President Trump headed into Tuesday night’s State of the Union speech projecting confidence in his personal power to “Make America Great Again,” despite the woes he says he’s been saddled with by his Democratic predecessors. Advertisement“This is what ‘America first’ looks like,” said Paul Dans, former head of the conservative Project 2025 playbook, which Trump has largely adopted. “I don’t think the country sees Trump as the solution to anything at this point.”At the same time, however, Trump is not acting like other weakened presidents, Shrum noted. Republicans in Congress broke with the president and joined Democrats to pass a bill requiring the records’ release last year. Dans said people standing in Trump’s way, including in Congress, need to clear out, because they’re “flouting” the will of the electorate.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 25, 2026 18:31 UTC