Trump Skips Direct China Line From Address in First Since 2005

Feb. 25, 2026, 10:29 AM UTC

Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech was the first time in two decades a US president didn’t directly mention China in the annual speech to Congress, despite Tuesday’s address being the longest in modern history.

Trump used the nearly two-hour speech at the US Capitol to focus on domestic issues and paint a rosy picture of the economy under his leadership. He skipped references to the US’s economic competition with China, which have been included in many of the annual presidential speeches to Congress given by former Presidents Joe Biden,Barack Obama, George W. Bush — and ...

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