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Former White House speechwriters from both parties say President Donald Trump must decide whether to double down on the rally-style politics that powered his campaign or broaden his message to unify a divided country around his governing agenda in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
As Trump prepares to speak to the nation and the world, a majority of Americans think the country is worse off today than it was a year ago, according to a recent Fox News survey. The challenge he faces Tuesday night is to persuade skeptical voters that his economic policies are bringing costs down, that tougher immigration enforcement is making the country safer and that he has a disciplined, forward-looking plan for the years ahead — a message that could shape Republicans’ prospects as they head into the 2026 midterm elections with narrow majorities in Congress.
Clark Judge, a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan and now chairman of the Pacific Research Institute, told Fox News Digital that Trump should address America’s position in the world.
“Threats to the country and to the economy were growing,” Judge said. “Now, in area after area, those threats have been confronted and defeated.”
President Donald Trump will deliver his fourth State of the Union address across his presidential tenure on Feb. 24, 2026. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Judge said Reagan’s strength was clarity. People “knew where he would come down. One advantage of working with him was that he had been so clear throughout his career on what he was for,” he said.
There are lessons from Reagan that Judge suggested Trump should take to heart. “Know the president, know the administration, know the public — where is the public at any one moment?”
“Where are the Democrats? What are they trying to do — and how do we disarm their arguments?” he said.
The balance needed in a State of the Union is finding a “middle ground” between the president’s Cabinet…
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