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Jesse Watters Primetime 2/24/26 FULL END SHOW | ᖴO᙭ ᗷᖇEᗩKIᑎG ᑎEᗯS February 24, 2026
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00:03Fox News alert. We're less than an hour away from the president's State of the Union address.
00:08At any moment, President Trump will be leaving the White House in the beast and making his way
00:13to the Capitol. Last year, the president set a record beating Bill Clinton for the longest speech
00:19to Congress. And as they say, records are meant to be broken because this year, Donald Trump says
00:25there's so much to talk about and a ton to celebrate. The U.S. hockey team will be in the
00:32building this evening. Gold medals dangling from their necks. They're probably not too happy Trump
00:37planned to speak so long because they've been up partying for the last 48 hours. Last night,
00:42they hit up the club in Miami.
00:57That our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
01:13Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
01:29After drinking the place dry, they woke up this morning feeling a little sick, homesick.
01:35Country and you miss it. You miss being home. I'm so happy to be here and be home and the
01:42cool
01:42experience of a lifetime being able to go to the White House tonight. I could go on all day about
01:46how great our country is, but just being home and seeing our friends and family and
01:55it's just special. Our country is the best.
01:59Jack Hughes, who scored the game winner in OT, probably the only guy missing teeth who's been
02:05to the White House since the 19th century. Yeah, we're excited. I mean, anytime, like
02:12everything is so political. We're just, we're athletes. We're so proud to represent the U.S.
02:17And when you get the chance to go to the White House, meet the president, you know, we're proud
02:21to be Americans. And, you know, that's so patriotic. So no matter what your views are, we're super
02:27excited to go to the White House tomorrow and just be a part of that.
02:32Tonight, the team are going to be in the chamber and they're going to be fresh off their White
02:36White House tour, where they got to show off their gold in the Oval. Watch.
02:50Meeting Canada for the gold in Italy was one of the most exciting, patriotic and unifying moments
02:56in decades. Tonight, the whole country gets the chance to honor the team and bask in the glory of
03:02the great American spirit. Doesn't matter left or right, we're all on the same team.
03:08But not everybody's going to show up. A record 70 Democrats are boycotting the State of the Union.
03:14It's the biggest boycott in history by far. A huge chunk of the Democrat caucus won't be there
03:21to give a standing O for America winning a gold. They're boycotting our boys. Some Democrats say
03:28they'd rather stick needles in their eyes than go. And for those who are going, Hakeem Jeffries
03:34is worried they're going to make a scene. Remember last year, Al Green interrupted the president's
03:39speech, screaming and shaking his cane. Last year, Democrats didn't even stand up for a black kid
03:45with cancer. Now they're no-showing American hockey. We'll see if they pay a political price because
03:51when you and I don't show up to work, we usually do.
03:55The president, who considers himself somewhat of a TV producer, will be weaving personal stories
04:01into his address that put a face on his policies.
04:05You're going to hear the president share tear-jerking stories of American heroes,
04:09past and present, who really exemplify what it means to be a patriotic American.
04:14He'll obviously tout the administration's accomplishments over the past year,
04:18and he will, of course, lay out a very ambitious agenda, I think, for the working people of this
04:24country to make America more affordable and prosperous and safe, and make the American dream
04:29more attainable.
04:32Waitresses who are making more money after no tax on tips, a husband and wife who are struggling to
04:37get pregnant but now can afford the fertility drugs. Erica Kirk will also be a special guest,
04:44just five months since Charlie was assassinated. Nick Shirley, who cracked the Somali fraud case
04:51in Minnesota. He'll be in attendance. And the first lady will have her very own special guest,
04:56who I'm sure will bring a tear to everyone's eyes, maybe even mine. The president's first year
05:02of accomplishments are historic. There's been so much action that he's not even getting proper credit.
05:09Rates, rent, crime, crossings, all down. Inflation and gas prices, much, much lower. Wages and stocks,
05:17way up. But tonight's not just about ticking off winds. The president has an ambitious agenda,
05:23and he'll tout some major AI deals and direct Congress to pass voter ID. Apple's bringing some
05:30manufacturing back from China. He'll show what the future is going to look like with an America
05:35First agenda. Your tax refunds are up 15 percent this year. Doge has taken a big bite out of the
05:43deficit. And if you have a baby, the government gives you a thousand bucks that you and your
05:49company can match and invest. Are the Democrats not going to clap for babies? We'll see. We do expect
05:56some confrontation. The Supreme Court justices who just struck down some of his tariffs,
06:01they're going to be front row. Things could get a little awkward. And we're hearing Democrats could
06:07bring some uninvited guests. More on that later. The midterms are this year, and Trump's going to
06:14confront Democrats for shutting down the government and digging an economic hole that he's had to pull
06:20us out of. He'll argue that handing power back to Democrats in November will kill the recovery.
06:26We've already seen their priorities when they had power. Open borders, reckless spending, high crime,
06:32and trans mania. He'll hit the Democrats, and they'll just have to sit there and take it
06:36on live TV. The president's been very focused on foreign policy, and he'll have to show
06:42that the political capital he's spent overseas is benefiting voters here at home. What he's done
06:49with China has reduced fentanyl overdoses. What he's done in Venezuela lowered oil prices.
06:56Operation Midnight Hammer obliterated the Iranian nuclear program, keeping Americans safer.
