Trump's Trials - Abigail Spanberger frames Democrat's midterm message in State of the Union response

Episode Date: February 25, 2026

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivered Democrats' official response to President Trump's State of the Union address while Sen. Alex Padilla of California gave the Spanish language reply.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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Every episode, we bring you a... story from NPR's recent coverage of the 47th president, with the focus on ways he's using power like no president before him. Here is the latest from NPR. And I'm May Martinez. President Trump gave his assessment of the state of the union Tuesday night. Our nation is back. Bigger, better, richer, and stronger than ever before. The rebuttal came from Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger. Here's N. B.R's Barbara Sprunt. Just five weeks ago, Abigail Spanberger became the first woman to be sworn in as governor of Virginia,

flipping control of the office from Republican to Democrat. And last night, she addressed the nation, pushing back on President Trump's assertion that the U.S. is in a golden age. The president did what he always does. He lied, he scapegoated, and he distracted. And he offered no real solutions to our nation's pressing challenges. so many of which he is actively making worse. Spanberger structured her speech around three questions.

Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family? Is the president working to keep American safe both at home and abroad? Is the president working for you? She said the answer to all three, no. Affordability, one of the key pillars of her speech, is something Democrats see as a winning message as they look ahead. head to the midterm elections. Costs are too high in housing, health care, energy, and child care. She slammed what she called Trump's reckless trade policies and spoke about the violence from

federal immigration enforcement officers on American streets. Our president told us tonight that we are safer because these agents arrest mothers and detain children. Think about that. Our broken immigration system is something to be fixed, not an excuse for unaccountable agents to terrorize our communities. The rebuttal to a state of the union is considered an honor given to a rising star, but it can be a tough gig. It's very hard to match the popping circumstance and the bully pulpit of the president. That's Joel Payne, a longtime Democratic strategist.

He says who gets chosen to give the speech sends an important message. Democrats, they want people to think about folks like Abigail Spanberger as core to the democratic message and courts in the Democratic coalition. Someone who comes from a state that's purple, not too far to the left, not too far to the right. In 2018, Spanberger was part of a blue wave of Democrats who flipped control of the House. Party leaders are now looking to her to help them achieve that feat again this November, starting tonight where she'll headline House Democrats retreat to share lessons learned

from her campaign. Barbara Sprint and PR News. Before we wrap up a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration on the NPR Politics podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsor messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's terms from NPR.

This week on Up First, the state of the union address is a civic ritual and a political event. We'll be watching to see how a president with low approval ratings handles the moment. We are also watching the United States confrontation with Iran. Listen each morning for overnight developments. Up first on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. I bet this guy on the bar train one time. And I had my base with me. And he goes, man, what do you want to do?

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