President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address achieved remarkable success on YouTube, with the White House’s YouTube channel emerging as the most-watched stream of the evening. According to data shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, this stream outperformed other media outlets on the platform, including major networks like Fox News, ABC, NBC, and CBS. The livestream reached a peak of 300,000 concurrent viewers and amassed a total of 5 million views by the night’s end. A senior White House official commented to the Daily Mail, describing the speech as “undeniably one of the greatest” and highlighting the administration’s efforts to bypass traditional media barriers to effectively convey its America First message through new media channels.

The impressive YouTube viewership for the president’s speech reflects a 250% increase compared to the 2 million total views garnered by former President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in 2024. Trump’s 2025 address to Congress attracted 3.4 million viewers on the White House YouTube channel alone. However, the 2026 State of the Union saw a decline in television viewership, drawing approximately 27.8 million viewers across the top seven broadcast and cable networks, a decrease of about 12% from the 31.45 million who tuned in for Trump’s congressional address the previous year. Despite the YouTube triumph, overall viewership metrics indicate a downward trend.

The 5 million YouTube views accounted for roughly 18% of the concurrent television audience. The peak of 300,000 concurrent viewers is a figure that is often matched or surpassed by popular gaming streamers and mid-tier YouTubers. This year, the Trump administration’s digital team enhanced the broadcast with live annotations and graphics, providing additional context to the president’s remarks. “The streams will continue. The memes will continue,” the official confidently told the Daily Mail, indicating a commitment to maintaining their digital presence.

Trump featured many viral moments during the night, including a recognition of American military heroes, awarding them the highest honors for their service ot the country. A cameo from the gold-winning Olympic hockey team also drove audience numbers after video of the president’s phone call congratulating the team went viral. During the call, Trump invited the team to attend his State of the Union speech, which they enthusiastically accepted.

‘Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it,’ Trump said, prior to bringing in the Olympic hockey team. The president announced he would award the Olympic team goalie Connor Hellebuyck with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, drawing further attention to their victory and his State of the Union address. Traditional TV audiences for presidential addresses continue to decline, and while digital platforms like YouTube are attracting a growing share of viewers, it’s not yet clear that the shift to digital can compensate for total audience losses.