LIZ PEEK: America expected one thing from Trump’s State of the Union. It got another

President Trump delivers longest State of the Union in 60 years, while over 70 Democrats boycott the optimistic speech highlighting economic and border security wins.

President Trump’s most important mission was to remind people that President Joe Biden left behind a mess and that he is working to fix it.

Trump did not appear to be a president under siege, struggling with sagging approval ratings; far from it. He was at his best; he was relaxed, at times funny, and appropriately incredulous at the smallness and absurdity of his Democratic opponents. My guess is that he gets a much-needed bounce from this performance — not only because of his likable delivery, but also because he reviewed the enormous number of accomplishments that he and his Cabinet have racked up in a single year.

As important, he avoided picking a fight with the Supreme Court, which could easily have soured the mood. He described the Supreme Court’s ruling declaring his tariffs illegal as "disappointing" and "unfortunate," but then moved on, talking up the importance of tariffs in leveling the playing field for U.S. firms and in attracting trillions of dollars of investment into the United States.