--- title: Trump Urges End to Investigations in State of the Union description: President Nixon made a similar argument in his 1974 State of the Union, and resigned less than a year later. canonical: https://time.com/5522285/trump-economy-nixon/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-06T04:19:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:41:38.208Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Used the State of the Union to Call for an End to Investigations. So Did Nixon og:description: "If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation" og:url: https://time.com/5522285/trump-economy-nixon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fa890ee68f9fba2/6989449e7cdbac6a09d5f019/trump-state-of-the-union.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Trump Delivers State Of The Union Address To Joint Session Of Congress og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Used the State of the Union to Call for an End to Investigations. So Did Nixon twitter:description: "If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fa890ee68f9fba2/6989449e7cdbac6a09d5f019/trump-state-of-the-union.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Used the State of the Union to Call for an End to Investigations. So Did Nixon > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Feb 6, 2019 4:19 AM UTC  President Donald Trump, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence looking on, delivers the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on Feb. 5, 2019 in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence looking on, delivers the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on Feb. 5, 2019 in Washington, D.C. Pool—Getty Images  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Feb 6, 2019 4:19 AM UTC President Donald Trump called for the investigations against him to be brought to an end during his State of the Union speech on Tuesday. Though the President did not mention Robert Mueller by name, even as the special counsel’s probe into Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election [continues](http://time.com/5515356/robert-mueller-investigation-timeline-completed/), Trump singled out “ridiculous” and “partisan” investigations, and warned that they could harm the economic “resurgence.” “An economic miracle is taking place in the United States — and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics or ridiculous partisan investigations,” Trump said, per his prepared remarks. “If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. It just doesn’t work that way! We must be united at home to defeat our adversaries abroad.” Trump was not the first president to call for the end of the investigations during his State of the Union. In 1974, Nixon told Congress, “I believe the time has come to bring that investigation and the other investigations of this matter to an end. One year of Watergate is enough!” > [](https://twitter.com/cspan/status/958398526760869889) Though he [said](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-the-state-the-union-delivered-before-joint-session-the-congress) he would cooperate with the Watergate investigation, Nixon argued that the country had other things to worry about that required Washington’s full attention. He resigned from office less than a year later, in August of that year. Trump’s claim that the investigations will directly harm the economy appears to have a mixed basis in history. The economy was in fact weak for the duration of the Watergate era, with stocks losing 42% of their value during the period of the scandal, from January 1973 to August 1974\. However, the period of the scandal also [coincided](http://money.com/money/4783032/nixon-watergate-stocks-trump-comey/) with a global oil shock and spiking inflation. On the other hand, the economy remained strong throughout throughout the [investigation](http://time.com/5120561/bill-clinton-monica-lewinsky-timeline/) of Bill Clinton during the late 1990s. According to Gallup, 71% of Americans said in a January 1999 poll that the period was the “best economy of their lifetime,” [according to Gallup](https://news.gallup.com/poll/4609/presidential-job-approval-bill-clintons-high-ratings-midst.aspx). That scandal did impact the stock market, but it ultimately bounced back. “\[After\] investors concluded that this event would not likely lead to recession,” Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist for CFRA, [has said](http://money.com/money/4783032/nixon-watergate-stocks-trump-comey/). “The \[market\] then went on to recover the entire decline and set a new all-time high.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5522285/trump-economy-nixon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5522285/trump-economy-nixon/"},"headline":"President Trump Used the State of the Union to Call for an End to Investigations. 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