President Donald Trump gave his State of the Union address Tuesday. He was slated to champion his immigration crackdowns, his slashing of the federal government, his push to preserve widespread tariffs that the Supreme Court just struck down and his ability to direct quick-hit military actions around the world, including in Iran and Venezuela.
WATCH LIVE: President Donald Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger gave the Democratic Party response following Trump’s speech. California Sen. Alex Padilla, who made national headlines last year after being forced to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents, delivered the party’s response in Spanish.
Here’s the latest.
11:52 p.m. EST
Trump makes scant mention of immigration, long a favorite issue
Immigration helped carry Trump to victory in 2024 and he took giant steps toward reshaping the system during his first year in office.
Yet he scarcely mentioned immigration during his speech, possibly a reflection of his slipping poll numbers on the issue. He spoke about the steep drop in arrests for illegal border crossings but didn’t talk about two key initiatives that will cost nearly $100 billion combined: expanding immigration detention and building border wall.
He didn’t talk about major policy changes like attempting to end birthright citizenship, denying bond to people who are in immigration custody or suspending asylum at the border.
And he didn’t discuss his mass deportation campaign — just weeks after Minnesota’s largest cities turned into battlegrounds between immigration officers and protesters and resulted in U.S. officials fatally shooting two U.S. citizens.
11:25 p.m. EST
Spanberger poses questions about Trump’s second term in Democratic rebuttal
“Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family? We all know the answer is no”
Throughout her Democratic response to Trump’s address, Spanberger posed a series of questions to Americans, asking whether they feel life has improved since he returned to office.
WATCH: Gov. Spanberger delivers Democratic response to Trump’s State of the Union
The Democrat, who flipped a Republican-held office last year, is hoping voters across the country will share that assessment when they head to the polls in November.
Spanberger takes on affordability message in Democratic response to Trump
Spanberger is arguing in her Democratic rebuttal that costs remain high for many Americans more than a year into his second term.
Her message, that families are still struggling under Trump’s policies, is one Democrats plan to carry nationwide ahead of the midterm elections. Party leaders point to Spanberger’s double-digit victory in Virginia last November as validation of a disciplined, cost-focused campaign they now hope to replicate across the country.
11:11 p.m. EST
Speech time breaks record
Trump’s 108-minute speech broke his own record for longest presidential address to Congress.
The prior record was his own 100-minute speech last year. Before 2025, President Bill Clinton had the record with speeches clocking in at 89 minutes in 2000 and 85 minutes in 1995.
President Donald Trump exits the House chamber after delivering the first State of the Union address of his second term to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 2026. Photo by Kenny Holston/Pool via Reuters
Lawmakers leap to their feet with starkly divided responses as Trump concludes his address
Republicans gave the president their final standing ovation of the night as he concluded his remarks. GOP lawmakers then proceeded to mingle in the chamber. Some walked up to congratulate the president on the celebratory mood in the chamber.
Democrats also immediately leapt to their feet, though with no fanfare. The caucus almost immediately turned and streamed out of the chamber without applause. Some could be seen scoffing and shaking their heads shortly after Trump wrapped his remarks and descended from the House dais.
First lady presents Medal of Honor to 100-year-old veteran
Trump asked First Lady Melania Trump to present Royce Williams a Medal of Honor for his actions in a secret mission during the Korean War.
A military aide was seen bringing the esteemed award down the stairs of the House gallery where Melania Trump and Williams were sitting before she put it around his neck while a standing ovation took over the chamber.
“He didn’t even want to tell his wife. But the legend grew and grew,” Trump said about the clandestine mission. “But tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves.”
Royce Williams, a 100-year-old Navy aviator and Korean War veteran, receives the Congressional Medal of Honor from first lady Melania Trump during U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 2026. Photo by Nathan Howard/Reuters
11:00 p.m. EST
Trump mentions killing of Mexican drug lord
Trump appeared to reference the killing of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho.”
The Mexican army killed Oseguera Cervantes Sunday in an attempt to capture him in the western state of Jalisco. Both Mexico and the United States confirmed that there was U.S. intelligence support for the operation.
Trump said “We’ve also taken down one of the most sinister cartel kingpins of all. You saw that yesterday.”
