U.S. President Donald Trump delivered his fifth State of the Union address and the first of his current administration on Tuesday night, offering an expansive speech of about 100 minutes, breaking former president Bill Clinton’s 2000 record for the longest of its kind in recent history. President Trump began and ended his 2025 SOTU by recalling his inaugural pledge earlier this year to deliver a “golden era” for America that will be the country’s “greatest” yet.

Within minutes of the speech’s opening, some Democrats in the joint session of Congress interrupted Trump with protests, causing House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to call the chamber to order and direct the sergeant at arms to remove Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for repeatedly shouting that the president and the Republicans had no mandate. This early disruption, together with a number of Democrats boycotting the speech, some walking out while others still held up black signs calling various claims “false,” leant to distinctly partisan tone.

Maine’s First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said the speech was “full of lies,” and posted on BlueSky that she walked out.

After recounting the shift in power that the November 2024 election brought, Trump launched into a summary of his early actions in the first 42 days of his second term, including over 100 executive actions, emergency action to enforce border security and dramatically reduce illegal incursions, broad and sweeping directives to change the face of the federal government by forming a Department of Government Efficiency with broad powers to review and reform, the re-institution of tariffs, and a reversal of the “woke” policies of his predecessor.

The economy took front and center, as Trump asked for patience on the tariffs and pledged a series of tax cuts, which his administration would pay for through a combination of reductions in wasteful government spending and such revenue generators as a “gold card” program offering visas and a path to citizenship for ultra wealthy foreigners.

Trump also pledged to balance the federal budget for the first time in almost 40 years. He also announced an expansion of efforts to boost U.S. energy production and a return to constructing pipelines. His energy policy, he said, could be summarized by three words: “Drill, Baby, Drill.”

Citing the Government Accountability Office, Trump said there currently exists half a trillion dollars in fraudulent spending. He also took some time to recount DOGE findings of smaller amounts, ranging from the millions of centurions reportedly on the Social Security Administration’s rolls to efforts to assist transgender mice.

As these annual addresses to Congress and the nation have been since the administration of President Ronald Reagan, the evening was embroidered with stage-craft. In Trump’s fashion, these moments were numerous. For instance, Trump appointed a 13-year old cancer survivor, DJ Daniel, as a secret service agent, announced a young man’s admission to one of the military academies, and named a wilderness sanctuary after the late 12-year Jocelyn Nungaray who was brutally murdered by Venezuelan gang members who were in the U.S. illegally.

Seated next to First Lady Melania Trump was Peyton McNab, a high school athlete who suffered traumatic brain injury when she was struck by a volleyball shot at her head at high velocity by a transgender opponent. Trump vowed his administration would continue in its efforts to protect girls in school sports, which for Mainers recalled the recent stand-off between him and Governor Janet Mills, who insists enforcing an executive order banning transgender athletes would violate Maine’s Human Rights Act and told the president last month “we’ll see you in court.”

Foreign policy occupied a short segment of the speech towards its close, as Trump predicted wide-ranging and positive changes in the Middle East and said he was committed to working with both sides to bring peace to Ukraine. Just four days after a dust-up in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump said that he received on Tuesday a letter from Zelensky stating that Ukraine is ready for peace and agree to a metals deal with the U.S.. No one, Trump said, wants to see that war and its loss of life continue for another five years except, perhaps he joked, “Pocahontas” (referring to Massachusetts’ U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren).

The Democrats chose freshman U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) to deliver their response, in which she accused Trump of an “unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends,” and threatening America with recession if he isn’t careful, she said.