Loosening grip? Trump skirts setbacks in State of the Union speech

France 24 · Feb 25, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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What does a boss who’s built an image as a tough guy from Queens do when naysayers claim he's reached his limits? To dispel doubts, he can for instance hold the floor for an hour and 47 minutes. In the longest ever State of the Union address, Donald Trump proving he can stick to script instead of rambling. Trump combative as ever - bashing immigrants, Iran, the opposition Democrats and…the Supreme Court for last week’s ruling striking down many of his tariffs, the biggest pushback yet for a president who’s wielded historically grand executive powers since returning to office 13 months ago. We’ll ask about his plans to not only double down on tariffs - he's saying they can replace income taxes - and to do so without congressional approval. We’ll weigh Trump’s methods, his arguments and ask about blurred lines between public policy and personal interest. As a term-limited president approaches midterm elections that could further corner a leader whose mantra's always been ‘attack, attack, attack’, what will Trump do? And how's the rest of the world reading the moment? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente. Our guests Vivienne WALT Time Magazine's Paris correspondent Eric LISANN Legal Analyst & Former US Federal Prosecutor Sean SAFFORD Associate Professor of Economic Sociology, Sciences Po