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CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip

Trump Delivers State of the Union as Poll Numbers Drop. Aired 12:30-1a ET

Aired February 25, 2026 - 00:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, a president's State of the Union to a skeptical nation. Live at the table: Bakari Sellers, Brad Todd, Ken Cuccinelli, Ashley Allison, and Terry Moran. Americans with different perspectives aren't talking to each other, but here they do.

[00:32:55]

Good evening. Or should I say good morning, for those of us on the East Coast? It is Abby Phillip in Washington, where President Trump just delivered his first State of the Union address of his second term in office.

He declared that the United States is winning, despite a nation where a majority disagrees. The speech comes as the White House tries to weather the storms on multiple fronts.

The economy is by far the most important issue, and voters are giving him a failing grade. The Supreme Court dealt a major blow to his tariff policy, and he is as unpopular as ever, according to recent polling. The Epstein files, potential Iran strikes, affordability issues. They are all dominating the news cycles. And public opinion of his campaign signature immigration policies have completely flipped.

But tonight, he challenged Democrats on that issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: So, tonight, I'm inviting every legislator to join with my administration in reaffirming a fundamental principle. If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support.

The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens. Isn't that a shame? You should be ashamed of yourself not standing up. You should be ashamed of yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: So, that was in the room, at the very least, the -- the biggest applause line moment from the president's supporters. How does it play back home, I think, becomes the biggest question. Is that going to play the way that I think it plays on the MAGA base?

Is it going to be important or are the other things important?

BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, I wrote down one line above all tonight, and that was when he said, "These people are crazy" in reference to Democrats.

You know, it's true that midterm elections tend to cut against the president's party.

[00:35:04]

But in the end, the opposition has a bar to clear. Democrats have to prove they're not crazy, because voters in 2024 said they thought the Democratic Party was too far out of the mainstream.

I think Democrats made a mistake in the hall tonight. They didn't all uniformly rise up and cheer the hockey team. They didn't all uniformly rise up and cheer the heroes in the gallery. And they should have stood and clapped with that statement.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, I hear it. I think that what people saw tonight was a president -- first of all, I think the bar is in hell for Donald Trump. I've said it multiple times. I want to say it again.

The president of the United States is aged. He's old; he's incompetent. His subjects and verbs, they fight often. He's not a great orator. I mean, there is nothing comparable to Barack Obama. There's nothing comparable to George W. Bush. There's nothing even comparable to Joe Biden in terms of oratory in what you saw tonight. So that's first.

The second thing is, like, I understand the pomp and circumstance of the State of the Union, but most Americans are beyond that.

And look, OK, Democrats didn't stand up for this. They didn't clap for that. I didn't necessarily like Ilhan Omar shouting out during the -- during the speech.

I mean, but what are we juxtaposing that against? We're juxtaposing that against Renee Good being murdered in the street. We're juxtaposing that against Pretti dying, shot multiple times in the street.

So, yes, I get it. Democrats didn't stand up when he said that line. But the fact is, Donald Trump is killing Americans.

People are tired of the National Guard in their cities, in their streets. ICE and Border Patrol, Corey Lewandowski, Kristi Noem. Incompetent from the top down.

So, I mean, I get it. And we -- the showmanship is one thing, but the utter incompetence that people are feeling every day, I think that that is what's going to win or rue the day. Rue the day, I think, is the SAT word I'm looking for. PHILLIP: I guess the thing is, it's -- everybody knows it's a gotcha

moment, right? And it was intended to be that way.

But at the end of the day, the president is still very unpopular. He is underwater on the issue of immigration enforcement.

And when we asked people who watched this speech what they thought about the speech, 38 percent said they had a very positive view of what Trump said. That is the worst performance of any president at this stage in their presidency, going all the way back to George W. Bush.

So, again, moments like this, how much do they matter? And is it smart for Republicans to put so much weight on something like that, when other things might matter more to Americans?

