Verdict with Ted Cruz - February 24, 2026


BONUS POD： A Preview of President Trump’s Biggest Speech Yet—SOTU 2026


Episode Stats


Length

10 minutes

Words per minute

160.34433

Word count

1,664

Sentence count

97

Harmful content

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Trump delivers his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night. President Trump is expected to highlight his accomplishments in his first year in office, as well as the accomplishments that the media doesn t want you to know about.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.580 Guaranteed Human.
00:00:04.980 Tom Holman, Kristi Noem, our people, they've been incredible, the job they've done.
00:00:10.580 And they take nothing but abuse, but, you know, they're sort of pretty hardened to that, I think.
00:00:15.700 Because they know they're doing the right thing.
00:00:17.720 It just amazes me that there's not more support out there.
00:00:21.060 It's just, we actually have a silent support.
00:00:24.300 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:00:28.140 It's State of the Union Day in America.
00:00:30.620 Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.
00:00:33.360 And Donald Trump is aiming to sell his first-year successes in a crucial address to Congress ahead of the midterms.
00:00:41.480 So what is the president going to talk about?
00:00:43.560 And what are the accomplishments that the media doesn't want you to know about?
00:00:47.860 I'll break it all down for you right now, live from Washington, D.C.
00:00:51.440 It's the 47 Morning Update, and it starts right now.
00:00:54.740 Story number one.
00:00:55.860 As I am here in Washington, D.C. for the State of the Union, one of the fun things that happens before the State of the Union is the briefings that you receive.
00:01:03.620 And I had the opportunity to sit down for breakfast with Speaker Mike Johnson.
00:01:08.320 Mike Johnson talked a lot about what had been accomplished in the last year under the leadership of President Trump,
00:01:14.420 especially having a one-vote majority in the House and a slim majority in the Senate.
00:01:21.740 What they've been able to do is truly unbelievable.
00:01:24.380 But the president has got to convince Americans on Tuesday night of one major thing,
00:01:30.100 that you're better off now because he's in office than if he wasn't in office.
00:01:35.400 And that means, come the midterms, if you want the Trump Doctrine of America First to continue,
00:01:41.260 you've got to stand up and support and show up to vote for conservative candidates that Trump has endorsed.
00:01:48.520 Now, a lot of people are asking, what is going to be in the State of the Union?
00:01:52.540 That's exactly the question that I asked Speaker Johnson,
00:01:55.740 as well as the Treasury Secretary Scott Besson on Sunday as I was meeting with him.
00:02:00.500 And here's what I have for you.
00:02:03.780 Number one, the president's going to be talking about the economy and jobs.
00:02:08.160 Donald Trump will put economic performance front and center,
00:02:11.940 calling the U.S. economy strong, booming, and growing better than before.
00:02:16.240 He's expected to highlight his tax cuts, his wage increases,
00:02:21.080 also consumer price trends, as well as American job growth.
00:02:25.300 He'll also frame much of his agenda around continued economic expansion.
00:02:30.500 And lower costs for Americans.
00:02:32.840 Part of that comes from no tax on tips and no tax on overtime
00:02:36.740 that has just become a reality in this country.
00:02:40.600 The president will also spend a significant amount of time talking about your safety.
00:02:45.460 That includes the major issue of border security and immigration.
00:02:49.360 Border security and immigration control
00:02:51.600 is going to be a large part of the focus of the president's words.
00:02:56.900 Trump is likely to tout the reduction in illegal crossings,
00:02:59.660 which have virtually gone to zero,
00:03:02.220 as well as stricter enforcement policies,
00:03:04.840 while arguing that his approach protects American jobs
00:03:07.920 and also national security.
00:03:10.540 Oddly enough, with the recent cartel explosion of violence in Mexico,
00:03:15.400 there may be no better time for the president
00:03:17.680 to remind the American people
00:03:19.060 of what our secure borders are now keeping out.
00:03:22.900 And then he'll talk about trade and tariffs.
00:03:27.120 He is expected to defend his aggressive tariff strategy,
