The Morning Briefing: Trump Gives GOP Blueprint for Midterms in Soaring SOTU Address

Top O' the Briefing

Happy Wednesday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. The Sine Qua Non Sequitur is giving a stress-reduction seminar at an Iowa hemp basket intensive.

I hope that many of you were able to join us for our liveblog of President Trump's State of the Union address last night. My colleagues and I always have a lot of fun doing those. OK, maybe not always, things were a bit of a slog during the Biden years. Misery does love company, though.

It's all fun on nights like last night, however. Trump was really bringing it to perfection, every bit the presidential showman. He put the Democrats in attendance in several awkward spots, but here was the biggest one of the night, which my Twitchy colleague Doug P. shared in a post:

Trump says "stand up if you believe that we should protect Americans, above illegals"

Democrats refused to stand pic.twitter.com/E3JVl8GFiI
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 25, 2026

My good friend and Townhall colleague Larry O'Connor was providing commentary on the feed of the speech that we were showing on the liveblog. Trust me, Larry is a lot more fun to listen to than anyone at CNN or FNC. While the extended standing ovation for the above moment was going on, Larry very enthusiastically said something to the effect of "That's the beginning of the midterms for the Republicans."

Bingo.

This speech was a barrage of horrible optics for the Democrats. President Trump was relaxed and casual, and the Democrats who were in attendance were angry and childish. Al Green threw another tantrum and got tossed again. They sat around pouting all night while the president gushed about the U.S. Men's Olympic hockey team, patriotism, the economy, and war heroes.

After he wrapped up, I posted in the liveblog that this speech didn't have the meandering bridge section near the middle that so many of his longer speeches do. It came in at just about two hours and brilliantly hit every note that there was to hit. It may seem weird to say it about a speech of that length, but there was an economy to it that made it effective.

There was a lot of fodder in the SOTU that GOP candidates can use in the midterms. The optics alone will make for powerful campaign ads. Trump also gave Republicans strong talking points. He laid out how successful law enforcement initiatives have been in blue cities like Washington, D.C. I've written on more than one occasion that law and order should be what the Republicans should lead with this year. We're anti-bad guy, and the Democrats are pro-bad guy; it's a simple pitch to make.

Republicans need to follow President Trump's lead in so many ways, from dealing with the perpetually hostile press to campaigning on a coherent vision of how much better things have gotten with him and his party back in charge. Democrats are still hovering in the low 20s on so many of the 80/20 issues that are priorities for the American people.

Trump launched the GOP into the midterms with momentum last night. He's taught them how to win elections. Let's hope they pay attention and take advantage of it.

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POTUS Press Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
02/24/26

DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2026

In-Town Pool
TV Corr & Crew: NBC
Secondary TV Corr: FOX 5 DC
Photos: AP, AFP, NYT, Reuters, Getty
Print: Bloomberg Government
Secondary Print: New York Times
Radio: NPR
New Media: Washington Free Beacon

EST:
9:00 AM In-Town Pool Call Time

9:00 AM THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time
Oval Office
Closed Press

11:00 AM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting
Oval Office
Closed Press

3:00 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Meeting with The Secretary of Transportation
Cabinet Room
Closed Press

4:30 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting
Oval Office
Closed Press

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