KEN CUCCINELLI, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR RENEWING AMERICA: Well, he did -- he started with the economy, and I disagree with Bakari. I mean, we're sitting in Washington, D.C. The mayor of Washington, D.C., said the National Guard helped lower crime and make people safer.

So, there's plenty of Democrats who've supported the president's efforts in those regards.

And interestingly, when we -- you flash forward to Abigail Spanberger started with three questions. One of them was, is this president keeping you safer, is interesting. She asked three questions that I thought the answer to was all favorable to the president.

She didn't touch the immigration issue. What you've asked about.

And the president started, interestingly, something we don't hear very much. He started out with an emphatic embrace of legal immigration, and he made that point very clear. And I think we all knew he was going to move on to illegal immigration. But it's worth making that point.

And having worked for him, I can tell you he is extremely pro-legal immigration. But he has come into this second term, just as he said he would, and been more aggressive than any other president in our lifetimes in dealing with illegal immigration.

And that sometimes has negative consequences. There'll never be a perfect policy.

But he wanted to redraw that line tonight. And I think it's one of those 70/30 issues that differentiates the Republicans from the Democrats going into the midterm.

And -- and yes, it can be rough sometimes, but when you boil it down on the -- on concept, the people of this country are with the president on that issue.

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that Republicans probably feel more confident tonight, because it wasn't an utter disaster. Like, he talked for the longest State of the Union he's ever given, and it wasn't -- I wasn't, like, pulling my hair out of my head.

And in some -- and you're laughing, because you know it's true. Because sometimes you pull your hair -- your hair out of your head when your guy talks, too. And that didn't happen tonight. And because of that, take a little victory lap.

But the reality is, most people probably didn't even watch the speech. They will see some clips. Your base will see the clips they want. My base will see the clips they want. And Americans still won't be able to afford the cost of living in this country. And until that changes, running down a laundry list of economic goods and bads just won't matter.

People, we've already learned this lesson. It is really hard to change the way people feel day-to-day. And people feel -- it's not just that they feel like they can't afford it. The stress that you live with in your body when you're, like, are my lights staying on? Am I going to have enough gas to get to my kid's school to pick them up? That is real; that is exhausting.

[00:40:09]

And so, every day when you wake up a little, little more tired, and then you have to pull your hair out of your head because the president is talking crazy, too, the next day. Tonight was a win; tomorrow won't be. People sometimes want to turn the page on that.

TERRY MORAN, JOURNALIST: Donald Trump is a genius for setting us against each other. And what that was, was a moment where he was asking people to choose between your neighbor, who is a United States citizen, and your neighbor, or -- or the person who drives your Uber, or the roofer who did your house or whatever --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good point.

MORAN: -- who's not a U.S. citizen. Most of us don't want to do that.

And one of the -- Donald Trump has done something I didn't think he would be able to do. He's lost his mojo on immigration. He was the strongest president and candidate and spokesperson for a certain approach to immigration. And he's upside-down on it.

Because we are a decent people, right? We don't want to see nannies tackled in the street; working men ripped out of their cars. We don't want to see more than 100 U.S. citizens arrested and incarcerated without even being read their rights, disappeared without access to lawyers. Any other president had done that, there'd be impeachments.

But -- and I think he has succeeded in alienating people that he had in his pocket.

PHILLIP: So, I think you -- you suggested that the Democrats didn't talk about immigration, but let me play what Abigail Spanberger said about the immigration issue, drawing a contrast between where Democrats are and where Trump are [SIC] on this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D), VIRGINIA: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUCCINELLI: So, first, my point was she led with three questions, and immigration wasn't one of the three. So, I heard --

PHILLIP: Sure.

CUCCINELLI: -- her later comment.

PHILLIP: But do you -- I mean, but -- but do you see what's happening here? Which is that Trump, I think, would be winning if the contrast were just between his desire to rid the country of -- of hardened criminals and Democrats doing nothing.

But that's not actually what the contrast is here. The contrast is what we saw in Minneapolis, and that's what people are remembering. Alex Pretti and Renee Good, not mentioned today. Should he have brought them up?