Some 70 people died in the operation and violence that erupted after it.
10:48 p.m. EST
Trump touts shaky ceasefire deal in Gaza
Among the several conflicts he claims to have ended, Trump mentioned the ongoing, fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza.
WATCH: Trump says U.S. will give $10 billion to Board of Peace promising to rebuild Gaza
“I negotiated every single hostage, both living and dead, has been returned home. Can you believe that? Nobody thought it was possible,” the president said during his speech.
While the U.S.-brokered deal between Israel and Hamas has halted major military operations, freed the last hostages held by Hamas and ramped up aid deliveries to Gaza, a lasting resolution to the two-year war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel remains elusive.
10:37 p.m. EST
Trump says Homeland Security shutdown is affecting snow cleanup
“We’d love to give you a hand at cleaning it up, but you gave no money. Nobody’s getting paid.”
Trump said the DHS shutdown was preventing the federal government from “helping people clean up their snow,” referring to the massive snowstorm that impacted much of the northeastern U.S. this week.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, housed under DHS, rarely helps states with snow cleanup, except in some instances of record snowfall or near-record snowfall, or when an ice storm causes catastrophic damage. States first request a disaster declaration that the president must approve.
A government shutdown also doesn’t necessarily stop FEMA disaster response: The more than 10,000 staff who make up the bulk of FEMA’s disaster response and recovery force continue to work and be paid during a government shutdown, and disaster spending can continue for as long as the agency’s non-lapsing Disaster Relief Fund has money.
10:31 p.m. EST
Trump highlights case of Ukrainian woman killed on North Carolina train
“We will ensure justice for your magnificent daughter, Iryna.”
Among those in the audience was the mother of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, an Ukrainian refugee who was fatally stabbed by a man on a North Carolina commuter train last August.
Her killing captured on camera in Charlotte sparked intense criticism over why the suspect, Decarlos Brown Jr., was on the street despite 14 prior criminal arrests.
The Trump administration has pointed to the killing to argue that local leaders, judges and policies in Democratic-led cities are failing to protect their residents from violent crime.
Brown has been charged with a federal crime that could carry the death penalty.
10:14 p.m. EST
Trump falsely claims voter fraud is ‘rampant’
“I’m asking you to approve the SAVE America Act to stop illegal aliens and other who are unpermitted persons from voting in our sacred American elections. The cheating is rampant in our elections.” Experts say voter fraud is extremely rare, and very few noncitizens ever slip through the cracks.
READ MORE: What to know about how the SAVE America Act could change voting
For example, a recent review in Michigan identified 15 people who appear to be noncitizens who voted in the 2024 general election, out of more than 5.7 million ballots cast in the state. Of those, 13 were referred to the attorney general for potential criminal charges. One involved a voter who has since died, and the final case remains under investigation.
10:03 p.m. EST
Trump tells Democrats they’re responsible for high costs
“You caused that problem.”
Trump directly addressed Democrats, blaming them for the high costs that are troubling voters. This has been a major theme of Trump’s speech tonight and is also an argument he makes frequently when talking about the economy.
Recent polling shows rising frustration with Trump’s approach to the economy.
He went on to directly blame Democrats for health care costs, a problem he told them is “caused by you.” He cited the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s health care law that Republicans have tried and failed to repeal.
Drug prices can’t be cut by more than 100%
“I took prescription drugs, a very big part of health care, from the highest price in the entire world to the lowest. That’s a big achievement. The result is price differences of 300%, 400%, 500%, 600% and more.”
This is impossible. Although the Trump administration has taken steps to lower drug prices, cutting them by more than 100% would theoretically mean that people are being paid to take medications.
READ MORE: Live fact-checking Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address
Geoffrey Joyce, director of health policy at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center, said in August that this claim is “total fiction” made up by the president. He agreed that it would amount to drug companies paying customers, rather than the other way around.
Broadcast network newbies leading State of the Union coverage
Showing the rapid pace of change in legacy media, two of the three broadcast networks covering the president’s speech were led by chief anchors on duty at the event for the first time.
Tom Llamas led NBC News’ live coverage, with Tony Dokoupil was in the lead at CBS News. Llamas has replaced Lester Holt at the helm of “NBC Nightly News,” while Dokoupil was the “CBS Evening News” replacement for the short-term team of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois.
