Donald Trump's State of the Union Was Long and Wrong

"The problem for Trump at such a moment is that he's not a persuader; he's a pitchman, the kind of salesman who transmits in exclamation points all the fantastic, terrific, unbelievable features of the new car he wants you to buy. But the salesman is not who you want to talk to when you have the broken-down old jalopy towed back to the lot and demand a refund."

"Based on the polls, it's pretty apparent that America wants its money back. CNN's latest survey had Trump at a sixty-three-per-cent disapproval rating, and just a thirty-six-per-cent approval one; other surveys show similarly brutal numbers. Trump, in other words, has sunk close to post-January 6th territory with the public."

"Trump's default setting is triumphalism. He is never more animated than when touting his own accomplishments, even if they are not actually his accomplishments. His eyes positively glowed as he launched into a long riff with an imagined interlocutor about how 'our country is winning so much' under his leadership 'that we really don't know what to do about it.'"

Trump operates as a pitchman rather than a persuader, relying on exclamatory declarations about accomplishments and national greatness. His approval rating stands at thirty-six percent with sixty-three percent disapproval, placing him near post-January 6th lows. Despite these poor numbers, Trump cannot deviate from his triumphalist default setting, remaining most animated when touting his own accomplishments, whether legitimately his or not. His speech featured theatrical moments like the Olympic hockey team's entrance, which he appeared to credit to his leadership. This approach proves problematic when citizens demand accountability and solutions rather than celebratory rhetoric about national success.

Read at The New Yorker