<div data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/video-resource/instances/cmm0pivrt00003b6tn6nlhnae@published" data-component-name="video-resource" data-editable="settings" class="video-resource" data-fixed-ratio="16×9" data-canonical-url-path="/politics/video/berman-lawler-trump-sotu-cnc" data-auth-type data-card-url data-parent-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/video-resource/instances/cmm0njtrk0000356k1km4bg6m@published" data-video-id="me97a097e5a80baa4f8bac5e22f1905e401e0e6ab0" data-media-id="me97a097e5a80baa4f8bac5e22f1905e401e0e6ab0" data-bolt-id="82ad30d4-4025-52f3-a6d6-3396d372737b" data-live data-analytics-aggregate-events="true" data-custom-experience data-asset-type="hlsTs" data-content-type="mediasource-clip" data-medium-env data-autostart="disabled" data-show-ads="true" data-source="CNN" data-featured-video="true" data-headline="CNN polling shows Americans want President Trump to address the economy in his State of the Union address. Will he?" data-has-video-player="true" data-description="<p>CNN News Central's John Berman speaks with Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) ahead of the president's speech.</p>" data-duration="03:25" data-source-html='<span class="video-resource__source"> • Source:
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By <span class=”byline__name vossi-byline__name”>Casey Chiang</span>, CNN
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Updated
10:48 AM EST, Tue February 24, 2026
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CNN polling shows Americans want President Trump to address the economy in his State of the Union address. Will he?
The theme of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address tonight will be “America at 250: Strong, Prosperous and Respected” — a nod to the country’s 250th birthday, White House officials familiar with a draft of his speech told CNN.
Trump is expected to argue that he ushered in a new age of American prosperity during his first year in office, with plans to reference specific stories from ordinary Americans who say the president’s policies have helped them.
He will use his speech to tick through a series of what he deems as his administration’s top accomplishments in what is likely to be a lengthy speech, the officials said. That includes specific references to Republicans’ passage of tax cuts last summer and Trump’s efforts to lower prescription drug prices.
A key question is whether he will stay on message when it comes to one of his biggest weaknesses: affordability.
Trump also plans to issue a strong defense of the importance of tariffs for national security as well as their leverage over the United States’ foreign adversaries, according to the officials. He will deliver those remarks directly in front of the Supreme Court justices who delivered his administration a major loss on the policy last week.
The president is also set to devote a portion of his address to foreign policy, with Trump expected to argue that his intervention in foreign wars has embodied “peace through strength,” one of the officials said.
Trump spent the weekend, as well as a large portion of his Monday, preparing for tonight’s address, and making edits to the speech drafted by his main speechwriter, Ross Worthington, one of the officials said.