by Josh Marshall

The first half of the speech was very low energy. Trump didn’t seem to have his heart in it. He roused to talk about tariffs and then gruesome murders by undocumented immigrants. American Carnage, Part II, basically. My overall sense is still that it was generally shambling and scattered, which is to say more or less like the administration itself at the moment. The non-standing and non-clapping by Democrats really seemed to get to him. It was kind of remarkable how much it seemed to get to him. Like, they’re the opposition. They’re really against him. Did it surprise him? On tariffs, what did he say exactly? The vibe seemed to be that they’ll continue? Or in spirit? What? I see nothing here that changes a bit of the current political trajectory. The speech writers don’t seem to have had much idea of how that could happen. It’s still full speed ahead with the same program until November, perhaps slightly warmed over. The collision is inevitable.

by Josh Marshall

10:21 p.m.: I’m amazed how much the non-clapping and non-standing seems to get to Trump. Like really get to him. It keeps coming out more and more.

by Josh Marshall

10:14 p.m.: The no clapping thing is really starting to get to him.

10:11 p.m.: There’s a weird fuzziness on the front of Trump’s pompadour. I’m wondering if there’s something fuzzy sprayed on it. Because something is different. Don’t pretend you don’t see this. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

10:08 p.m.: This is really giving me flashbacks of my earlier life as an avid Wally George watcher/ironic fan.

10: 05 p.m.: The through-line generally is clear: very, very low energy until he got to tariffs and graphic descriptions of murders by undocumented immigrants.

10:02 p.m.: The whole “angel mom,” “angel families” thing is simply the most disgusting and malevolent thing imaginable. Imagine any other group singled out like this. Hideous gutter politics from white nationalist degenerates.

9:56 p.m.: By my read, Trump’s energy level has risen a bit approaching the second hour.

9:49 p.m.: Trump seems to be saying he has an Obamacare replacement? But of course he doesn’t. We had a debate here at TPM about what what he was saying about Tariffs. He seemed to be saying that the foreign countries are so happy they’ll just voluntarily keep paying the tariffs. The whole logic of it seems to be that the tariffs will continue. In any case one of my colleagues suggested that he was talking about the “deals”, i.e., this or that country agreeing to invest a trillion or a gazillion dollars in the U.S. I’m not really clear.

9:43 p.m.: Tariffs seemed to be the first time he really got his energy back. But it seems to be subsiding.

9:28 p.m.: I get the sense that they knew this was turning out to be a total snoozer so they’re just going to do the rest about the hockey team.

9:16 p.m.: Still seems super low energy. (Don’t try to do this kind of commentary at home.)

9:13 p.m.: Honestly this seems a bit low energy. Not just the content but the energy in the room? Curious what people in the hall are seeing. But he also has that kind of sullen low energy thing.