00:03:30.740 which clearly has worked significantly,
00:03:33.320 promoting American manufacturing and trade fairness.
00:03:37.000 Despite his recent challenges at the Supreme Court,
00:03:40.620 trade policy will be framed as part of building
00:03:43.120 his national economic strength for all Americans.
00:03:47.160 Foreign policy and national security will be one and one,
00:03:51.600 I'm being told from Speaker Johnson as well,
00:03:54.040 as the president will likely touch on not only foreign policy,
00:03:57.640 but global positioning and national security,
00:04:01.100 especially concerning tensions in the Middle East
00:04:03.420 and strategic competition with global rivals,
00:04:06.940 including China and Russia,
00:04:09.400 and using international developments
00:04:11.420 as evidence of American strength.
00:04:14.180 There's also expected to be emphasis
00:04:16.760 on crime reduction in this country.
00:04:19.980 The president making it clear
00:04:21.420 that even if you're in a liberal city,
00:04:22.940 you deserve to be safe.
00:04:24.780 The president has done a significant amount
00:04:26.300 to reduce crime in places like Washington, D.C.
00:04:29.260 and Memphis, Tennessee, St. Louis, Chicago,
00:04:32.740 and the list continues to grow.
00:04:35.300 There's also going to be discussions about healthcare
00:04:38.460 and the proposals,
00:04:40.100 as well as prescription drug affordability
00:04:42.600 and new initiatives to lower costs for families.
00:04:46.460 Republican leaders want focus on affordability issues
00:04:49.700 that voters care about the most.
00:04:53.340 Now, Trump's speech will also serve
00:04:55.320 as a clear message on the midterms,
00:04:57.860 which I mentioned a moment ago.
00:04:59.560 The president understands that essentially
00:05:03.060 this is a rallying narrative for Republicans
00:05:06.860 and reminding voters of what is on the ballot
00:05:10.380 come this November.
00:05:12.940 As early voting has already started
00:05:14.740 in many of the primaries,
00:05:16.160 it's clear that Americans are thinking
00:05:17.860 about all of these things.
00:05:19.600 And what the president has to do
00:05:20.980 is remind voters of his priorities
00:05:23.000 and the framing of what happens
00:05:24.940 if Republicans lose the House or the Senate.
00:05:28.480 Now, there are also just the big accomplishments
00:05:31.260 that the president will be able to talk about.
00:05:33.660 Much of this, the media refuses to discuss.
00:05:36.760 Real GDP growth has surged.
00:05:40.100 Jobs has also outpaced the gains in 2025
00:05:43.460 with strong job report coming in.
00:05:46.600 Blue collar wages saw significant increases
00:05:49.640 and workers' real earnings have also grown.
00:05:53.980 The president also can tout his real tax reform
00:05:57.320 with the Trump tax cuts,
00:05:59.260 making those earlier cuts permanent.
00:06:01.780 Creating Trump accounts for newborns
00:06:03.920 will also be something the president will talk about,
00:06:06.020 setting up the next generation
00:06:07.840 for financial success in a major way.
00:06:11.420 And having those Trump accounts
00:06:13.600 actually have real deposits put in them day one.
00:06:17.020 The president will also talk about
00:06:18.520 what's about to happen for so many Americans
00:06:20.600 that work for TIPS
00:06:21.740 and those that work in overtime.
00:06:24.360 That was a policy agenda item
00:06:26.800 that started, yes, last year.
00:06:28.980 But after it was passed,
00:06:30.500 it didn't actually get enacted until this year,
00:06:33.100 meaning now is the first time
00:06:35.000 people are really seeing the difference
00:06:36.580 in their paychecks.
00:06:38.400 And then there's regulatory changes
00:06:40.240 that are aimed at supporting economic activity
00:06:42.680 and innovation.
00:06:43.940 Some of those are going to make cars
00:06:45.640 actually cheaper for Americans.
00:06:48.020 The president touting that
00:06:49.120 that automatic on-off start on your car.
00:06:51.960 That was bureaucrats just making
00:06:53.800 the cost of your car go up
00:06:55.560 and it also did serious damage
00:06:57.680 to your engine over the long term.
00:06:59.500 Well, that's no longer a mandate
00:07:01.720 under the Trump administration.
00:07:03.880 The president's saying regulations
00:07:05.160 are killing American jobs
00:07:07.200 and also making Americans
00:07:08.740 have to pay way too much
00:07:10.140 for basic things like a car.
00:07:12.960 Then the president will obviously talk