They’re both chasing ABC News veteran David Muir, whose “World News Tonight” leads in the ratings.
Trump touts his health care proposal, which hasn’t made headway in Congress yet
“That’s why I introduced the Great Healthcare Plan. I want to stop all payments to big insurance companies and instead give that money directly to the people so they can buy their own health care.”
Trump is referring to a health care proposal he pitched to congressional Republicans in January, in hopes that they would turn it into legislation to make health care more affordable. No such legislation has gotten enough momentum to pass yet.
His pitch, a general outline of ideas he wants turned into law, calls for sending money directly to Americans in health savings accounts so they can handle health costs as they see fit.
Democrats have rejected the idea as a paltry substitute for Affordable Care Act tax credits that had helped lower monthly premiums for many people before the Republican-led Congress let them expire in the new year.
Tariffs won’t replace income taxes
“Tariffs paid for by foreign countries will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern day system of income tax.”
Not likely. Under Trump, tariff revenues have swelled — to $195 billion in the budget year that ended Sept. 30 from $77 billion the year before.
But the import taxes accounted for less than 4% of federal revenue. Income taxes and payroll taxes that finance Social Security and Medicare account for 84%.
House Democrat leaves chamber shaking head during Trump’s speech
Rep. Lauren Underwood, the head of the House Democrats’ campaign arm’s candidate recruitment efforts, left the chamber during Trump’s speech. Underwood shook her head as she stood with her purse and coat.
The Illinois Democrat waved goodbye to some of her Democratic women colleagues. The women, who were each wearing white as an homage to the suffragist movement, exchanged chuckles before Underwood quietly darted out the back.
9:55 p.m. EST
Trump misleadingly claims that tariff revenues are ‘saving’ the U.S.
“It’s saving our country, the kind of money we’re taking in.”
Trump has imposed massive tax hikes on imports, but they’re not sizable enough to make a dent in the government’s annual budget deficits. Nor have the tariffs corresponded with manufacturing job gains.
Before the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s tariffs based on an emergency declaration, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that his new taxes would raise $3 trillion over 10 years, or $300 billion annually.
That’s not enough to cover the cost of his $4.7 trillion in tax cuts, including additional interest cuts, that favored companies and the wealthy. Nor is it enough to pay down an annual budget deficit that last year was $1.78 trillion.
Tariffs have been paid by U.S. firms and consumers
“The tariffs, paid for by foreign countries … “
Nearly every study finds otherwise.
The Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Kiel Institut in Germany and two economists from Harvard and the University of Chicago have looked at who is paying the tariffs, and all have concluded that nearly all the costs have been paid by U.S. firms and consumers.
U.S. importers write the checks to pay the tariffs. The only way overseas companies could pay is if they cut their prices to make up for the cost of the duties, but all the studies cited above find that that’s not happening.
“This nonsense has lasted long enough and no one should tolerate any further discussion of the notion that foreigners are paying the tariff bill,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the right-leaning American Action Forum and a top economist in George W. Bush’s White House, said last week.
9:53 p.m. EST
Trump’s big tax breaks bill divides the Congress
Republicans jumped to cheer on their side of the aisle when Trump praised the GOP majority in Congress that “delivered so beautifully” in passing the bill last year.
And when Trump criticized Democrats for voting against it, they too stood and cheered.
The bill that became law is the most significant legislative achievement for the president and his party, so far, in his second term.
It extended many tax cuts that had been approved during Trump’s first term and were about to expire. The package also offered new tax breaks including no taxes on tips, overtime pay and others.
Trump repeats claim that tax law contains ‘no tax on social security’
“And with the great big beautiful bill, we gave you no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security.”
Trump frequently says his big tax cut bill means no tax on Social Security.
But that’s not true for everyone. Not all Social Security beneficiaries will be able to claim the deduction, which lasts four years until 2029. Those who won’t be able to do so include the lowest-income seniors who already don’t pay taxes on Social Security, those who choose to claim their benefits before they reach age 65 and those above a defined income threshold.
The deductions also phase out as income increases.
