Trump reportedly warmed up for the State of the Union by slamming Democrats — and John McCain
President Trump is expected to use the State of the Union address on Tuesday night to call for unity, but first, he had to get some insults out of his system, The New York Times reports.
During a private lunch with television anchors on Tuesday afternoon, Trump went off on several Democrats, calling former Vice President Joe Biden "dumb" and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) a "nasty son of a bitch," several people in the room told the Times. He also mocked Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D), who held a press conference over the weekend to address a racist photo in his medical school yearbook. "He choked like a dog," Trump said. One person he didn't disparage was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), merely saying privately she is nice to him, but publicly, she's mean.
The point of the lunch was to offer a preview of the State of the Union address, but Trump also looked ahead to the 2020 election, and appeared confident that he will be re-elected, the Times reports. He also looked back, telling a story about how angry he was that the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) voted against the repeal of ObamaCare. "By the way," Trump said. "He wrote a book and the book bombed."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Nigel Farage: was he a teenage racist?Talking Point Farage’s denials have been ‘slippery’, but should claims from Reform leader’s schooldays be on the news agenda?
-
Pushing for peace: is Trump appeasing Moscow?In Depth European leaders succeeded in bringing themselves in from the cold and softening Moscow’s terms, but Kyiv still faces an unenviable choice
-
Crossword: November 29, 2025The daily crossword from The Week
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