07:01But this could be the pinnacle of the president's power. He might lose the House, maybe even the
07:08Senate next year. So he's got to make the most of 2026. Luckily for this president, his political
07:14opposition is weak. The party elders, Barack Obama, in semi-retirement and getting henpecked by his wife
07:22on her podcast. Biden disappeared, disgraced, can barely build his library. And the Clintons in 48 hours
07:30are going to be deposed about their relationship to child sex trafficker Jeff Epstein. Kamala Harris,
07:37she's been discredited. Tim Walz won't run for re-election. And Gavin Newsom, he's having a tough
07:43time being taken seriously. And AOC, she's never been taken seriously. But just because the Democrats
07:49have a weak bench doesn't mean they're down for the count. The voters are finicky and can dump
07:55Republicans like a bad boyfriend if they don't deliver. Fortunately for Donald Trump, and because
08:01of the grace of God in Butler, Pennsylvania, he happens to be president during America's 250th
08:07birthday. And we'll infuse tonight's speech with moving tributes to American exceptionalism.
08:13Doesn't matter if you voted for the president or not. Doesn't even matter if you didn't vote at all.
08:18You're an American. And after 250 years, you should be proud to be an American. And the president
08:25tonight will remind us why America is the greatest country on earth and why the American dream is
08:32still alive. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley joins us now. So it's a big speech. You know, he's got three
08:41years left and he's swinging for the fences. What would you like to see specifically?
08:45I want to see more about his bold agenda for the working class that he's been talking about,
08:50Jesse. It's what he ran on. It's what he's been delivering on. I predict we're going to hear a lot
08:54about it tonight. Caps on credit card interest rates, for example. No more Wall Street buying up
08:59single-family homes, giving back more of the people's hard-earned money. I think he'll talk about
09:03no taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime. I bet we'll also hear about capping the cost of prescription
09:09drugs and bringing down the cost of health care. All things that the president has been working on.
09:13He's calling on Congress to act. We ought to act, Jesse. We ought to do it. We ought to implement
09:17his agenda. If we did that, Republicans would have nothing to worry about. Now, the Republicans
09:22are going to have a lot to cheer for because he's going to be taking off a lot of accomplishments.
09:27The Democrats are faced with a tough position. Do they sit on their hands and do nothing while he
09:33talks about lowering crime, cracking down on border crossings? What do they do?
09:38Well, these are the people who are apparently bringing Somali fraudsters as their guests tonight
09:42to the State of the Union. So, Jesse, I mean, I don't think they care. They're past shame.
09:46They wouldn't clap for a kid with cancer last year. So I expect them to sit there and to dare
09:50the American people not to believe their lying eyes. I mean, gas prices are down. Democrats will
09:54say, ignore that. People are keeping more of their hard-earned money. Democrats will say,
09:58don't remember that. And especially Democrats will not want people to remember that just a few years
10:03ago, the border was open. Our cities were overrun with criminals and with gang members. Donald Trump
10:08has stopped all of that. He gets the credit. And the hockey team is going to be in attendance.
10:12They can't not clap for that. I mean, can you believe, what is it, 70 Democrats are no-showing
10:19U.S. hockey? You know, at this point, I can believe just about anything. These are the people,
10:24Jesse, who ran this country into the ground. They have absolutely no shame. They'd rather go back to
10:29the day when they were cheering for men playing women's sports than they would to cheer for our team,
10:33our men's team that just won the gold. Yeah, I mean, cash was in the locker room. Since when did
10:37Democrats
10:38care who's in the locker room? They let anybody in the locker room except Cash Patel. You've been
10:44to these. You're going in, what, about 45 minutes. What's it like in there? You know, it's a terrific,
10:51terrific spectacle. There's nothing like it. The president of the United States, I had to sit
10:55through all of Joe Biden's. They felt like they were like 10 years long, each one of them. Tonight,
10:59I don't care how long the president talks, it's going to go by in a blink. He's got so much
11:03to be proud
11:03of. He will make America proud as he stands and talks. And I think you're going to see a bold
11:07president delivering a bold agenda that will make America proud and confident as we go into year
11:12250. He says he's going to go two hours plus. I mean, that's late. What is that, about a 9
11:19-15 start?
11:21Maybe, I mean, this could go till midnight. Is that the right move? Oh, listen, I think that the
11:26president always does things his way. He has never stuck to a script that somebody else wrote for him,
11:31and look where he is now. I remember a story I'll tell you real quick, Jesse. The first time I
11:35met
11:35the president in person, he said to me, Josh, some senator called me and said, you ought to do it
11:40this way because I've been in politics for 20 years. And Trump looked at me and he said, I said
11:43to that
11:43senator, I've been in politics for 10 months and I'm president. Maybe we'll do it my way.
11:48He's definitely doing it his way. There's a lot on his plate overseas, too. You got this Iran
11:54situation heating up. We got the fleet surrounding the mullahs. What do you see happening there?
11:59Well, if they're smart, they'll make a deal. They'll make a deal with him to give up their
12:02nuclear program. That's what he has demanded. That would certainly make America safer,
12:06make the region safer. What I can say for sure is Donald Trump is not going to take no for
12:10an
12:10answer. I mean, all they need to do is look out their window. If they think that they're going to
12:14get by with business as usual, what they did with Obama, what they did with Biden, uh-uh. I mean,
12:18remember what he did to them just last year. They need to wise up and they need to do it
12:22real fast.
