2026年2月24日 美国东部时间上午8:00 / 福克斯新闻
卡特、里根、老布什和拜登政府的前总统演讲稿撰写人在关键的国情咨文演讲前发表评论
作者：查尔斯·克里茨
来自两党的前白宫演讲稿撰写人表示，总统唐纳德·特朗普必须在周二晚上的国情咨文演讲中决定是加倍奉行推动其竞选活动的集会式政治，还是拓宽信息以围绕其施政议程团结分裂的国家。
根据福克斯新闻最近的一项调查，在特朗普准备向全国和全世界发表讲话之际，大多数美国人认为这个国家比一年前更糟。他周二晚上面临的挑战是说服持怀疑态度的选民，他的经济政策正在降低成本，更严格的移民执法正在使国家更安全，并且他对未来几年有一个纪律严明、面向未来的计划——这一信息可能会影响共和党人在2026年中期选举中的前景，当时共和党在国会中占微弱多数。
罗纳德·里根的演讲稿撰写人、太平洋研究所主席克拉克·贾奇告诉福克斯新闻数字版，特朗普应该阐述美国在世界上的地位。
“对国家和经济的威胁正在增长，”贾奇说，“现在，在各个领域，这些威胁都已得到应对和击败。”
贾奇表示，里根的优势在于清晰。人们“知道他的立场。与他合作的一个优势是，他在整个职业生涯中对自己支持的东西都非常明确，”他说。
贾奇认为，里根有一些经验教训特朗普应该铭记。“了解总统，了解政府，了解公众——在任何时候公众的立场是什么？”
“民主党人在哪里？他们想做什么——我们如何消除他们的论点？”他说。
前吉米·卡特总统演讲稿撰写人詹姆斯·法洛斯告诉福克斯新闻数字版，国情咨文需要在总统内阁争取被提及的诉求和“试图建立重大主题联系”之间找到“中间地带”。
法洛斯是这位佐治亚州民主党人在任头两年的首席演讲稿撰写人，此后成为书籍、杂志和Substack的撰稿人。他说，特朗普的挑战，无论是现在还是在他之前的演讲中，都是围绕其议程团结整个国家，而不仅仅是取悦他的支持者。
特朗普偏爱的修辞风格是集会式——“他可以离题并编织”，并创造“我们与他们”的场景来激怒听众，“他补充说，国情咨文演讲需要相反的方式。
[迈克·约翰逊透露特朗普国情咨文的特邀嘉宾]
前乔·拜登演讲稿撰写人丹·克鲁切伊对特朗普能否应对这一局面表示怀疑。
“拜登总统对国会的宪法角色和总统职位的尊严有着深深的敬意，所以他将国情咨文视为一个超越争论、团结美国人的机会，”克鲁切伊说，他指出这位特拉华州人在2022年演讲中提出的“团结议程”。
当被问及特朗普周二的演讲可能会给他带来什么惊喜时，法洛斯说，坚持他的讲稿会是一种新奇。
“此外，鉴于第二天的新闻可能会将其描述为‘大帐篷式演讲’，”这位卡特演讲稿撰写人说。
前乔治·W·布什演讲稿撰写人、现任《华尔街日报》编辑委员会成员比尔·麦加恩表示，总统们的风格往往会有很大差异，他将特朗普与其前老板进行了对比。
“乔治·W·布什非常注重逻辑——他的演讲有流畅的逻辑和连贯的思路。”
“他总是说，‘让它让布巴理解’——不要简化；而是让一个有智慧的听众能够理解你的想法。”
他说，特朗普可能会重复许多总统常说的话，即“国情咨文很强大”。
“即使是一份清单，如果你找到一条统一的线索，也有办法让它更有说服力。”
法洛斯告诉福克斯新闻数字版，任何总统及其团队在撰写国情咨文时都面临许多“结构性挑战”。
“要涵盖的内容太多，而你能吸引甚至是被吸引的听众注意力的时间却有限。”
现在在Substack上撰写“Breaking the News”专栏的法洛斯说，国情咨文是总统罕见地向整个国家发表讲话的时刻，而不仅仅是党派支持者。
[比尔·马赫在特朗普演讲前呼吁彻底取消国情咨文演讲]
麦加恩表示同意。
“尽管有很多宏伟的内容和重要的事情，但它们通常不会被记住，”他指出，有多少美国人记得布什的9/11演讲或他通过扩音器在双子塔废墟上发表的简短讲话。
“一个肮脏的小秘密是，大多数演讲艺术家都讨厌国情咨文这种清单式的东西，”他补充道。
有时，国情咨文本身可能不会被记住，但它可能会带来一些更难忘的事情。
贾奇回忆起起草里根1988年的演讲，当时他想“这太技术性和枯燥了——我需要一个形象。”
他选定了“1000个社区中的1000个天才火花”这句话，这句话在当时刚刚起步的“拨号”民意调查中迅速走红——以至于里根的门生、未来的总统乔治·H·W·布什在他的“千点之光”演讲中借用了这句话，贾奇说。
[约翰逊在给国会的正式国情咨文邀请信中称赞特朗普的‘大胆行动’]
虽然公众可能不会记住国情咨文的每一个细节，但演讲稿撰写人们一致表示，有一些部分他们至今仍记忆犹新。克鲁切伊说，他最美好的回忆是拜登选择分享他帮助过的普通人的故事，“以说明他的政策的影响。”
在其他情况下，有时世界会注意到一些事情。
在里根成功遏制冷战的最后阶段，贾奇说，起草演讲不仅对面前的国会和国内的美国人民很重要，对所有人也一样重要。
“镜头后面是编辑和制作人——即使他们怀有敌意，我如何构建内容才能通过？他们背后是我们的世界领导人——什么能打动他们并让他们朝着你想要的方向前进？”
里根大力推动结束苏联，同时他也在对东西方的领导人讲话。
里根后来受到苏联异见人士的欢迎，他们告诉他，“你不知道这有多重要——这些演讲给了我们勇气。”
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法洛斯说，特朗普今年可能需要克服一些习惯才能发表有效演讲。
“国情咨文最好在特朗普不擅长的领域。它们旨在拥抱整个国家。它们应该是从提词器中读出但不要显得过于刻板。”
“我们将拭目以待。”
相关文章
[观看：美国国情咨文历史上最令人难忘的五大时刻]
查尔斯·克里茨是福克斯新闻数字版的记者。