CUCCINELLI: No, I don't think he should have brought them up. And -- and you know, not from his perspective.

SELLERS: Well, why not, though? Why can you use -- so, why can you use the lives of some --

ALLISON: And not all?

SELLERS: -- to score political points but not use the lives of others? So, my question is, why does Donald Trump get to determine the value of American lives?

CUCCINELLI: He doesn't.

SELLERS: Well, he did tonight.

CUCCINELLI: But Donald Trump doesn't -- no. He -- Donald Trump gets to determine what Donald Trump says.

SELLERS: Well --

CUCCINELLI: That's what Donald Trump gets to determine.

SELLERS: -- we're making the same point.

CUCCINELLI: No, I don't think we're making anything near the same point on this, Bakari. The -- the error rate for ICE under President Trump is one-third of the error rate under President Obama.

SELLERS: What do you mean by error rate? Are you meaning people that are killed?

CUCCINELLI: I'm referring back to -- to Terry's comment, for example, of picking up people who don't have a basis to be picked up.

First of all, there have been 170, last time I looked, Americans arrested by ICE; citizens. A hundred and thirty plus of those were correct arrests. American citizens participate in illegal immigration.

SELLERS: But do you agree?

CUCCINELLI: Including Renee Good. And that was an ugly, terrible situation.

PHILLIP: Wait, I'm sorry.

SELLERS: The comparison to -- the comparison to Barack Obama is false.

PHILLIP: You're accusing Renee Good of participating in illegal immigration?

TODD: Wait a minute

CUCCINELLI: Including -- including obstructing law enforcement and all of -- all of those.

PHILLIP: There's a difference -- but there's a difference between protest and what you're talking about. And I think also --

CUCCINELLI: Right. And obstructing and stalking law enforcement.

PHILLIP: -- that when -- when we're talking about people who are picked up by immigration officers, federal immigration officers, I think the U.S. citizens, that's an important point.

But there are actually a lot of other -- there's a broader universe of people: people who committed no crimes, people who are going to their green card interviews on their -- their -- they're at their final interview to get their green card. People who are here on -- on a legal basis: they're refugees; they're asylum seekers. They have communication with the government that has given them work permits and said, You're in the process.

ALLISON: They're going to appointments.

PHILLIP: That is part of what -- look, at this point, I think Americans now are seeing the underbelly of what this can look like, what those mistakes look like. And that's why Trump is doing so poorly on this issue.

And there was no acknowledgment of that in this speech. The trying to score political points, again, it seems like that works really well for the MAGA crowd.

[00:45:05]

But the American people are basically saying, you told us you were going to go after criminals, and you're doing way more than that, and we don't like it.

TODD: I'll -- I'll agree with you that --

ALLISON: Can I --

CUCCINELLI: But it goes -- it goes beyond that.

TODD: I will agree with you that he -- that this administration has needed a correction to focus a lot less on collaterals and a lot more on criminal, violent, illegal immigrants, which the president tonight did that in his speech.

He said that he was going to focus on criminal illegal immigrants. He also said -- faulted the Democrats, correctly, for leaving the border open. He took credit for sealing the border.

We've had virtually no crossers illegally since he became president. That's a major accomplishment, because it was just a year ago, Democrats assured us you could not do that unless you changed the law. And we did it by just changing the president.

PHILLIP: If he had stopped there, it would be a different political story.

ALLISON: Yes. Exactly. That's the point, is that --

CUCCINELLI: Because nothing's happening and the success has happened.

ALLISON: No, no, no, no, no.

CUCCINELLI: So, it's not in the news.

ALLISON: No, no, no. I think if you would have stopped there, you would have been winning on this issue right now.

I think when you start ripping nanny -- nannies out of their homes, babies are getting detained, people don't like to see that.

We already lived -- Let me just finish. We already lived through that in the first Trump administration, and that was when we saw babies in cages crying. And your numbers started to tank on immigration.

So, you are living a "Groundhog's Day" again, because you're trying to get too cute on the issue.

