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Bill Gates Apologizes to Foundation Staff Over Epstein

February 25, 2026 at 7:59 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

In a town hall on Tuesday, the Microsoft co-founder acknowledged that he had two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later discovered, but that they didn’t involve Epstein’s victims, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Democrats Turn to the Midterms

February 25, 2026 at 7:53 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “Democrats will head off up the Potomac to Leesburg, Virginia today for their annual three-day retreat — and will frankly be glad to put last night behind them. The opposition were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t as they considered how to position themselves ahead of last night’s speech.”

“Those inside the chamber suffered a miserable two hours, bullied and abused by Trump and subjected to damaging political stunts. The dozens who boycotted the event — roughly half of all House and Senate Democrats, per a rough headcount — risked looking irrelevant, especially given the protest event on the National Mall outside proved something of a damp squib.”

A State of the Union Like No Other

February 25, 2026 at 7:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Paul Krugman: “Well, that was exhausting — or would have been, if I had watched it. But I am not a masochist. I waited to read the transcript.”

“Trump’s State of the Union was historic in at least one respect: It was the longest SOTU ever. Was the plan to turn public opinion around by boring America into submission?”

From our partner: Ground News

The News Has Blind Spots. Most of Us Never See Them.

You already know the problem: the same story can look completely different depending on where you read it — and some stories barely show up at all because algorithms often decide what you see in the first place.

My goal for Political Wire is to help you get outside those filters — to understand not just what happened, but how it’s being covered and who might be missing it. That’s why I use and recommend Ground News.

They're an app and website that brings together global news from across the political spectrum, showing each source’s bias, factuality, and ownership.

What I find especially useful is the Blindspot Feed. It highlights stories that are getting heavy coverage on one side of the political spectrum but little to none on the other. It’s a quick way to see what your usual news diet — and its algorithms — may be leaving out.

For a limited time, get 40% off a Ground News Vantage subscription —- the same one I use —- by going to www.groundnews.com/political.



My Reaction to the State of the Union

February 25, 2026 at 6:41 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

I’ve watched every State of the Union address for as long as I can remember.

Some have soared. Some have stumbled. Most land somewhere in between.

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Trump Gets Really Bad Ratings

February 25, 2026 at 6:24 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “CNN conducted its regular snap survey of people watching the SOTU — a cohort that (unsurprisingly) this year tilted 13 percent more Republican than the average population. About two-thirds of them liked the speech. But the proportion of viewers who were “very positive” was only 38 percent. That’s a lower score than Trump has registered in any of his previous addresses to Congress.”

“More importantly, it’s lower than for every recent presidency at this point in the cycle”

Trump Hails an Economic Turnaround Many Don’t See

February 25, 2026 at 6:17 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump told a national audience on Tuesday that he had unleashed a new age of economic prosperity. One thing he didn’t say: I feel your pain,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“At the core of Trump’s State of the Union address was a calculation that he can persuade Americans that the economy is in better shape than many think it is. In touting ‘a turnaround for the ages,’ the president opted against sending a message to voters that he understands the anxiety that polling shows is widely felt, including among swing voters the GOP needs to preserve its congressional majorities in this fall’s midterm elections.”

Trump Casts the Democrats as Villains

February 25, 2026 at 6:13 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“It was spectacle as survival strategy,” the New York Times reports.

“In his State of the Union address, President Trump didn’t bother to introduce a raft of new policies — unusual in a midterm election year with control of Congress on the line. He did not seem concerned with making the case that he gets it when it comes to the issue Americans are most worried about. ‘Affordability,’ he said, was part of a ‘dirty, rotten lie’ perpetuated by the Democrats.”

“Instead, with the slashing style of a natural campaigner and the instincts of a onetime reality television producer, he spent the better part of two hours baiting the ranks of incensed Democrats in the chamber and endeavoring to define them to the electorate as ‘sick,’ unpatriotic and utterly out of step with the values of most Americans.”

The Trump Show at the Capitol

February 25, 2026 at 6:09 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Punchbowl News: “The State of the Union is typically a well-watched but sepia-toned tradition filled with half promises, overwrought policy prescriptions and lofty goals.”

“If you’re a House or Senate Republican facing the stiff political winds heading into a difficult midterm election, perhaps you wanted some details on what President Donald Trump intends to do for the next eight months. Your political survival depends on it.”

“That didn’t happen.”

“The State of the Union under Trump is far more political theater than substance. He’s the master of ceremonies and the flash is what matters. Congressional Republicans are merely along for the ride, wherever it goes.”

State of the Union Address

February 24, 2026 at 8:45 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump will deliver his State of the Union address at 9 p.m. ET

It’s expected to be a very long speech.

Punchbowl News: “Trump still has a stranglehold on the GOP, which means rank-and-file Republicans are hesitant to break with him. He’s not quite a lame-duck. But the clock is ticking on the 119th Congress, and Republicans don’t have a lot to run on in November.”

