Trump faces ‘tough sledding’ until people feel better off financially: Guy Benson

Published February 24, 2026 11:58am ET



Washington Examiner senior columnist Guy Benson said President Donald Trump faces a “hard” challenge to sway his approval rating ahead of Tuesday night’s State of the Union speech.

Benson said the State of the Union has a “self-selecting pool” of viewers, implying that Trump will likely have many of his supporters watching. He added that this speech will be “preaching to the choir” to an extent; however, there will also be some “curious” viewers who will tune in, and Benson said this is “the key audience.”

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