps-state-union-wasnt-pivot-power-play