Trump shatters Clinton's 26-year-old record for longest State of the Union address

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President Donald Trump now holds the modern-era record for the longest State of the Union address, surpassing President Bill Clinton’s 2000 speech.

The State of the Union is the president’s annual address to Congress and the country, which operates as equal parts progress report, agenda blueprint and political measuring stick for what comes next. Trump's speech largely focused on the economy and turning a page to usher in the "golden age." 

"After just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before," Trump declared from the dais Tuesday evening.  

Clinton’s Jan. 27, 2000, address ran about 1 hour, 28 minutes and 49 seconds and has long stood as the longest televised State of the Union in modern tracking.

President Donald Trump now holds the modern-era record for the longest State of the Union address, surpassing President Bill Clinton’s 2000 speech. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

Trump broke that record just around 10:40 p.m. on Tuesday. 

Trump had previewed the length ahead of Tuesday's address, saying, "It’s going to be a long speech because we have a lot to talk about." 

Tuesday’s speech is Trump’s first official State of the Union of his second term. He delivered a joint address to Congress in March 2025, which operated the same as an official SOTU address but did not bear the same title as it was too early in his administration. 

Trump already owns a separate, attention-grabbing timing milestone from that speech. That March 4, 2025, address ran about 1 hour, 39 minutes and 32 seconds, surpassing Clinton’s 2000 runtime, though that 2025 appearance was not formally classified as a State of the Union address. 

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President Bill Clinton during his final State of the Union Address before Congress.  (Douglas Graham/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images)

Clinton used his final State of the Union to tout the late-1990s boom and budget surpluses while pitching a new agenda on education, health care, Social Security and climate change for the new millennium. 

"My fellow Americans, each time I prepare for the State of the Union, I approach it with great hope and expectations for our nation. But tonight is special—because we stand on the mountaintop of a new millennium. Behind us we see the great expanse of American achievement; before us, even grander frontiers of possibility," Clinton said in his final State of the Union speech. 

Data shows modern presidents typically speak far longer than their counterparts did decades ago. In the 1960s and 1970s, many addresses lasted under an hour, while more recent speeches have frequently stretched well beyond that mark, Fox News Digital found. 

President Richard Nixon averaged the shortest State of the Union speeches at 35 minutes, while President Donald Trump’s first term featured some of the longest, averaging about 80 minutes.

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Vice President JD Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., applaud as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2025 in Washington, D.C.      (Win McNamee/Pool via Reuters)

Trump has a long track record of lengthy speeches, from hourslong campaign rallies to marquee appearances as president. 

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Trump, for example, gave a two-hour and two-minute speech during the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference, and also holds the record for longest presidential nomination acceptance speech. Trump delivered a 93-minute acceptance speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, breaking his 2016 record at about 75 minutes.