12:22Yeah, so the deterrence factor's back. You got Maduro in handcuffs. You got this cartel leader,
12:27El Mencho, just got taken out while he was visiting his mistress.
12:32What's going on with Cuba?
12:34Well, I mean, same answer. I mean, I think the deal is, is that dictators all over the world
12:38suddenly have to contend with an America that is strong, that is confident, that is ready to act
12:43in our own national interest. Donald Trump is not afraid to act. And he's not, again,
12:47he's not afraid to break the script. He's not going to sit there and read through the diplomatic
12:50code. He's not going to do that. He's going to say, here's our bottom line. Here's what keeps us safe.
12:55Either they pony up and act accordingly or they won't be in power.
12:58All right. Senator Hawley, not bringing a Somali fraudster as his guest. Who are you bringing real
13:03quick?
13:03A businessman, local businessman from St. Louis, Missouri, self-made entrepreneur. It's going
13:07to be awesome.
13:08All right. God bless him. Thank you, Senator.
13:10All right. Host of the Katie Miller Show, Katie Miller and author of Amateur Hour,
13:14Charlie Spearing. Join us now. Katie, tonight, it's going to be a fun night. The president looks like
13:22he's loose, ready to rock. Can you tell us anything about the speech?
13:27President Trump has delivered over 900 rally speeches. He's truly at his best when he's
13:31talking directly to the American people. As Senator Hawley just said, right, we have record
13:37low border crossings, the highest stock market in American history, lowest violent crime in our
13:43country. There are so many powerful stories to tell. And I think what we're going to see tonight
13:48is are Democrats going to sit down for the American people or are they going to stand up
13:52for victims of illegal immigration? Are they going to sit down as America was just unified
13:57watching American hockey win over Canada? Or are they going to continue to sit down and sit for
14:03the American people? It's a choice between are they standing for the American people or standing
14:07with American or standing with the American people or for Somali fraudsters and those who
14:12want to scam and pillage our country? And I think that's what you're going to see tonight
14:15through the president's guests is the opportunity to see where Democrats sit down and President
14:20Trump stand up. Yeah, so there's going to be some great guests. You've got the hockey team.
14:25You've got Erica Kirk. And it looks like there could be more surprises, some families, some babies,
14:32perhaps. There's a lot of choreography here. This is just made for TV. Are you going to stay up
14:40until midnight, Charlie? Absolutely. Look, the president has gotten so good at these,
14:46right, that the Democrats don't even want to sit through them anymore. It's become so fragmented.
14:51Everyone's doing their own thing. Gavin Newsom is chasing influencers in New York City,
14:56going on a book tour and talking about Kamala Harris and her relationship with Willie Brown.
15:02Kamala Harris is on a podcast talking about how to poach eggs. AOC, I haven't even seen AOC.
15:09She's supposedly boycotting. Is she one of those people walking around in frog costumes on Capitol
15:14Hill right now? She's nowhere to be seen. So many other Democrats are just all over the map here.
15:20They don't have a unified strategy. There's both a Spanish and an English response to the State of
15:26the Union. Nobody's watching those. All eyes are going to be on President Trump tonight. And he's
15:31become the master. I see. There's a Spanish response. That's like the black national anthem,
15:36the regular national anthem. I don't get it. Has Hakeem Jeffries lost total control of his caucus?
15:43Nancy would never allow this, a 70-member boycott? Nancy ruled with an iron fist,
15:50and that's not what we're seeing from Hakeem Jeffries. We saw AOC go over to the Munich Security
15:54Conference and not know any issues that relates to China, not know any issues as it relates to Taiwan.
15:59She couldn't tell you if Venezuela was south of the equator. And now she's railing against war on Iran.
16:04No one can take the Democrat party seriously because they don't have a message. They don't
16:08know anything about the world at all, especially as it relates to foreign affairs. They are not
16:13prepared to lead our country. And you're going to see that stark contrast tonight. President Trump
16:17has ended eight wars in his first year in office. The Democrats do not have that story to tell.
16:23President Trump has completed every single point on his platform that he run on in the 2024,
16:29that 2024 Republican convention voted and nominated him on, Jesse. That's an incredible
16:34accomplishment. And one of the ways, Charlie, those wars ended, five of them at least, according to
16:38the president, was because of tariffs. And the justices are going to sit front row,
16:42and they're just going to have to stare right into the guy's eyes.
16:48That's not necessarily the most comfortable feeling. What do you see happening with the people in the
16:54robes? It was really a crippling blow to the president to have this right before the state
16:58of the union speech, knowing that he was going to go face to face with them. And everybody's been
17:02talking about how bad will the reaction be? He was not, he's not too happy about that. He made that
17:07very clear. So it'll be very interesting to see. I think he was largely saved by this moment because
17:13of the U.S. hockey team being there. That certainly brings a little more of a tone of victory to
17:18the
17:18entire speech. But I do think he's saving some choice words for the Supreme Court tonight.
17:22And as I talk to people in the White House, they say, we can't necessarily tell him what to do
17:29in that case. That's going to be entirely his own thing, no matter who gives him advice to say what.
17:34And what a great opportunity, Katie, to have it be the 250th anniversary of the United States of
17:40America with Donald Trump as president, giving a state of the union. He can really weave a lot of
17:45just beautiful anecdotes about heroes and patriots into these remarks tonight. And it'll really be a
17:52great time to uplift the country when it's so freezing outside.
