The State of Himself

For decades, when I interviewed Donald Trump, I would often end with a lightning round of quick-fire questions. He loved it—snappy answers, bold opinions, all in rapid succession.

Now, he has turned his entire presidency into a lightning round. A relentless flurry of executive orders, sweeping tariffs, and radical restructuring—such as enlisting Elon Musk to dismantle the federal government from within—have defined his early weeks. He’s severing alliances while cozying up to Vladimir Putin, churning out policies and rhetoric at a stunning pace.

That same energy carried into his 100-minute address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night—the longest in history. It was classic Trump: rapid-fire pledges to slash regulations, gut foreign aid, and pull out of the World Health Organization. He boasted about economic success, even as the Atlanta Fed projects an economic contraction this quarter. He made sweeping, often dubious claims—vilifying electric cars, predicting an American car boom from tariffs, and insisting that nearly 20 million centenarians, some over 150 years old, are collecting Social Security. (In reality, just 89,000 Americans over 98 received benefits in December 2024, according to Social Security Administration data.)

Trump thrives on speed and spectacle, but as his presidency barrels forward, the question remains: Is there substance behind the show?