But the problem is the reason why Democrats didn't stand in that moment. Yes, I think every American citizen, including the Democrats in that chamber, believe that the first duty of elected officials is to protect American citizens.

But the context in which that statement was made was that there was an ignoring of the life of an American citizen, Alex Pretti, and the ignoring of American citizen Renee Good. And -- and that is what is Ilhan Omar --

TODD: I mean -- ALLISON: Wait. That is what Ilhan Omar screamed -- and that is what we see --

TODD: No, no. There's also the ignoring of the lives of Laken Riley and people who have, like, been victims.

CUCCINELLI: Yes.

TODD: No, the --

ALLISON: No!

TODD: Democrats should stand for that sentence, full-stop. But they cannot give Donald Trump credit for anything.

ALLISON: No.

TODD: For anything. And they would be better off if they --

SELLERS: You know this. You know this. I mean, Abby asked an amazing question, and Ken dodged it and said it was his prerogative.

But I mean, if you were -- if you were advising him, you would tell him to mention the names of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

ALLISON: Yes.

SELLERS: The problem is that what we're not acknowledging is that Donald Trump cannot simply say two words or three words which is, "I messed up." Like he cannot. He cannot admit fault.

Like, the -- the psychopathy in Donald Trump -- and you talk about Democrats all the time. Well, let me -- let me diagnose Republicans. The psychopathy of Donald Trump is that he has a fundamental inability to admit fault.

The fact is, ICE and Border Patrol killed Americans. They've ripped 5- year-olds out of their homes. They've ripped nannies out of their homes. They ripped people who are everyday citizens.

The difference between Donald Trump and Barack Obama is Barack Obama made a concerted effort against tier one hardened criminals.

ALLISON: Yes.

SELLERS: And he deported them from the country. Donald Trump has an inability to do that, and we --

CUCCINELLI: That is exactly what he's done.

SELLERS: But you called them collateral.

PHILLIP: Let me also -- let me --

TODD: That's the legal term. That's the legal term.

PHILLIP: Let me also play --

TODD: That's what's in the report. Homeland Security uses that term.

PHILLIP: Let me also play another aspect of what the president said today. And this is actually, I think, one of the moments that produced a reaction from some of the Democratic members on the other side of the aisle, and it has to do with the Somali -- the Somali fraud investigations in Minnesota.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind us that there are large parts of the world where bribery, corruption and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception. Importing these cultures through unrestricted immigration and open borders brings those problems right here to the USA.

And it is the American people who pay the price in higher medical bills, car insurance rates, rent, taxes, and perhaps most importantly, crime.

We will take care of this problem. We're going to take care of this problem. We are not playing games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: You know, I think the thing I think about is, if the president were talking about any other part of the world -- he said, you know, people from France, you know, we can't import them here because their culture is incompatible with us -- wouldn't that be something that people said was pretty far across the line? He's calling Somali people pirates.

ALLISON: Pirates.

PHILLIP: Based off of what exactly?

TODD: Well, there are pirates.

CUCCINELLI: Nineteen-billion-dollar fraud.

PHILLIP: OK, OK, OK.

TODD: Actually, the only country left for piracy as a profession.

PHILLIP: Hold on, hold on. Hold on a second. Hold on a second.

ALLISON: We're in America. You know how small Somali is?

PHILLIP: He said -- he said --

TODD: Halloween parties and Somalia is where you find pirates.

PHILLIP: Hold on a second. Hold on a second. He said, "The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

PHILLIP: So, he's describing Somali people, just in general, as pirates, because there happen to be pirates in Somalia?

TODD: No, he's -- he's calling people who are raiding Medicaid funds illegally "pirates," which I think that's an -- actually a pretty good metaphor for what it means to set up a fraudulent daycare center and take money from Medicaid illegally.

[00:50:05]

PHILLIP: OK. So, you -- you are aware that at least --

SELLERS: You acknowledge a white woman was the focus of the scam, right? (ph)

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: I was just going to say that one of the -- in fact, the --

SELLERS: The top of the fraud scheme was a white woman.