“It’s against this backdrop that Trump will head down Pennsylvania Avenue for his sixth address to Congress, including during his first term. On average, more than 40 million people have tuned into each of Trump’s joint speeches to Congress.”

Democrats Warn Trump on Iran

February 24, 2026 at 8:41 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Top Hill Democrats are warning President Donald Trump that he must seek public approval before launching an extended military campaign against Iran,” Punchbowl News reports.

“At tonight’s State of the Union, Trump is expected to talk about Iran and what’s at stake for Americans as he pushes for a showdown over Iran’s nuclear program.”

Al Green Is Back

February 24, 2026 at 8:25 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Rep. Al Green, the octogenarian Texas Democrat who last year was ejected from the chamber during Trump’s speech for shouting and waving his cane, is in the chamber with a homemade cardboard sign that says ‘Al Green,'” the New York Times reports.

“His outburst last year, which Republicans eventually censured him for, was largely viewed with frustration by Democrats, who thought it was a childish form of protest.”

Democratic Response Will Stress Affordability

February 24, 2026 at 8:16 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Since she arrived in Congress in 2019, Abigail Spanberger served as an unofficial spokeswoman for the moderate wing of the Democratic Party whose primary goal was to win elections, not start a political movement.”

“So when Ms. Spanberger, weeks into her term as Virginia’s governor, was chosen by the Democratic congressional leadership to deliver the party’s response to President Trump’s State of the Union speech, it served as a message to the rest of the party to follow the example she set in her winning campaign last year.”

“And indeed, Ms. Spanberger plans to address key themes she campaigned on when she follows Mr. Trump on Tuesday night: affordability, the chaos instigated by the president both in America and overseas, and the ways ‘ordinary citizens’ are pushing back against the president, according to a preview of her speech themes circulated by her aides.”

Trump Wants Banks to Collect Citizenship Info

February 24, 2026 at 4:37 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Trump administration is considering executive action that could require banks to report more information on the citizenship of their customers, the latest move by the White House to crack down on illegal immigration,” the Washington Post reports.

“The steps under consideration include a potential executive order requiring banks to collect information from all customers — both new and existing — and could require new forms of documentation, such as a passport, to verify citizenship.”

What the White House Isn’t Getting Through to Voters

February 24, 2026 at 3:56 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Puck: “Echelon found that 88 percent of voters have seen, read, or heard a lot or some about ICE raids and the protests that consumed Minnesota last month. And 76 percent have heard a lot or some about Trump’s attempts to acquire Greenland. Meanwhile, a majority of voters (55 percent) have heard about Trump’s attempts to ‘build new monuments or renovate existing ones,’ like tearing down the East Wing of the White House to erect his ballroom.”

“All of these stories have dominated headlines for months, clearly breaking through to voters of all stripes. (Even majorities of those notoriously hard-to-reach young voters had heard about all of these stories.)”

“By contrast, majorities of voters have not heard about several of Trump’s key economic accomplishments, including some that were promoted with high-profile events at the White House or press conferences featuring the president and allies. For instance, only 45 percent of voters have heard or read about the launch of Trump Accounts, the Michael Dell–backed federal investment accounts designed to build long-term wealth for young children. A full 27 percent of voters said they had heard “nothing” about the accounts, including 30 percent of independents.”

White House Urges GOP to Ignore Trump’s Diversions

February 24, 2026 at 3:47 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Michael Scherer: “They will let Trump be Trump, but everyone else needs to stay focused on the economy.”

Could Republicans Blow the Texas Senate Race?

February 24, 2026 at 3:46 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Eli McKown-Dawson: “After every election, political commentators come up with countless theories for why the losing party failed. There’s usually a fair amount of disagreement about the correct lesson. But for 2022, a year when Republicans actually lost a seat in the Senate despite facing an already unpopular Joe Biden, it’s relatively uncontroversial to say that Republicans shot themselves in the foot by nominating a bunch of less-than-stellar candidates. It wasn’t the party’s only problem — the backlash triggered by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade also hurt the GOP — but still, they lost winnable Senate races in Georgia and Pennsylvania in part because they nominated flawed candidates like Herschel Walker and Dr. Mehmet Oz.”

“The Republican primary in Texas is giving strong 2022 vibes. Cornyn — an establishment figure who has a close relationship with Mitch McConnell and broke with Senate Republicans by not joining lawsuits challenging the certification of 2020 election results — is running against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton is something of a MAGA darling and was recently endorsed by Turning Point USA, although President Trump hasn’t endorsed any one candidate in the race…”

“Paxton is also a scandal-magnet. And by scandals, I don’t mean missing a few votes in the Texas Senate.”

The Deaths Doctors Never Thought They’d See in the U.S.

February 24, 2026 at 3:38 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Katherine Wu: “For years, the worst outcomes of measles were all but unknown in the U.S. Now they look inevitable.”

Tony Gonzales Digs In

February 24, 2026 at 3:36 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) said he will not resign as he faces calls to step down amid allegations that he had an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide, The Hill reports.

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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