A Masterclass in Giving a Speech Without Giving a Speech

I come not to praise the State of the Union address, but to bury it.

Well, not really — but I can't resist a Shakespeare reference, even if I have to wedge it in with a six-foot pry bar and a gallon of axle grease. Besides, I'm certain that after the PJ Media parade of SOTU news and analysis that followed our lively liveblog last night, you've had more than your fill of SOTU news and analysis. 

So let's forget all that for the next few minutes. Let's set aside "the optics," what the polls might show in a few days, who got "destroyed," how many "truth bombs" Trump dropped, the "What it All Means" chin-scratcher pieces — ugh, I give up. I went MEGO again just mentioning those things, so that's the last of them you'll see in this column, and also, you're welcome.

But President Donald Trump's whirlwind, time-defying performance left me (and maybe you, too) with a nagging question/realization that I'll try to explain today: How do you give a speech — particularly a speech of two hours — without giving a speech?

It was the longest State of the Union in history, but it was no slog.

"I wasn’t even planning to watch the whole thing and I just kept watching," blogfaddah Glenn Reynolds posted to Instapundit last night, and my friend and partner in thoughtcrime Stephen Kruiser added in today's Morning Briefing, "It may seem weird to say it about a speech of that length, but there was an economy to it that made it effective."

Plenty of the non-speech speech was scripted, of course, primarily penned by Ross Worthington. The wrap was particularly effective, and delivered with a grace that Trump throws aside whenever he likes. But not this time: "The revolution that began in 1776 has not ended. It still continues, because the flame of liberty and independence still burns in the heart of every American patriot. And our future will be bigger, better, brighter, bolder, and more glorious than ever before."

Good stuff.

But what people will and ought to remember are the moments when Trump at least appeared to go off-script. One instant classic example was when he called on Congress to outlaw insider trading — by Congresscritters. The ad-lib — and you can watch Trump wait for the perfect moment to sink the barb — comes at the 0:29 mark.

President Trump just took a BRUTAL swipe at Pelosi:pic.twitter.com/RopDNdgFS3
"As we ensure that all Americans can profit from a rising stock market, let’s also ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using inside information…

…Did Nancy Pelosi stand up if…

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 25, 2026

"They stood up for that, I can't believe it."

But then Trump pauses and waits again, the audience primed for a segue into the next topic, when he sinks the second barb, this one more direct: "Did Nancy Pelosi stand up, if she’s here? Doubt it."

If. She's. Here.

A joke inside the joke that followed the joke.

There were many such seemingly unscripted moments, particularly when Trump addressed his guests in attendance, or presented TWO Congressional Medals of Honor.

While the congresscritters in attendance all played their party-mandated roles, Trump wasn't speaking to them.

He was speaking to us. More than that, I think he was speaking for us. That's how a billionaire real estate mogul and reality TV star manages to maintain what we used to call "the common touch." Bill Clinton — who grew up without any of Trump's privileges — had to whack audiences over the head with how common he was. "I feel your pain," indeed. Trump, on the other hand, does it more subtly.

Did I really just write "subtly" about Trump? Indeed, I did.

Not quite a speech, Trump's SOTU, I noted on Instapundit today, was more like a conversation — with the American people, with heroes in attendance, and even at times with surly Dems — that made the two hours fly.

But the real secret is that Trump wasn't speaking to the pundits with their mostly pre-written chin-scratchers based on the text of Trump's talk. Trump addressed exactly one person: the American watching at home.

So it might not have been what we think of as a SOTU speech, but what a show.

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