De Niro skewers Trump speech at State of the Swamp

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De Niro skewers Trump speech at State of the Swamp
A National Press Club counter-event highlighted fear — and hope — ahead of the midterms

By Brian Karem
White House columnist
Published February 27, 2026 6:45AM (EST)


(Salon) Robert De Niro sat quietly in a corner. Just 15 feet away, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was on stage speaking. “You can have democracy or you can have wealth in the hands of a concentrated few. But you can’t have both,” Johnson said at Washington’s National Press Club on Tuesday night. The audience of 500 had assembled for the State of the Swamp, an event created to serve as counter-programming for Donald Trump’s State of the Union.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey had just finished speaking about how concentrated wealth destroys democracy. “Unity isn’t uniformity,” he explained. “We are a country of great debates and disagreements.”

De Niro absorbed it all. While the mayors spoke, Trump was several blocks away at the Capitol in the middle of a boring diatribe that ran nearly two hours.

....(snip)....

He smiled. “Sometimes I am ashamed. I go overseas and they ask about Trump. And I tell them imagine if the stupidest moron in your country were running your country, how would you feel?”

I understood his concern and tried unsuccessfully to stifle a chuckle.

“I feel betrayed by my country,” he explained in language similar to what he would use on stage a short time later. “I am heartbroken. .....................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/02/27/de-niro-skewers-trump-speech-at-state-of-the-swamp/