PHILLIP: The first person.

ALLISON: White woman.

SELLERS: An Anglo-Saxon woman.

PHILLIP: The first person who was prosecuted.

ALLISON: Citizen, too.

SELLERS: Citizen.

ALLISON: Yes.

PHILLIP: Yes.

SELLERS: Like --

ALLISON: Is she a pirate?

TODD: She should go to jail. She should go to jail.

SELLERS: Yes.

CUCCINELLI: Yes, yes.

SELLERS: The problem --

TODD: That's my point.

SELLERS: The problem that I have is --

CUCCINELLI: It's the word (ph).

TODD: What do you want?

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: -- But I -- but let me just make -- let me just make a point. Because I think you're trying to -- again, there's a little bit of whitewashing happening here.

SELLERS: Literally. Thank you. Black History Month. Thank you.

PHILLIP: Because he is saying -- he's literally saying that -- that they're importing a culture of bribery, corruption, and lawlessness.

Is that what's actually happening here, or are there individuals --

MORAN: Yes.

PHILLIP: -- who are criminals and should be prosecuted? Is this an indictment on an entire --

MORAN: No.

PHILLIP: -- culture of people?

MORAN: He wants to make an indictment. But he really hates Somalia, I think -- I think we can say that; that we can agree on that. He hates that place.

I think he hates it partly because one of their citizens is in the United States Congress. Somebody who was born there is in the United States Congress and infuriates him. He hates Somalia. You can feel it. It comes off of him.

But the notion that -- that the 66,000 people of Somali descent who live in Minnesota are responsible for what happened in the fraud cases is bigoted. It's -- it's racist. And I think that's what people sense.

ALLISON: But I also doubt he could even point Somali out on a map or --

CUCCINELLI: Oh, come on. It just --

ALLISON: I mean --

CUCCINELLI: You know, you're getting pretty far afield.

ALLISON: So that's OK?

TODD: But that --

ALLISON: That was disrespectful?

(CROSSTALK)

ALLISON: That a red line for you?

SELLERS: But can we -- ALLISON: That's a red line for you? Not the president maligning an entire --

CUCCINELLI: Yes. That's what I'm fascinated by. What's the red line of --

PHILLIP: -- country of people, especially -- Let's also be clear that the Somali population in Minnesota, a majority of them are Americans.

So, I mean, I guess my question to you is, are you OK with the president painting, with a broad brush, an entire culture of people? Is that what we do as Americans?

CUCCINELLI: Yes.

PHILLIP: Oh, really?

CUCCINELLI: Yes, it is.

ALLISON: I'm glad you said it.

MORAN: It is. Yes, we did it to the Irish. We did it to the Sicilians.

ALLISON: We do.

MORAN: We're still doing it to black people.

SELLERS: You know what -- you know what it's called, though? This is why -- this is why --

PHILLIP: OK. Well, let's -- let's -- All right. Let's -- let's put it on the table.

CUCCINELLI: You know in law? You know that it's in law? It is in law.

SELLERS: It is not.

PHILLIP: OK.

CUCCINELLI: And it's and it's --

PHILLIP: OK. All right, Ken. Put it on the table.

CUCCINELLI: And the word "values" is used.

(CROSSTALK)

CUCCINELLI: Look, I ran the legal immigration agency. This was supposed to be part of the vetting process.

PHILLIP: So -- so when we look back on --

CUCCINELLI: You cannot --

PHILLIP: -- American history and we look back at how Italian Americans -- CUCCINELLI: Let me -- let me finish. We don't just take everybody.

PHILLIP: -- and Catholics were treated and Jews were treated, you think that that's justified? Because culture is a valid reason to decide whether someone ought to have a chance to be an American or not?

CUCCINELLI: No. And you've connected things that aren't connected.

PHILLIP: How is that not connected?

CUCCINELLI: So, we --

PHILLIP: Our immigration system used to--

CUCCINELLI: I'll tell you how. I'll tell you how.

PHILLIP: Our immigration system used to --

CUCCINELLI: If you'll let me.