Trump promises to allow migrants who ‘love our country’
“We will always allow people to come in legally, people that will love our country and will work hard to maintain our country.”
Trump has actually taken steps to restrict who can emigrate to the U.S. often in the name of protecting national security.
He suspended the refugee program on his first day in office and in October resumed the program but only in limited numbers for white South Africans.
Trump has also placed restrictions on who can travel or emigrate to the U.S. from nearly 40 countries. Many of those countries are in Africa.
Trump investment accounts for kids get a shoutout
“Tax free investment accounts for every American child. This is something that’s so special. It has taken off and gone through the roof.”
Part of Trump’s tax legislation, Trump Accounts are meant to give $1,000 to every newborn, so long as their parents open an account.
READ MORE: What experts want you to know about the Trump accounts and a new massive donation
That money is then invested in the stock market by private firms, and the child can access the money when they turn 18.
Parents can contribute up to $2,500 annually in pretax income, and yearly contributions are capped at $5,000. Some of the country’s wealthiest businesspeople have contributed tens of billions of dollars to the initiative, including billionaires Michael and Susan Dell and hedge fund founder Ray Dalio and his wife Barbara.
Several major companies announced plans to add Trump Accounts contributions to their benefits packages, including Uber, Intel, IBM, Nvidia and Steak ‘n Shake.
Trump touts falling fentanyl seizures as sign of policy success
“The flow of deadline fentanyl across our border is down by a record 56% in one year.”
Trump appears to be referring to fentanyl seizures, not the amount of fentanyl that got through undetected, which is unknown.
Fentanyl seizures at U.S. land borders and airports started dropping in 2023 and have continued to fall during Trump’s first year in office. Fentanyl seizures on the Mexican border dropped at 50% annual clip in October and at a 22% annual clip in January, the latest data available.
Monthly seizures were regularly above a half-ton before Trump took office but fell below that mark for 10 of his first 12 months as president. Trump has heavily pressured Mexico to increase enforcement but it’s unclear what is driving the decline.
Adam Isacson, a policy analyst at the Washington Office of Latin America, has said other possible explanations include less demand in the United States, infighting among Mexican cartels and new scanners that were installed at border crossings during Joe Biden’s presidency.
Trump says he will make LA safe as he made Washington
“We’re going to do a good job in Los Angeles. And Los Angeles is going to be safe, just like Washington, D.C., is now one of the safest cities in the country.”
Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington in August 2025 and has credited it with lowering crime to historic lows.
Crime did go down after a surge of federal authorities and National Guard members onto the streets. But Mayor Muriel Bowser maintained it was already trending down at the time. Trump and Republicans argued that local police were cooking the books and not giving the surge the true credit it merited.
A House Committee and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro issued reports supporting the fixed crime data claim. Bowser challenged those findings and asked for an inspector general review, which is underway.
Overall violent crime fell 29% in 2025 from 2024. It is currently down 29% so far this year from the same time in 2025. Federal authorities and more than 2,200 Guard members are still on the streets.
9:47 p.m. EST
Outside of the Capitol, Democratic lawmakers respond to Trump’s address
A number of Democratic lawmakers chose to skip the president’s address, with some gathering just outside the Capitol on the National Mall for a “People’s State of the Union.” Standing alongside activists, they argued that Trump’s speech would not offer an accurate portrayal of the state of the nation.
“We know our state of the union. We know it is under attack,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. Democrats held other counterprogramming as well, including a “State of the Swamp” event. The party’s formal rebuttal, however, was scheduled to come from Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger following Trump’s address.
Trump touts Republicans’ massive tax and spending law
“I urged this Congress to begin the mission by passing the largest tax cuts in American history, and our Republican majorities delivered so beautifully. Thank you Republicans.”
Republicans’ tax and spending package that Trump signed into law last summer includes various provisions that eliminate federal income taxes on tips for people working in jobs that have traditionally received them, a deduction for older Americans and the creation of Trump accounts.
Trump says he’ll give Medal of Freedom to Team USA hockey goalie
“I will soon be presenting Connor with our highest civilian honor.”
Trump announced that he will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Team USA hockey goalie Connor Hellebuyck. Trump said the award has been given to “many athletes over the years.”