他于2013年加入福克斯新闻，担任作家和制作助理。
查尔斯报道媒体、政治和文化新闻。
他是宾夕法尼亚州本地人，毕业于天普大学，获广播新闻学士学位。
新闻提示可发送至charles.creitz@fox.com。
Speechwriters from Reagan to Biden agree: Trump’s SOTU is a critical test for his second term
February 24, 2026 8:00am EST / Fox News
Former presidential speechwriters from Carter, Reagan, Bush and Biden administrations weigh in ahead of pivotal State of the Union address
By Charles Creitz
Former White House speechwriters from both parties say President Donald Trump must decide whether to double down on the rally-style politics that powered his campaign or broaden his message to unify a divided country around his governing agenda in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
As Trump prepares to speak to the nation and the world, a majority of Americans think the country is worse off today than it was a year ago, according to a recent Fox News survey. The challenge he faces Tuesday night is to persuade skeptical voters that his economic policies are bringing costs down, that tougher immigration enforcement is making the country safer and that he has a disciplined, forward-looking plan for the years ahead — a message that could shape Republicans’ prospects as they head into the 2026 midterm elections with narrow majorities in Congress.
Clark Judge, a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan and now chairman of the Pacific Research Institute, told Fox News Digital that Trump should address America’s position in the world.
“Threats to the country and to the economy were growing,” Judge said. “Now, in area after area, those threats have been confronted and defeated.”
Judge said Reagan’s strength was clarity. People “knew where he would come down. One advantage of working with him was that he had been so clear throughout his career on what he was for,” he said.
There are lessons from Reagan that Judge suggested Trump should take to heart. “Know the president, know the administration, know the public — where is the public at any one moment?”
“Where are the Democrats? What are they trying to do — and how do we disarm their arguments?” he said.
The balance needed in a State of the Union is finding a “middle ground” between the president’s Cabinet fighting for their mentions and “trying to create big, thematic connections,” former Jimmy Carter presidential speechwriter James Fallows told Fox News Digital.
