What the State of the Union means for the US midterm elections episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 27, 2026 · 21 MIN

What the State of the Union means for the US midterm elections

from Swamp Notes

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump gave what is likely to be his most viewed remarks of the year. He spent little time on his most controversial decisions, instead focusing on economic issues and immigration that have appealed to voters in the past. But, at a point when Trump’s approval ratings are dropping, what does his speech mean for the looming midterm elections? The FT’s deputy Washington bureau chief Lauren Fedor and Jon McHenry, vice-president of the polling firm North Star Opinion Research, explain.Mentioned in this podcast:State of the Union as it happenedSign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter hereSwamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz and the FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson. The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.CREDIT: Roll CallRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Feb 27, 2026

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