President Donald Trump made history on Tuesday night with the longest State of the Union address in history. Running an hour and 47 minutes, and some 10,887 words, it included newsmaking announcements on national 401(k) accounts, the Trump Accounts available to American children, potshots at Democrats, and a cameo by the gold-medal-winning men’s hockey team. It didn’t include two words that most voters are fixated on: “national debt.”
As the first primary elections of 2026 loom, an overwhelming majority of Americans are fixated on the nation’s fiscal health. A new bipartisan poll by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, reviewed by Fortune, reveals a whopping 90% of voters are deeply concerned that the national debt—now nearing $38.8 trillion—is driving up inflation and the cost of living, including prices for groceries, energy, housing, and transportation.
