President Trump set the record on Tuesday night for the longest State of the Union address, surpassing Bill Clinton’s speech in 2000.
Trump’s speech lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes.
In comparison, Clinton’s 2000 speech was 1 hour and 28 minutes.
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump just wrapped up his State of the Union address—which was the longest in ALL of American history—at just under 2 HOURS
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 25, 2026
47 is an absolute MACHINE.
The amount of times Democrats remained seated—especially over ILLEGALS—is going to HAUNT them. Watch 😉 pic.twitter.com/oCg4Ztrte9
Fox News has more:
Trump broke that record just around 10:40 p.m. on Tuesday.
Trump had previewed the length ahead of Tuesday’s address, saying, “It’s going to be a long speech because we have a lot to talk about.”
Tuesday’s speech is Trump’s first official State of the Union of his second term. He delivered a joint address to Congress in March 2025, which operated the same as an official SOTU address but did not bear the same title as it was too early in his administration.
Trump already owns a separate, attention-grabbing timing milestone from that speech. That March 4, 2025, address ran about 1 hour, 39 minutes and 32 seconds, surpassing Clinton’s 2000 runtime, though that 2025 appearance was not formally classified as a State of the Union address.
In total, Trump now has five of the eight longest presidential speeches in front of Congress since 1964.
“In one of the most iconic moments in State of the Union history, Trump checkmated every Democrat by asking Congress to stand if they agree: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens. The Democrats stayed seated,” Sarah Fields wrote.
Watch the legendary moment below:
In one of the most iconic moments in State of the Union history, Trump checkmated every Democrat by asking Congress to stand if they agree: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.
— Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored) February 25, 2026
The Democrats stayed seated. pic.twitter.com/INalCK0En6
Axios shared further:
The total number of words Trump spoke in his 2026 address wasn’t available at publication time.
Some presidents chose to address Congress in writing rather than in a speech, with their letters frequently topping 10,000 words.
During the Iran hostage crisis, former President Carter delivered the longest written address to Congress at 33,667 words in January 1981.
Trump’s average speech during his first term was an hour and twenty minutes, beating out former President Clinton’s then infamously long hour and 15 minute average.
The median speech since 1964 has clocked in at about 45 minutes, but that number has been steadily ticking up since the famously verbose Clinton.