Hellebuyck made 41 saves, many of them spectacular, during the United States’ 2-1 victory over Canada for the gold medal at the Milan Cortina Games.
In his first term, Trump honored athletes including golfer Tiger Woods and football players Alan Page and Roger Staubach with the Medal of Freedom. He also awarded it posthumously to baseball great Babe Ruth.
Members of the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team applaud as their teammate Connor Hellebuyck puts his hand to his heart during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 2026. Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
U.S. Men’s Olympic Hockey team receives standing ovation and chants of ‘USA’ after Trump shoutout
In a rare display of bipartisanship, members of the Men’s Olympic Hockey team received a standing ovation as they entered the House chamber after a shoutout from Trump.
The players received multiple rounds of applause, chants of “USA” and pumped fists from lawmakers. Rep. Lisa McClain, the Republican House Conference Chair, shouted “Love you!”
Members of the team stood in the gallery seats overlooking the House floor after Trump praised them. Several smiled and waved at the crowd.
Trump then gave a shoutout to the women’s team, who also received a standing ovation despite not being in attendance. Both teams won gold at the Winter Olympics in Milan.
9:41 p.m. EST
Trump touts record low numbers of migrants at southern border
“In the past 9 months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States.”
Arrests for illegal crossings have plummeted to their lowest levels since the mid-1960s under Trump’s watch.
Republicans including Trump constantly criticized President Joe Biden for the number of migrants arriving at the southern border.
Arrivals hit a peak of 250,000 in December 2023. Then they started to fall to less than 50,000 in December 2024, Biden’s last full month in office.
They’ve plummeted even further under Trump.
The January tally of 6,070 arrests along the Mexican border translates to the lowest annualized rate since 1967.
Critics say the drop has carried big moral and humanitarian costs by ending asylum at the border.
Trump invites the USA women’s hockey team to the White House
The USA women’s hockey team — who, like their male counterparts were champions at the recent Olympics in Milano-Cortina — will get their due from Washington soon.
The women’s team had declined an invitation from Trump to attend Tuesday’s State of the Union, due to the timing of the address.
As the gold medal-winning men’s team made their appearance during the speech, Trump announced that the women’s team “will soon be coming to the White House.”
Trump says U.S. has received over 80 million barrels of Venezuelan oil
The president said the U.S. has received more than 80 million barrels of oil from its “new friend and partner, Venezuela.”
That exceeds what his administration had initially projected in the days after the U.S. military carried out a stunning raid in Venezuela’s capital last month and captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuela’s oil industry produces roughly 1 million barrels a day. The country has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
Trump vowed to turn around Venezuela’s crippling oil industry after Maduro was captured and taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
Trump misstates gas prices, again
Trump said gas prices now are below $2.30 per gallon in most states, which overstates the price drop since last year.
According to AAA, the national average was $2.95 per gallon as of Tuesday.
That’s below the $3.14 average as one year ago, but not nearly as low as Trump claims.
9:35 p.m. EST
Who’s the designated survivor?
They typically start the day as low-profile Cabinet secretaries. They end it that way, too, God willing.
But when the rest of the government is gathered together for a big event, like Trump’s State of the Union address, a designated survivor is kept away to ensure someone in the line of leadership succession stays alive.
READ MORE: From Cabinet secretary to doomsday president: What being the designated survivor is like
The president’s pick to sit out this time appeared to be Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, who was also chosen as the designated survivor last year for the president’s address to a joint session of Congress. Collins was not seen in the chamber. The White House did not immediately confirm he was chosen.
Trump inflates foreign investment
“I secured commitments for more than $18 trillion pouring in from all over the globe.”
Trump has presented no evidence that he’s secured this much domestic or foreign investment in the U.S. Based on statements from various companies, foreign countries and the White House’s own website, that figure appears to be exaggerated, highly speculative and far higher than the actual sum. The White House website offers a far lower number, $9.6 trillion, and that figure appears to include some investment commitments made during the Biden administration.
A study published in January raised doubts about whether more than $5 trillion in investment commitments made last year by many of America’s biggest trading partners will actually materialize and questions how it would be spent if it did.
Trump’s claim that U.S. is ‘the hottest country’ misses context
“Now we are the hottest country anywhere in the world, the hottest.”