17:58President Trump in his first term, right, brought FIFA here this year. He's bringing the Olympics in
18:042028. And he can't take credit for bringing America. It's 250th birthday, Jesse. But you know
18:09what he can do? He can certainly be the president to meet the moment. And he is the right man
18:13to bring patriotism and nationalism and pride in our country back. It was lost during the Biden years.
18:19People were ashamed to say they were American because we had a president who was stumbling
18:22and bumbling around who didn't even know his own name. President Trump is the right man for the
18:27moment. And you're right tonight, Jesse. We're going to see an incredible amount of patriotism
18:30and Republicans stand up for Americans. And Democrats continue to sit down for when it matters the most,
18:36which is for victims of illegal immigration, whether that be for Erica Kirk. I bet you they're not
18:41going to stand.
18:41No, they should, because they're just going to get hammered the next morning.
18:45Charlie, Katie, great to see you guys.
18:47Thanks so much, Jesse.
18:48Bill Belusian's our Capitol Hill correspondent. Bill, sounds like some people got off their
18:55chairs and are making their way over there. A lot less Democrats, though, right?
19:02Yeah, Jesse, to your point, there might be quite a few empty seats in the room when this thing kicks
19:07off tonight. At last check, we are now up to 73 congressional Democrats who have announced they're
19:12going to boycott this speech tonight. And Republicans have been blasting him for it. We
19:16caught up with Florida Senator Rick Scott earlier. He made the point that he went to all of
19:20President Biden's speeches, even though he said he thought they were horrible and that he was
19:24wrecking the country. He says that's not the point. The point is you respect the office. So out of
19:29those 73 Democrats who aren't showing up tonight, there's a couple dozen that are actually going to
19:33the nearby National Mall where they're going to hold their own rally. They're calling it the quote
19:38People's State of the Union. It's going to be hosted by former MSNBC host Joy Reid, and it's going
19:45to be sponsored by a couple progressive groups. I guess the idea behind that is they think they're
19:50going to counter program President Trump's speech tonight. Then you have a bunch of Democrats who are
19:56here tonight, but say they're showing up begrudgingly. We heard Minnesota Congresswoman Angie Craig say
20:02today that she would, quote, rather stick forks in her eyes than show up here and listen to President
20:08Trump speak. But she says she is going to show up because it's the People's House. We heard Hakeem
20:12Jeffries kind of take a similar line of thinking, saying he is going to show up. It's the People's
20:18House. And, quote, you don't let people run you off your block. He said for the Democrats in the House
20:23who are showing up tonight, there's an expectation of them that they will be, quote, silently defiant.
20:30Now, there are Democrats who are bringing an assortment of guests tonight. Some of them
20:34are bringing victims of Jeffrey Epstein or family members of those victims. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar
20:40of Minnesota is bringing two people who are arrested by ICE during Operation Metro Surge. On the other
20:46side of the coin, you've got Texas Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, bringing the Border Patrol
20:50Union president. And then in more of a bipartisan manner, you've got the Iowa delegation of Congress
20:56showing up here with the family members of those two fallen Iowa National Guard soldiers who were
21:02killed in December, killed in action in Syria. Now, as those Democrats are trying to have these
21:07counter-programming events, who is actually going to be delivering the Democrat response tonight?
21:12That's going to be Virginia's new governor, Abigail Spanberger. And we caught up with Republican
21:17Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama earlier, and he was kind of clowning the fact that Spanberger
21:22is delivering the response tonight. He said he loves that it's her, but he called her, quote,
21:27a communist, said she ran the campaign in Virginia as a moderate, then took office and became a
21:33communist. So he said he thinks it's perfect that she's going to be delivering the response tonight.
21:38Jesse, just to put a bow on this, the big question is, is there going to be any drama tonight,
21:42right? Because we certainly had it last year. We all remember Texas Republican or Texas Congressman,
21:47Democrat Al Green. He had that outburst last year, was raising his cane. He eventually got escorted
21:53out of the chamber. You're going to have 73 Democrats who aren't in there tonight. So we'll
21:58have to wait and see. It sounds like this is going to be potentially a pretty long one. We heard
22:02you
22:02talking about the fact that the president said he might go over two hours for this one. We'll see.
22:06But behind the camera right now, Jesse, I'm watching everybody stream into the chamber. I've seen
22:10all of the cabinet secretaries show up. Pam Bomdi, Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, Scott Bessent. We also
22:17saw CIA director John Ratcliffe walk in. So everyone's buckling up and we're waiting to see
22:22what the night brings. We'll send it back to you. Have you seen Al Green with his cane?
22:28I have not, but I'm keeping an eye out for him. All right. You tell me, if you see the
22:32cane,
22:33you confiscate it, okay? Take that cane away. Thank you so much, Bill.
22:38Thanks. Any moment, Trump departs the White House. A live report. Next.
22:48Fox News alert. You're looking live at the White House, where at any moment,
22:51the president and the first lady will emerge, board the beast, and head to the Capitol for
22:57the president's State of the Union address. Let's bring in our senior White House correspondent,
23:03Jackie Heinrich. Hey, Jackie. Is he out of there yet or no?