PHILLIP: -- used to legally discriminate against Catholics, Italians Jews, Irish, you name it.

CUCCINELLI: I'm familiar.

PHILLIP: OK? Under the guise of culture. You're saying it's fine for the Somalis? Is it fine for those groups of people, too?

CUCCINELLI: No. We're a Western nation. Our foundation is a Judeo- Christian Western civilization philosophy.

SELLERS: Built on slavery.

CUCCINELLI: Those --

SELLERS: Finish the sentence.

ALLISON: And indigenous land.

CUCCINELLI: Those -- those cultures fit in this country and they -- and when I say fit, I mean values fit.

PHILLIP: Which cultures?

CUCCINELLI: Similarly Western cultures.

MORAN: Chinese Americans out, Japanese Americans out.

CUCCINELLI: No, no.

MORAN: Arab Americans out.

CUCCINELLI: Here they are. Here they are.

MORAN: Most of this entire hemisphere isn't white. ALLISON: No lifesaver (ph).

CUCCINELLI: They're here.

MORAN: It's not about white people. We have lost confidence. It seems like the Republican Party.

CUCCINELLI: Well, no, no. This is -- look, this is something that won't be confronted.

MORAN: The Republican Party seems to have lost faith in the revolutionary ideal of this country. That it doesn't matter the color of your skin or what country you have -- or the color of your hair.

CUCCINELLI: That is not true.

MORAN: Our ideals --

CUCCINELLI: That is not true.

MORAN: -- make Americans. Not a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) culture.

CUCCINELLI: But a country like Somalia or Syria or Afghanistan, you cannot vet individuals coming from those countries. You cannot do it.

PHILLIP: So -- wait, wait, wait.

CUCCINELLI: It can't be done.

PHILLIP: You just -- you just --

CUCCINELLI: And so -- so I land in your place --

PHILLIP: You're shifting --

CUCCINELLI: -- of favoring protection --

PHILLIP: You're shifting now, because you were saying before --

CUCCINELLI: -- against the culture.

PHILLIP: You were saying before that it was about culture. Now you're saying it's about vetting. So, if it's about culture and it's about who's Western enough for you, to Terry's point, are we then saying that, if you are from India, you are from China, you're from South Korea, you're just not Western enough? Your culture is not compatible with this country?

CUCCINELLI: No, no. Come on.

PHILLIP: Is that -- is that the principal?

CUCCINELLI: No, that's not -- that is not what American law says. And that's not what --

TODD: So, back to the speech. PHILLIP: I'm trying to understand how -- I'm trying to understand how you all are trying to justify --

[00:55:04]

TODD: Wait a minute.

PHILLIP: Justify.

(CROSSTALK)

SELLERS: Brad is not in that same hole. All right. I'm going to defend you. As your lawyer, Brad, I'm going to say this. Don't.

PHILLIP: I apologize for that. But listen, listen. OK, listen, we do have to take a quick break. We've got to -- we do.

SELLERS: On the other side of the break, defend yourself.

PHILLIP: We've got a lot to continue the conversation on. We will get to it, I promise. After a quick break, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIP: Welcome back. I'm going to go straight to Brad, because we were in the middle of a discussion about who is allowed in this country and who's not, and you were saying.

TODD: The president said it tonight. I actually took it down as a note. He said, people who will love our country will come here and work hard. That's who we want.

I think he might add "follow our laws, assimilate into our culture." That's what's always been the ingredient for Americans who came here -- whether you were my forbearers, who came from Scotland, or Ken's, who came from Italy -- is you have to come to America, assimilate into American culture, work hard, take America as your own country, leave your prior country behind. That's what -- that's what --

SELLERS: Can I just -- can I just say --

CUCCINELLI: That's an important part of it.

SELLERS: Can I just say that's flat-out wrong, and that's utter, utter B.S. First of all --

CUCCINELLI: That's what the oath says for new citizens.

SELLERS: -- there is a difference. There is a difference between coming to this country and absorbing all of the greatness of this country, and the opportunity of this country.