Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address Tuesday night ‘lazy,’ but history tells another story: Trump broke his own record for the longest such speech in American history.
In fact, Trump, the oldest American president ever inaugurated, has delivered three of the top five longest State of the Union addresses. His Tuesday night speech clocked in at nearly 1 hour and 48 minutes, making it number one, according to the American Presidency Project (APP).
‘I thought the speech was lazy,’ Pelosi told CNN after the speech.
Historically, most State of the Union addresses last about an hour.
Trump and former President Bill Clinton are the Energizer bunnies of State of the Union addresses, with the two men rounding out the top five of all-time longest speeches (including Trump’s 2025 speech before a joint session of Congress, which was technically not a State of the Union because it was in the first year of his term) in terms of total time, including pauses for standing ovations and applause:
– 1 hour, 48 minutes
– 1 hour, 40 minutes
– 1 hour, 29 minutes
– 1 hour, 25 minutes
– 1 hour, 22 minutes
Tuesday night officially gave Trump the top billing from Clinton among official State of the Union addresses.
Trump also holds the unofficial record for the most words in a delivered speech, with his 2026 address estimated at 10,599 words, according to APP. There were some State of the Union addresses in American history delivered only in written form that measured longer by word count.
Pelosi was put off by Trump taking time to hail American excellence, like the gold-medal-winning Team USA men’s hockey team, and addressing victims of violence, including Charlie Kirk widow Erika Kirk, Purple Heart recipient Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, and the Gold Star parents of the late West Virginia National Guard member, U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20.
Wolfe and Beckstrom were shot by an Afghanistan war refugee while serving as part of the Trump administration security detail in Washington, D.C., last year.
‘It’s one thing to acknowledge patriotism and people getting well and everything when you have absolutely nothing to do with their courage or the rest,’ Pelosi told CNN. ‘But you spend an hour and a half doing it — what is the state of the nation?’
During his speech, the president directly addressed Pelosi while calling on Congress to ‘pass the Stop Insider Trading Act without delay.’
The bill, which has 91 Republican and two Democratic co-sponsors in the House, proposes restricting members of Congress, along with their spouses and dependents, from trading stocks.
‘Let’s also ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information,’ Trump remarked, to one of the few moments of bipartisan applause.
‘They stood up for that. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it,’ he added, pointing to the Democrat side of the House chamber.
‘Did Nancy Pelosi stand up – if she’s here – doubt it,’ he continued. ‘Pass the Stop Insider Trading Act without delay.’
Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, have faced scrutiny for their investments in recent years. The former House speaker is one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
