Trump delivers longest-ever State of the Union
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.3K Ratings
🗓️ 25 February 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President Trump touts his record in office in a fiery "America First" State of the Union address -- the longest in US history. The speech comes as polls suggest Americans are souring on his second-term agenda ahead of crucial mid-term elections. We have the highlights and analysis from Washington. Also: the UK introduces ETA for travellers entering the country; Thai authorities investigate tiger deaths; debate rages over a golden ram's head looted from Ghana; how an AI computer engineer accidentally hacked robot vacuums; and we meet Rose Wylie who's making art history at 91.
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US President Donald Trump looks on as he delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, D.C. February 24, 2026. PHOTO CREDIT: REUTERS/NATHAN HOWARD
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.6 | This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.5 | Hello, I'm Ankara Desai, and in the early hours of Wednesday, the 25th of February, |
| 0:16.3 | these are our main stories. President Trump has delivered a stridently America-first state of the union address to Congress. |
| 0:24.1 | He lavishly praised his own administration's record, while attacking that of the Democrats, some of whom walked out and heckled the president during some heated exchanges. |
| 0:34.3 | At just under two hours, the speech was the longest in history. We'll hear some of the |
| 0:39.1 | highlights from the speech and get analysis from our correspondent in Washington. |
| 0:46.4 | Also in this podcast, if you're travelling to the UK, keep listening. As from today, you'll need to |
| 0:51.5 | apply for a new electronic travel authorisation. If you apply for a visa, if you're a country that need to apply for a new electronic travel authorisation. |
| 0:54.9 | If you apply for a visa, for your country that needs to apply for a visa, you've already had pre-authorisation. |
| 0:59.4 | But up until now, we've not had that. |
| 1:02.3 | Elsewhere authorities in Thailand are investigating the deaths of dozens of tigers at a popular tourist attraction. |
| 1:09.3 | And... |
| 1:10.0 | This is an extraordinary golden ram's head, some 20 centimetres across, |
| 1:15.4 | and it weighs, I think, 1.2 kilos. |
| 1:18.6 | You'll hear the story of a golden ram's head from Ghana |
| 1:21.4 | and other stolen artefacts from colonial times |
| 1:24.3 | which the public are being denied access to. |
| 1:33.0 | Thank you. from colonial times which the public are being denied access to. Donald Trump has delivered the annual State of the Union address. |
| 1:37.3 | He spoke for nearly two hours, making it the longest such speech in history. |
| 1:42.0 | The president began by saying his administration had heralded what he |
| 1:45.5 | called the Golden Age of America. When I last spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just |
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