23:08Not quite yet, Jesse. But ahead of the speech, the White House is promoting it in the form of a
23:13text
23:14message survey. If you opt in, you basically get a list of the president's achievements,
23:18which include launching Trump accounts to save money for kids, Trump Rx. On the border,
23:24you've got low murder rates and crime rates, which basically signals to us that this speech
23:29is going to go in the direction we thought, with a heavy focus on the two issues that propelled him
23:34to a second term, the economy and immigration. Now, his polling on both issues has slid over the
23:39course of his term, but recently rebounded. On immigration, you had voters broadly voice some
23:44concern with ISIS deportation methods. So we expect tonight the president's going to focus on the stuff
23:49that people really liked, which was his handling of the southern border. In the last several months,
23:54you've had no illegal immigrants crossing and being caught and released into the U.S.
23:58On the economy, you had Fox polls this week showing 59 percent of people disapprove of his
24:03handling. Now, inflation has cooled considerably, but prices are still high. So we expect him to hit
24:09the highlight reel we usually see, which includes mentions of record stock market highs, cheaper gas,
24:15cooling inflation, good jobs data, and big tax returns ahead this year because of the big,
24:21beautiful bill. A challenge for the president tonight is that he's going to make this address
24:24to Congress with a partial government shutdown. We expect him to slam the Democrats for that.
24:29And also in front of these Supreme Court justices who just yanked away his favorite tool to force
24:34trade deals and peace deals, the Emergency Tariff Authority. Yet to be seen whether he's going to
24:39have some choice words for the justices that will be right in front of him. But the White House has
24:42its own expectations of what might happen with a bingo card they just put out. Some stuff is more likely
24:47than others. The economy is so hot. I bet he will do that. But unlikely, Canada becomes the 51st state
24:55after the Olympic hockey loss. I guess anything's possible, though. We'll see. I thought those were
25:00the stakes. I thought it was if we win, we get Canada. Jackie, good to see you. Thank you so
25:06much.
25:06Stay warm. No, not yet. All right. And the president should be leaving the White House any minute
25:14right now. We're going to go to Kentucky Congressman James Comer. Congressman, I think on Thursday
25:20you're going to be interviewing Bill and Hillary Clinton. I believe that's under oath, correct?
25:28Correct. 100 percent. It's a real legal deposition. They're going to be sworn in. All their questions
25:33they're going to have to answer under oath or they're going to commit perjury. We depose Hillary
25:39Clinton on Thursday and then Bill Clinton on Friday. You're going to see several hours of tough
25:44questions from Republicans. Okay. So that's definitely going to be something we're going
25:49to be paying a lot of attention to. Yeah. Tonight's speech, obviously we're hearing already a hard
25:54economic and border message. What does he need to say specifically to get the people in Kentucky fired
26:02up? Well, he needs to remind everyone about the accomplishments and take people back a year
26:09to when Joe Biden was president and we had Biden inflation. We had a wide open border. We had so
26:14many cities that were under in flames because of rampant crime. And look at where we are today.
26:21The border is secure. He's getting inflation down. We've still got a ways to go. But from what he
26:26inherited to where we are now, we've seen significant improvements. He's going to talk about his vision
26:31for the future because he's not finished. We've got a lot of work to do. And, you know, some of
26:36my
26:36colleagues in the house, unfortunately, and several in the Senate, think that just by passing the big
26:41beautiful bill, we need to pat ourselves on the back and that's it. And that's not it. The president
26:47campaigned on an aggressive agenda. He wants to focus on affordability. He wants to talk about
26:52health care. He's not shying away from health care. The Democrats have ruined health care. He's going to
26:55remind people that. And hopefully we can focus on ways to make prescription drugs cheaper.
27:00Health care more affordable and try to get inflation down and make America first and continue to
27:08attract good paying manufacturing jobs back to the United States. Congressman, right now,
27:14we're looking at the president and the first lady, Melania. Leave the White House and go into the
27:19beast. The indestructible beast can stain all kinds of terrorist attacks. Anything you throw at it,
27:26that beast will repel it. And what is it about a 15 minute ride over to the Capitol? And we'll
27:33be
27:33following that. I'm sure he's finished the speech unless he's doing any last minute adjustments.
27:38You talked about the agenda in the house. We did pass the big, beautiful bill. You said the president
27:45is going to focus on health care legislation. And what else in this year?
27:53Well, I think, you know, obviously we passed the save act. We should have national ID. You should
27:59prove you're an American citizen before you vote. And anyone who opposes that must, you know, try to,
28:05in some ways, support cheating in elections because it's not discriminatory to show your ID. I had to
28:11show my ID three times to get to this point in the Capitol today. And I'm a member of Congress
28:16and
28:16have a congressional pin on. So I wasn't offended by that. Congressman, you have to show in New York
28:22City, five forms of ID just to shovel snow. So if you need five to shovel, surely you could provide
28:28one to vote. Congressman, good to see you. Let us know how that deposition goes of the Clintons later
28:35on this week. I'm sure they'll be perfectly honest. Thank you. Oh yeah. Outkick.com founder
28:41Clay Travis joins me now. Clay, you're going to see the hockey team. There are going to be teeth
28:45missing, maybe some droopy eyes after the club in Miami. What a great moment for the country as you
28:52see the president and the beast with the first lady rolling over to the Capitol as we speak.
