Voters share their thoughts on the state of the union ahead of Trump's address

+ Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music The Best Music of 2025 All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop The Best Music of 2025 All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Voters share their thoughts on the state of the union ahead of Trump's address Ahead of the State of the Union address, voters describe how they view the economy, immigration and the country's direction. National Voters share their thoughts on the state of the union ahead of Trump's address February 24, 20267:09 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Hosts Voters share their thoughts on the state of the union ahead of Trump's address Listen &middot; 2:18 2:18 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5719773/nx-s1-9661074" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Ahead of the State of the Union address, voters describe how they view the economy, immigration and the country's direction. Sponsor Message LEILA FADEL, HOST: Before today's speech, we called a few voters. Some cast their ballot for Trump. Some did not. We asked two Trump voters how they feel about the state of the union.

+ LEO SIGUENZA: Not good. DEANNA KILLEN: Honestly, I didn't think we could get (ph) much worse than what it's been. But yeah, I don't feel we're improving at all. I feel like we're going in the opposite direction. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Leo Siguenza (ph) is an independent in Nevada, and Deanna Killen (ph) is a Republican in Texas. Two Democrats we heard from seem to agree with them. KAREN BORMAN: I think we're unstable. That's how I feel - unstable. You know, what's up? What's down? What's right? What's left? RENA SCHULTE: Pretty bad. Definitely the worst it's ever been in my lifetime. FADEL: That's Karen Borman (ph) in New York and Rena Schulte (ph) in Iowa. We also asked them about the economy. BORMAN: The cost of living is still up. And the way Trump is making a mess out of this whole economy, I don't even know what's going on. SCHULTE: There's more people who are unhoused and who are filing for assistance that just isn't there anymore due to all the budgetary cuts and problems with federal funding and everything that's been caused by this administration. INSKEEP: Now, the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll finds that most Republicans feel the country is heading in the right direction, unlike independents or Democrats. But Trump voters Siguenza and Killen worry about the economy. SIGUENZA: Things are wildly unaffordable and getting more and more. The quality of American-made products is going down. KILLEN: I would say I am extremely worried where the U.S. dollar is going as far as how it'll affect my business. FADEL: Another cornerstone policy of the Trump administration - immigration. So we asked these four voters about surges in ICE enforcement. SIGUENZA: Immigration, that's a mixed bag. KILLEN: I mean, obviously, bad people come into the country. I mean, it happens everywhere. But what we're doing right now is not stopping those criminals at all. Like, it's laughable. Basically, we're just terrorizing innocent people, honestly, at this point. BORMAN: I'm glad the southern border is closed, but I don't agree with the deportation policy of his. SCHULTE: I think it's really immoral, the way that it's being handled. FADEL: That was independent voter Leo Siguenza, Republican Deanna Killen and Democrats Karen Borman and Rena Schulte. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor MessageBecome an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1167:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(323)},323:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(84)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1140),c(116),c(94),c(52),c(493),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1141),c(143),c(1142),c(238),c(48),c(1143)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1167,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();