00:07:15.100 about the success of the southern border.
00:07:17.140 What the president was able to do
00:07:18.220 in the first year is truly unbelievable.
00:07:20.560 With the major immigration crackdown
00:07:22.460 and self-deportations now
00:07:24.080 into the millions and millions
00:07:25.600 of illegals that have left on their own.
00:07:27.840 We also know that the president
00:07:30.240 is also tightening asylum rules
00:07:32.140 and deportations are expected
00:07:34.500 to be at a record high this year as well.
00:07:37.440 Now, implementation of high tariffs
00:07:39.500 on imported goods
00:07:40.700 to protect U.S. manufacturing
00:07:42.300 and reduce trade deficits
00:07:44.280 that is generating substantial tariff revenue,
00:07:47.720 something the president will talk about,
00:07:50.040 even though the Supreme Court
00:07:51.600 struck down part of what
00:07:52.960 he was actually able to accomplish.
00:07:55.260 Foreign policy and security,
00:07:57.220 the increased sanctions
00:07:58.840 that the president has put
00:07:59.640 on many rogue regimes
00:08:01.360 and strategic designations
00:08:03.420 against hostile enemies
00:08:04.700 and foreign policy actions
00:08:06.760 demonstrating America resolve,
00:08:08.580 including declaring the narcos,
00:08:11.780 narco-terrorists, 0.82
00:08:12.940 which means that then America
00:08:14.340 can go after them in different ways.
00:08:16.740 There's also affordability.
00:08:18.360 As part of the speech,
00:08:19.260 I was told by Speaker Johnson,
00:08:21.500 initiatives aimed at lowering
00:08:22.760 prescription drug costs,
00:08:24.080 the president will be touting as well,
00:08:26.000 and reforming health care financing
00:08:28.340 will be another part
00:08:29.420 of what you can expect in the speech.
00:08:31.860 Now, all of this also goes back
00:08:33.400 to what Donald Trump has said,
00:08:35.080 and that is that our government
00:08:36.400 just got way too big.
00:08:38.440 Previous administrations
00:08:39.760 had mass amounts of regulations
00:08:41.420 across climate,
00:08:43.120 DEI,
00:08:44.160 and other areas.
00:08:45.560 The president will tout
00:08:46.340 the dismantling or reshaping
00:08:47.940 of federal agency priorities,
00:08:49.720 not to be about DEI hires,
00:08:51.780 but to be about what is best
00:08:53.040 for the American people
00:08:54.300 and the workforce
00:08:55.380 to do it in our government.
00:08:57.560 Now, there will be,
00:08:58.500 no doubt,
00:08:59.300 a celebration of the policies
00:09:00.960 that the president argues
00:09:02.180 have strengthened the economy
00:09:03.600 as well as national security.
00:09:05.800 There will be a political message
00:09:07.620 aimed at Republican voters,
00:09:09.860 trying to inspire them
00:09:11.000 to get out and vote in the midterms.
00:09:12.900 The president will talk about
00:09:13.900 that midterm convention as well
00:09:15.820 to celebrate the candidates
00:09:17.480 before Election Day.
00:09:19.380 And then there will be
00:09:20.640 a real effort from President Trump
00:09:22.620 to appeal to Americans
00:09:24.540 on cost of living,
00:09:26.680 jobs,
00:09:27.700 and national sovereignty issues.
00:09:29.900 At the same time,
00:09:31.500 it's very important to note
00:09:33.040 that public opinion polls
00:09:34.500 are showing skepticism
00:09:35.920 among some Americans
00:09:37.580 about President Trump's performance,
00:09:40.120 especially on inflation,
00:09:41.540 which they went down faster,
00:09:43.140 even on the issue of tariffs
00:09:44.720 and foreign relations.
00:09:46.600 The president is going to have
00:09:47.660 to make sure he connects
00:09:48.680 on those issues as well.
00:09:51.180 This is exactly what
00:09:52.660 the president of the United States
00:09:53.660 of America
00:09:54.180 is going to be focusing on.
00:09:56.280 And it's so important
00:09:57.280 that every American understand
00:09:58.600 what already has been done,
00:10:00.820 but where we're going moving forward.
00:10:02.660 Thank you for listening
00:10:03.420 to the 47 Morning Update
00:10:05.140 with Ben Ferguson.
00:10:06.780 Please make sure you hit subscribe
00:10:08.640 wherever you're listening
00:10:10.080 to this podcast right now.
00:10:11.720 And for more in-depth news,
00:10:13.900 also subscribe
00:10:14.660 to the Ben Ferguson Podcast,
00:10:16.140 and we will see you
00:10:17.460 back here tomorrow.
00:10:19.320 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:10:21.860 Guaranteed human.