Donald Trump doesn’t deliver a conventional speech, and he’s explained why.
“If you just read a teleprompter, nobody’s going to be very excited,” Trump explained to Joe Rogan. “You’ve got to weave it out, otherwise, it’s no good.”
The “weave,” as Trump calls it, is the president’s way of jumping from topic to topic in what may seem to the uninitiated as rambling. In reality, Trump says, it’s all artfully strung together to capture the audience and comes together at the end in a strong statement. And on a night like tonight, when Trump is expected to touch on topics ranging from negotiating peace between Russia and Ukraine to his stand against transgenderism, it’s a valuable talent to have.
Whether it’s the weave or his other unconventional tactics, there’s no doubt that Trump’s rhetorical style is unlike anything we’ve seen in the White House in decades. According to Matthew Continetti, Trump is the “most effective presidential communicator” that most Americans have ever seen.
“I think in many Americans’ lifetimes, he’s the most effective presidential communicator,” said Continetti, author of The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism and director of Domestic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. “When he’s in these big moments, he always delivers a very commanding performance.”
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Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told The Daily Wire that Trump views his big speeches as a sort of focus group, listening carefully to see how his audiences respond to messaging, constantly improving and testing out his ideas and language.
“People consistently forget he spent 13 years doing commercial television on The Apprentice,” Gingrich said. “He knows a great deal about how to communicate. Probably as much as any president in American history. And he understands that whatever he thinks, he has to say it in a way that you can hear it and you can understand it, or it doesn’t work.”
“If he wants to educate you,” Gingrich added, “he’s got to keep you entertained.”
Daily Wire host Michael Knowles, however, says it’s more than just entertainment — he says Trump is a serious orator.
“President Trump commands the English language more effectively than any politician in my lifetime,” Knowles said. “In speeches and insults alike, Trump consistently employs poetic diction — to borrow a phrase from Barfield — and the lessons taught by Orwell in ‘Politics and the English Language.’ Trump’s opponents mock his word choice, but Trump’s sturdy, Saxon rhetoric reveals he really does know ‘the best words.’”
Trump will have to draw on all those rhetorical gifts Tuesday, as he delivers what is essentially the first State of the Union address of his second term. Trump will begin by outlining what his administration has accomplished thus far, the White House said Monday, before outlining his plans to fix the economy, end the illegal immigration crisis, and resolve global conflicts.
As with an official State of the Union, Trump will be speaking directly to lawmakers, Supreme Court justices, and other luminaries. But he’ll also be addressing the millions of Americans who view the speech.
The latter audience is who matters most to Trump, according to former White House speechwriter Mary Kate Cary.
“We’ve seen presidents do this before, where the reaction in the room isn’t that great, but outside the room, whether it’s the press corps or social media, is far bigger and far more reactive to what he’s saying,” said Cary, who worked for President George H.W. Bush. “Depending on what the topic is tonight. It could be to his advantage in a lot of ways to figure out how to play one audience differently than the other audience.”
Gingrich had a similar take, noting that the president has a “very deep feel for the audience.” He also predicted that if Democrats attempt to disrupt the speech — as they have done in years past, and are reportedly planning to do again — Trump will likely already have things to say and ways to “dominate the scene.”
“If you’re the president, you have huge advantages in a setting like that,” Gingrich said.
What kind of speech Trump gives Tuesday may come largely down to whether or not he sticks to the script. As Cary noted, Trump’s speechwriters “have a very different job than typical presidential speechwriters because he’s not a career politician, and yet he is very good at keeping his finger on the pulse of what’s going on in America.”
To Cary, Trump’s “off the cuff” rallies are even more effective than his formal speeches. She pointed to some high-profile Trump moments from the election cycle as examples of how impactful the president’s actions are, even when he’s not delivering remarks: Trump shaking his fist after an assassination attempt and urging the crowd to “fight, fight, fight,” or the memorable garbage truck appearance in the neon vest.
“Those were not highly-wordsmithed, oratorical moments,” she noted.
Continetti suggests that Trump’s speechwriters have adjusted to the president’s speaking habits over the past decade, giving him more room to weave when he pleases. But Trump largely stuck to the script in February 2020, when he delivered the State of the Union address of his first term. He mostly highlighted his administration’s accomplishments and stressed the extraordinary opportunity to be found in the United States.
“America is the place where anything can happen,” Trump said. “America is the place where anyone can rise. And here, on this land, on this soil, on this continent, the most incredible dreams come true.”
But though he was scripted, Trump still managed to stir the crowd, particularly in an emotional and memorable moment when he honored Rush Limbaugh, who died a year later, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“This nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece,” Trump said.“We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored. Our brightest discoveries are not yet known. Our most thrilling stories are not yet told. Our grandest journeys are not yet made. The American Age, the American Epic, the American adventure has only just begun.”
“It would be difficult for Trump to improve upon” that address, said Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist. Hemingway pointed to that address as evidence that Trump “has always been understood better by average Americans than Washington elites.” That’s why, Hemingway noted, “Pelosi tore up that speech and Democrats seethed in response to it.”
(Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts echoed Hemingway’s point, telling The Daily Wire that “the elites fixate on President Trump’s rhetoric because they’re terrified of his results.”
“He’s delivering,” Roberts said, “securing the border, crushing wokeness, and putting America First.”
“Trump’s rhetoric resonates with everyday Americans because he’s fighting for their interests.”
It may not resonate with some members of his immediate audience. Axios reports that Democrats may walk out if Trump defends children against transgender procedures or other hot button topics. Some members may even bring noise makers and empty egg cartons as props.
“It’ll be interesting to see how Trump reacts to that,” Cary said, recalling how Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) stood up at the last State of the Union and called upon former President Joe Biden to say the name of Laken Riley, a young woman murdered by an illegal immigrant.
Biden did “say her name,” though he mispronounced it, drawing even more fiery criticism.
Gingrich said that a potential Trump response to Democrat disturbance depends on “whether they’re just totally obnoxious or not.”
“Reagan was very good at this. There are ways you can turn and you can pose questions to them,” he said. “If [Trump] wants to, he can do that, and again, he has the advantage…I think the burden is on Speaker Johnson to just remove them from the room.”
Though Continetti suspects Trump will stick to his script tonight, he also notes that the president’s not scheduled to depart the Capitol until around 11:30 p.m., two and a half hours after his speech is expected to begin.
“That’s plenty of time for a weave-like speech,” he said.
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