28:58You ready for tonight? I am ready for tonight. I am poised, primed, and I do think culturally, Jesse,
29:08what we saw from the U.S. men's hockey team, we made American hockey great again. We won the gold
29:15medal. We kicked Canada's ass. And if you see these guys singing along to Lee Greenwood or you see
29:22him singing along to our national anthem and 11 nightclub, you see him singing along to Toby
29:28Keith. I think what young men in America are telling us is they're over the woke BS. They've
29:35seen it for long enough and they are punching back aggressively against it. And in that way,
29:41I think the U.S. men's hockey team is actually reflective of other men who don't happen to be
29:47athletes around their own age, more so than they're leading the charge. I loved it. I don't know that
29:54I've ever been, frankly, prouder to be an American than when we kicked Canada's ass and seeing America
30:02to a large extent united around this team like we were. I was too young to remember it back in
30:081980.
30:10Oh, you were? I thought you were like 40 in 1980. You look good there, Clay. I just look like
30:16it, Jesse.
30:16The die jobs. The die jobs. No, no. How great is it they're singing the national anthem at the club?
30:22Had they ever in the history of a Miami club sung the national anthem? You're right about the culture.
30:28I mean, this thing has shifted so fast from where we were just a year ago.
30:35Jesse, the strippers in 11 put their hands over the heart while they were singing the national anthem.
30:43It's the proudest American moment of all time. Even the strippers stopped working to sing the national anthem
30:50in honor of the U.S. men's hockey team. And by the way, I'm surprised you're not banking that $30
30:55an hour
30:56shoveling out on the street. We're joking right now. Right now we're looking at the vice president
31:01enter the chamber, shaking everybody's hands. Everybody wants a photo. He's going to be
31:06sitting down, you know, next to Mike Johnson, right behind the president when he delivers this.
31:12It's going to be a long one. There's going to be records broken. But culturally,
31:17the shift has been so poignant. We went from DEI. We went from CRT. We went from political correctness.
31:27You were afraid to speak your mind in America. And it's just amazing how that's changed so quickly.
31:33You have to keep the momentum going, though, because you could have these things taken away like that.
31:42Completely. And look, we set a record in the Winter Olympics for most gold medals ever. We got 12.
31:49That broke the record of 10 set back in 2002. And I understand some people say,
31:53oh, why does how we do in the Olympics matter? It matters because the story we're telling is one
32:00of exceptionalism. It's one of the meritocracy, the best man or woman wins, not the best man
32:07pretending to be a woman. And it's something that is uniting. And the people who hate what we are doing
32:13right now are trying to use sports to divide us. But it's not working. This was the most watched
32:18sporting event early morning start in the history of the United States. I think a lot of people have
32:25been captivated by Alyssa Liu, by this team of men and women. And I think the reaction they're going
32:31to get in the State of the Union, that hockey team, in addition to J.D. Vance and Donald Trump,
32:36it's going to be great.
32:38Yeah, it's going to be great. 26 million people at about 1030 in the morning watching hockey.
32:44That's just crazy. It is crazy. And I love it. And the country loves it. And there's going to be
32:50a sensational moment this evening as we all giving a standing out. Clay, good to see you. We'll see
32:56you soon. Behave yourself.
32:59Yeah, good to see you, Jesse. Enjoy the state.
33:02Our Capitol Hill correspondent. So we're watching the vice president come in,
33:06taking some photos, some selfie time. Looks like Barrasso out of Wyoming is right behind him.
33:13You're seeing the majority leader, John Thune. I mean, this is a great spectacle to watch these
33:20guys press the flesh, get some photos. Who else are you seeing come in?
33:27Well, Jesse, just to give you a little extra color, a few moments ago, we saw Senator Fetterman
33:31walk by us into the chamber. He's wearing a suit tonight. He's rocking a suit for the State
33:35of the Union. So he's dressed up tonight. You asked us about Al Green in our earlier live shot.
33:41We can confirm he is sitting in the chamber tonight. He is there. He's the one who had the
33:45outburst last year, raising his cane and got escorted out. But our Capitol Hill team,
33:49who's in the chamber, says he is in there and he is sitting down right now. We saw
33:54Senate Majority Leader John Thune walk in. You mentioned he's in there with Barrasso,
33:59J.D. Vance. We've seen all the cabinet secretaries walking in. We're not really
34:02seeing a whole lot more people walk in right now. So it's going to start filling up in there.
34:06And we did get a few excerpts from President Trump's speech. Keep in mind,
34:09all of this happening as DHS is shut down right now. Remember, Democrats have said they want reforms
34:15to ICE. They want ICE to not get another penny unless there's some sort of reform with them,
34:20whether it's wearing body cameras or taking their masks off or using judicial
34:23warrants. Well, some of the excerpts we got from President Trump's speech tonight references this
34:29DHS shutdown. I'm just going to read a small sentence here. He says, quote,
34:32as we speak, Democrats in this chamber have cut off all funding for the Department of Homeland
34:37Security. They have closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and
34:42murderers. Tonight, I am demanding the full and immediate restoration of all funding for the
34:47border security and homeland security of the United States. So it looks like the president's going to
34:52try to flip the pressure back onto the Democrats. Because starting this Friday, Jesse, different
34:58components of DHS are going to start missing paychecks. We're talking Coast Guard, Secret
35:02Service, TSA, FEMA. That's when this can start snowballing, when Americans can start seeing
35:07effects at airports, especially coming out of that winter storm we just had here in the Northeast.
35:12So we're about 20 minutes or so outside of what's supposed to be the start of the speech. Again,
35:17we're not seeing a whole lot more people walk in. The chamber is starting to fill up. And the big
35:21question tonight, what's it going to be like in there, given the fact that a record-setting
35:2673 congressional Democrats have decided to bail on this speech tonight. They won't be there.
