In his first State of the Union address of his second term, President Trump offered a rosy portrait of a United States that has lost confidence in his leadership. He also relentlessly baited Democrats, who want to win back control of Congress in the midterms this fall. David E. Sanger, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, takes us inside the room. Guest: David E. Sanger (https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-e-sanger) , the White House and National Security Correspondent for The New York Times, reporting on President Trump and his administration. Background reading:  • During his State of the Union address, Mr. Trump heralded economic and border policies while deriding Democrats (https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/24/us/trump-state-of-the-union) . • Here are some fact checks of his speech (https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/25/us/fact-check-state-of-the-union-trump) . Photo: Kenny Holston/The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily (http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily) . Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts (http://nytimes.com/podcasts) or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.