President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday broke an all-time record, becoming the longest one in US history.
Clinton’s record spanned just over 1 hour, 28 minutes, according to the American Presidency Project, which has been tracking the length of the State of the Union for decades.
The shortest such speech was delivered by Richard Nixon in 1972, which was only 28 minutes.
Technically, Trump’s speech last year was longer than Clinton’s record, clocking in at 1 hour, 39 minutes, but that was an address to a joint session of Congress, not a State of the Union.
Before Trump’s marquee speech to Congress, rumors had swirled that he would get close to or surpass the two-hour mark, with the president hyping it up as a long speech.
“I’m going to be making a speech tomorrow night, and it’s going to be a long one because we have so much to talk about,” Trump teased Monday.
The State of the Union address is widely seen as one of the largest platforms Trump will have with the American public before the 2026 midterms.
Seeking to take full advantage of that, Trump used his speech to tout a slew of accomplishments from his first year in office, including tax cuts, the Trump accounts, border security, the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, and more.
Trump also laid out his vision for the future, urging Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, requiring proof of citizenship to vote, legislation to restrict congressional stock trading, and a larger military budget.
The marquee address featured Trump’s typical combative style, with the president taking repeated swings at Democrats and even a swipe at the Supreme Court for knocking down his International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs last Friday.
Of particular focus for Trump during his speech was affordability, which has widely polled as a top issue for voters heading into the midterms.
“The same people in this chamber who voted for those disasters suddenly use the word ‘affordability,’ a word — they just used it,” Trump said.
“Somebody gave it to them. You caused that problem … we are doing really well. Those prices are plummeting downward.”