The U.S. economy has generally performed strongly in Trump’s second term — after getting off to a bumpy start.
GDP shrank for the first time in three years during the first quarter of 2025. Growth rebounded in the second half of the year — from April through June, the economy expanded at a healthy 3.8% pace. And from July through September, it grew even faster — 4.4%. It slowed in the fourth quarter, increasing at only a 1.4% annual rate.
A key measure of inflation fell to nearly a five-year low in January. However, according to the Fed’s preferred measure, it remains elevated as the cost of goods such as furniture, clothes and groceries increase. Companies have also sharply reduced hiring.
The U.S. stock market did well last year, and yet it underperformed many foreign markets. The benchmark S&P 500 index climbed 17% — a nice gain but short of a 71% surge in South Korea, 29% in Hong Kong, 26% in Japan, 22% in Germany and 21% in the United Kingdom.
Trump claims $18 trillion in investments — but it’s unclear where the numbers come from
“I secured commitments for more than $18 trillion pouring in from all over the globe.”
It’s unclear where that number comes from. The White House has published a figure of $9.7 trillion, which includes private and public investment commitments from other countries.
READ MORE: Fact-checking Trump’s false claims ahead of the State of the Union
Researchers at the Peterson Institute for International Economics last month calculated the investment pledges at $5 trillion from the EU, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the Persian Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
9:28 p.m. EST
Trump touts drop in murder rate
“Last year, the murder rate saw its single largest decline in recorded history.”
Homicide rates did drop sharply in many cities last year. But violent crime has been trending downward for years in the U.S. after a spike during the coronavirus pandemic. And experts say the historic drop in violence defies easy explanation despite elected officials at all levels rushing to claim credit.
A study from the Council on Criminal Justice — a nonpartisan think tank — released in January showed a more than 20% drop in the homicide rate between 2024 and 2025 in 35 cities that reported data. Some cities, including Denver and Washington, reported a 40% decrease.
FBI reports for 2023 and 2024 also showed significant reductions in violent crimes. Violent crime dropped to near pre-pandemic levels around 2022 when Biden was president.
Trump says the economy is doing great. Most Americans disagree
Trump has praised the U.S. economy tonight, but AP-NORC polling shows that most Americans don’t think the country is doing well economically.
WATCH: Majority of Americans say country worse off than a year ago, new poll shows
About two-thirds of U.S. adults continue to say the country’s economy is “poor.” That’s unchanged from recent months, and it’s broadly in line with views throughout Biden’s last year in office.
Republicans are the exception. About 6 in 10 say the economy is good. But even within Trump’s own party, a significant share — about 4 in 10 — describe it as poor.
9:25 p.m. EST
Income growth has slowed in the past year, not ‘rising fast’
“Incomes are rising fast, the roaring economy is roaring like never before.”
After-tax incomes, adjusted for inflation, rose just 0.9% in 2025, down from 2.2% in 2024. That is the smallest annual gain since 2022, when inflation soared and caused Americans’ inflation-adjusted income to drop.
Wages and salaries are the largest component of incomes, and their growth has slowed as companies have sharply slowed hiring. Workers typically command smaller wage gains in such an environment.
Rep. Al Green is escorted from the chamber as Republicans chant ‘USA’
The House Sergeant at Arms approached and escorted Green, who stood as Trump began speaking with a sign reading “Black People Aren’t Apes!” from the chamber barely two minutes into the address.
Two Trump allies, Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas and Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, had approached the area where Green was sitting before Capitol Police escorted him out.
Before Green exited, some Republicans began chanting “USA.”
9:21 p.m. EST
Trump didn’t inherit a ‘stagnant economy’
“When I last spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just inherited a nation in crisis, with a stagnant economy.”
Not quite.
READ MORE: Live fact-checking Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address
Voters were unhappy with high inflation in the 2024 election, but the U.S. economy was far from stagnant.
U.S. gross domestic product rose 2.8% in 2024 after adjusting for inflation. That’s a stronger pace of growth than the 2.2% achieved last year during the start of Trump’s second term.
Trump briefly greets Supreme Court justices
The president briefly greeted the four Supreme Court justices, shaking their hands before quickly moving on.