Fallows, the Georgia Democrat’s chief speechwriter during his first two years in office, has since been a book, magazine and Substack writer. He said Trump’s challenge, both now and in his previous addresses, is to unite the country around his agenda, not just please his supporters.
Trump’s preferred rhetorical style is a rally-style approach — “where he can digress and weave” and create “us versus them” scenarios to rile the audience,” he said, adding that a State of the Union address requires the opposite.
[MIKE JOHNSON REVEALS SPECIAL GUESTS FOR TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION]
Former Joe Biden speechwriter Dan Cluchey expressed skepticism that Trump would be able to rise to the occasion.
“President Biden has a deep reverence for both the constitutional role of Congress and the dignity of the presidential office, so he approached the State of the Union as an opportunity to rise above the fray and bring Americans together,” Cluchey said, pointing to what the Delawarean considered the “Unity Agenda” laid out in his 2022 address.
When asked what could surprise him about Trump’s Tuesday address, Fallows said sticking to his script would be a novelty.
“[Also,] given what the next day’s news will describe as a ‘big tent speech’” à la Reagan, the Carter speechwriter said.
Former George W. Bush speechwriter and current Wall Street Journal editorial board member Bill McGurn said presidents do tend to differ, sometimes greatly, from each other in style, contrasting the president with his former boss.
“George W. Bush was very driven by logic — the speech had a flow and had a logic that was coherent.”
“He’d always say, ‘make it so Bubba would understand what that meant’ — don’t dumb it down; but make it so an intelligent person listening can get the idea of what you’re about.”
Trump, he said, will likely repeat what many presidents often say, that “the State of the Union is strong.”
“Even if it is a laundry list, there’s ways to make it more compelling if you find a unifying thread to it.”
Fallows told Fox News Digital there are many “structural challenges” for any president and his team crafting a State of the Union.
“So much to cover and only so much time you can hold the attention of even a captive audience.”
Fallows, who now writes “Breaking the News” on Substack, said the SOTU is a rare moment for a president to address the nation as a whole, not just partisan supporters.
[BILL MAHER CALLS FOR COMPLETE END TO STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS AHEAD OF TRUMP SPEECH]
McGurn agreed.
“For all the grandiosity and the important things they cover, they’re usually not remembered,” he said, noting how many more Americans remember Bush’s 9/11 speech or his brief address through a bullhorn atop the rubble of the Twin Towers.
“A dirty little secret is most speech artists hate the State of the Union for the laundry list kind of thing,” he added.
Sometimes, a State of the Union may not be remembered itself, but it may lead to something much more memorable.
Judge recalled drafting Reagan’s 1988 address, thinking “this is technical and dull — what I need is an image.”
Settling on the phrase, “1,000 sparks of genius in a 1,000 communities,” the line went viral in then-fledgling “dial” polling — to the extent that Reagan’s protégé, the future President George H.W. Bush, borrowed the line for his “Thousand Points of Light” speech, Judge said.
[JOHNSON PRAISES TRUMP’S ‘BOLD ACTION’ IN FORMAL STATE OF THE UNION INVITATION LETTER TO CONGRESS]
While the public may not remember everything from every SOTU, the speechwriters collectively said there are parts they still recall today. Cluchey said his best memories are of Biden choosing to share stories of everyday Americans he helped, “in order to illustrate the impact of his policies.”
In other cases, there are times the world takes notice.
Working with Reagan near the end of his successful bid to stifle the Cold War, Judge said crafting the speech was important not just for Congress in front of him and the American people at home, but everyone at once.
“Behind the cameras are the editors and producers — even if they’re hostile, how do I frame something so it gets through? Behind them is our world leaders — what will catch them and move them in the direction you want?”
With Reagan pushing hard to end the Soviet Union, he was also speaking to both the leaders and those to the East.
Reagan would later be greeted by Soviet dissidents in public who would tell him, “You don’t know how important that was – the speeches gave us courage.”
[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP]
Fallows said that Trump may have to overcome some habits to give an effective address this year.
“State of the Unions are best in areas that are not Donald Trump’s strengths. They’re meant to be embracing the country as a whole. They’re meant to be delivered from a prompter but without seeming too scripted.”
“We’ll see how this goes.”
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[WATCH: Top 5 most memorable moments in American State of the Union history]
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