35:31And a couple dozen of them having a competing event over on the National Mall tonight. They
35:36are dubbing the People's State of the Union. Jesse, we'll send it back to you.
35:40And no one's watching that. Absolutely no one's watching that. You're going to have tens of millions
35:44of eyeballs on the State of the Union. I don't know why they do that, but I can't even imagine
35:49the rationale. Great to see you. Let us know if anything happens with the cane and we're putting
35:57you in charge, Bill. Thank you very much. Let's go over to Kayleigh. She's the former White House
36:02press secretary and host of Saturday in America. I mean, the Secret Service, Kayleigh, they just busted a
36:09guy with a shotgun and a gas canister going into Mar-a-Lago with bad intentions. I mean,
36:16if these guys aren't getting paid, that is a disgrace. The president really is going to hammer
36:22these Democrats to reopen and refund the Department of Homeland Security. You think they're going to do it?
36:30I think they're going to have to in time. I mean, as Trisha McLaughlin said during the last
36:34shutdown, there were TSA agents sleeping in their cars. So this is untenable for Democrats to keep
36:40this up. But Jesse, I'm reading the president's remarks right now, at least a portion of them.
36:44And I know you talk about this a lot. The Somali fraud. He literally calls out the Somali community
36:51in Minnesota. Tonight he's about to do this for the 19 billion dollars that were stolen from American
36:57taxpayers in Minnesota. So he's going there. And I will look with great interest at the Democrat
37:02women wearing white during that moment. He also has some policy deliverables. He's going to call
37:07on Congress to make sure Wall Street isn't buying up homes that should go to the American people.
37:13He's going to talk to AI firms about putting energy back into communities that they're taking
37:17out of it. So, Jesse, this has a really populist economic tone, which I think hits the nail on the
37:22head as we go into the midterms. Well, I like that because that's something even Democrats can get
37:28behind. You don't want big Wall Street banks sucking up all the housing inventory when people
37:32are having enough time buying homes. And we're looking at Ted Cruz here shaking a lot of hands.
37:39I think we see Liz Warren, the esteemed senator from Massachusetts back there. We're hearing the
37:45gavel of George Washington is going to be brandished by Mike Johnson as he gives it a little smack.
37:51I like the populist appeal, but we also have to make sure Congress gets in gear and enacts it.
37:59Very small margins. What do you see with the president tonight with the Somalis? Because we're
38:05hearing that a Somali might be or to a guest of Ilhan Omar. Every American hates fraud. I mean,
38:15this should be a slam dunk. They were looking at Fetterman in a suit for the first time. I can't
38:21even
38:21process this. Yeah. Yeah. As his Democratic peers engage in all of their antics, John Fetterman
38:28finally whips out the suit. It's amazing. And maybe like a subtle little shot at his peers and
38:34his comrades there. But I hope they get a tight shot of Ilhan Omar's face when he brings up this
38:40Somali fraud. I want to see the look on her face. This was her district that she represents. I also
38:45wish, Jesse, President Trump, as he sits there, you just pointed out he needs Congress to enact all
38:50this. You got all the senators before you call on them to get rid of the filibuster. Now's the time
38:56to pass the Save America Act. If Republicans want any chance of getting this agenda through,
39:01unified government is the moment to do it before you lose the House, potentially lose the Senate.
39:06Hopefully that doesn't happen. But he should call these senators out right to their face and say,
39:11now is the moment to act. I believe it was, I think, 70% of black Americans, 80% of
39:19Hispanic Americans,
39:2190% of white Americans believe you should have ID. It's not about race. It's just about security.
39:26I don't know why anybody would want to get in the way of that. Kaylee, great to see you. I
39:30know
39:30that's been a big issue on your weekend show. Keep up the great work on that.
39:35Now, thanks to Vivek Ramaswamy, Republican candidate for Ohio governor. There's going to be some soaring
39:43rhetoric this evening. A lot of great patriotic moments we're all going to witness from hockey
39:50to some of these stories about people having babies and being able to afford a home. AI,
39:57especially Vivek, we're hearing that these companies may just build their own electrical
40:04plants. That's going to save Americans a fortune.
40:09So, look, I think it's a great opportunity, Jesse. First of all, before looking into the future,
40:13just to celebrate the victories that got us here in that first year of the Trump presidency,
40:18we sealed that southern border. And also, if you look at where we were internationally,
40:22there were wars in the Middle East. There was chaos elsewhere in the world. Now the Israel peace
40:27settlement, you've got a great place that was unimaginable just a couple of years ago.
40:31With those accomplishments under our belt, now we can focus on the future. Focus on the future of
40:36bringing down those costs of livings, bring down costs, increase paychecks, deliver better education
40:42throughout the country. And I do think that forward-looking vision that integrates the power
40:47of future technology, even AI, but doing it in a way that they're paying for their own energy
40:52rather than externalizing that to everyday electricity bills of consumers. That, I think,
40:57is the kind of forward-looking economic vision that combines with the accomplishments of sealing
41:03that southern border and securing international peace abroad. And I think if President Trump is able
41:08to draw that link between the accomplishments he's already delivered, the early economic progress
41:13we're making, and the forward economic progress we can expect, I think it's going to be a very successful
41:18speech tonight. That's what I'm hoping for, and that is what I expect from President Trump.
41:24Yeah, because you have to tell a story. Where we've been, it's been four years of Bidenomics,
41:29the country's traumatized, and prices have come down, but they're still very high from what Joe Biden
41:37left this president with. And you're going into a midterm, and the Democrats are complaining about
41:43affordability. And how does the president have to frame that choice? Because it has to be a choice.
41:50Look, at the end of the day, the choice is the four years under Biden, that's when we saw a
41:54record
41:54high inflation. We saw costs going up, wages going down. That isn't going to be turned around
41:59overnight, but the trends are in the other direction. Look at gas prices now versus what they
42:03were under President Biden. Costs are gradually, in so many sectors of the economy, coming down. We want
42:09that to spread to other sectors of the economy as well, undoing the damage from the Biden years,
42:13but also pursuing economic growth. Because half the battle of addressing this affordability issue
42:19is putting money back in people's pockets. Think about the Trump tax cuts, how much money,
42:25including in refunds, are flowing straight back to Americans' pockets. Think about the Trump
42:29accounts, using the power of compounding and equity compound interest to be able to say every kid born
42:35in this country, is on track to generating wealth starting at a young age. That, too,
42:41is part of tackling affordability, not just undoing the Biden damage of inflation and bringing down
42:46costs, but also increasing and creating new wealth for Americans. And that's the cultural shift we're
42:53seeing, Jesse. Don't talk about telling a story. It's not just the last two years. It's the last 250
42:58years that we celebrate this year, the signing of the Declaration of Independence. That was a celebration
43:04of the pursuit of American excellence. And I think in this year, that 250th anniversary of that great
43:11Declaration of Independence, I believe the greatest mission statement ever written for a nation in the
43:16history of mankind, that is what we celebrate now. So the story of the last two years has been the
43:22story
43:22of our entire history as a country, that we celebrate pursuing growth, pursuing excellence,
43:29not restricting ourselves, but making sure that everyone in America participates in that growth, whether they are
43:36Republican or Democrat, those policies that are bringing down costs, increasing paychecks, improving our schools and
43:43having sealed that southern border, those serve not just the people who voted for President Trump, but even for those
43:49Democrats who did not. And I think President Trump deserves to be able to deliver that message clearly. I hope
43:54he does that
43:55tonight so that people across this country, from my home state of Ohio to coast to coast, understand this is
44:01a
44:01president who has come back to deliver for them, for us in celebrating this country, the greatest country
44:09known to the history of man, being led by a commander in chief who actually believes in that country. That's
44:14what I want to
44:15see come across tonight.
44:16Very well said, Vivek, because he ran on restoring the American dream, that the Biden Harris administration
44:24crushed it, and he was going to come back and deliver it once again. And if he can inspire that
44:30hope and that
44:31patriotism to be able to deliver for everybody, no matter race, creed or color, home run. And I think he
44:37has the
44:37tools to do it, and it'll be a great crowd to watch it. Vivek, good luck in your race. It's
44:42all for us tonight.
44:43Brett and Martha are going to be picking up our special coverage.
44:51Looking live at Capitol Hill, we are just minutes away from President Trump's State of the Union
44:55address. Always a very big moment here in Washington. The theme of tonight's speech
45:00is America at 250. Strong, prosperous, and respected. Senior White House officials say the address will
45:07celebrate 250 glorious years of our nation's independence and excellence, highlighting incredible
45:13stories of American heroes. It comes amid a lot of uncertainty.
45:18Indeed it does. Brett, good evening, everybody. Obviously, Iran's nuclear policy is one of the big
45:23foreign policy issues out there tonight. The economy, the midterm elections, all of those on the menu for
45:30the evening. Good evening, everybody. I'm Martha McCallum.
45:32And I'm Brett Baer, here in Washington. The president is in the Capitol, ready to deliver the speech he hopes
45:39will highlight his accomplishments and outline his agenda for the rest of the term. About 70 Democratic
45:45lawmakers are boycotting this speech. Two counter rallies are scheduled to take place. The president's
45:52address will be followed by the Democratic response from Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberg.
45:59Joining us with a preview of tonight's events are Larry Kudlow, Harold Ford Jr., Dana Perino,
46:06and Britt Hume. Great to have all of you with us. Britt, you have watched a few of these play
46:12out over
46:13the years. Your thoughts as we watch the House Speaker and the Vice President get this ready to
46:18gavel in? Well, buckle up, America. We're going to be here a while. The president has said, and the
46:22president's speeches tend to be long anyway, that this one is going to be quite long because he says
46:27there's so much to talk about. So we'll see what he can do. These speeches tend to be programmatic
46:33more than thematic. They tend not to be soaring rhetoric, even though people like to hear that
46:38stuff sometimes. And he's got a task ahead of him to try to convince people that the economy that they
46:43feel isn't going so well for them is actually doing very well. That's not an easy task. Maybe he can
46:49do
46:49it. And it'll be an exciting night with the U.S. winning hockey team on hand so we can all
46:56look
46:56forward to that. So we'll see how it goes. You know, Larry, as we look at other officials coming
47:02in to the House chamber, this speech is mostly about the U.S. economy. It's mostly about trying
47:09to talk to American voters who mostly say they don't feel great about the U.S. economy as of yet,
47:16despite the stats and the numbers. How do you see it? Well, the stats and the numbers are
47:20on the president's side. And I think we are.
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