Representing the court were Chief Justice John Roberts, Elena Kagan and two of Trump’s appointees, Brett Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan.
The greetings were notable because Trump angrily lashed out at the court after the justices in a 6-3 opinion Friday struck down his tariffs, a signature element of his economic policy.
Roberts, Coney Barrett and another Trump appointee, Neil Gorsuch, joined the court’s three liberal justices in voting down the tariffs.
Trump is less popular on immigration than when he took office last year
Although Trump’s overall presidential approval has remained largely steady in his first year, he’s lost support on his handling of immigration. An AP-NORC poll conducted in early February found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of the way he’s handling immigration, down from 49% last March.
POLL: Nearly two-thirds of Americans say ICE has gone too far in immigration crackdown
That shift means that immigration is no longer a strength for Trump. In his first few months, his approval on immigration exceeded his overall approval, but now they’re indistinguishable.
The February poll suggested that political independents, in particular, are increasingly uncomfortable with the president’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.
Trump begins speech
“Our nation is back — bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before.”
Trump opened with a triumphant assessment of his first year back in the White House, declaring, “this is the golden age of America.”
President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 2026. Photo by Jessica Koscielniak/Pool via Reuters
9:16 p.m. EST
Trump begins State of the Union address
“USA!” chants erupted in the chamber after House Speaker Mike Johnson introduced the president.
The president immediately acknowledged first lady Melania Trump and second lady Usha Vance, who both received standing ovations from Republicans.
Rep. Al Green unfurls sign of protest that reads ‘Black People Aren’t Apes!’
The congressman stood in silence as Trump walked past him after he unfurled the sign.
It appeared to refer to a video the president posted that spread false claims about the 2020 election and included a racist caricature of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama depicted as apes.
U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, holds a sign as President Donald Trump arrives to deliver the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 2026. Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
9:10 p.m. EST
Trump arrives at the State of the Union
The president received a standing ovation from across the chamber. Congressional Republicans, Supreme Court justices and the Joint Chiefs of Staff all clapped, and cheers could be heard from the crowd and gallery overlooking the House floor.
President Donald Trump arrives to deliver the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 2026. Photo by Kylie Cooper/Reuters
Trump’s Cabinet enters
Most members of the Cabinet chatted with lawmakers. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi shook hands with legislators, Supreme Court Justices and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before taking their seats.
Hegseth chatted and laughed with generals. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick mingled with senators. Transportation Secretary Scott Duffy enthusiastically shook the hand of Rep. Al Green, a frequent Trump critic, approaching and speaking with a group of Democratic senators.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner struck up conversations with lawmakers.
9:02 p.m. EST
First lady Melania Trump receives a standing ovation as she enters the chamber
Republicans and attendees in the gallery overlooking the House floor cheered and whistled for the first lady as she waved to her fellow attendees.
Democrats stood, but few clapped.
Justices of the Supreme Court arrive for State of the Union after Trump’s calls
Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett took their seats directly in front of the dais where the president is set to speak.
Trump last week called justices “disloyal” after the high court delivered a ruling that struck down his tariff regime on imported goods.
“I couldn’t care less if they come,” he later said on whether the justices should attend tonight’s address.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Amy Coney Barrett at the House Chamber before President Donald Trump delivers the first State of the Union address of his second term to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 2026. Photo by Kenny Holston/Pool via Reuters
Obama’s chief speechwriter: State of the Union speeches are a ‘relic’
Jon Favreau was lead writer for several Barack Obama addresses. He says the whole thing is relatively pointless.
“It’s become a relic of a speech that barely matters,” Favreau said on the social platform X. He argued that “the people who are paying attention tend to be politically engaged types who’ve already made up their minds.”
There is little political effect” when the speech is a success” and “when it’s a disaster,” Favreau said.
There are rare occasions, of course, when it matters.
Democrat Joe Biden used his 2024 speech to calm his party’s concerns about his age as he sought reelection — only to have a disastrous debate performance months later that led to him dropping out.
Republicans are hoping Trump can achieve the same kind of stabilizing effect ahead of the November elections. And since it’s a midterm year, there’s no debate stage later for him to give voters another look.
8:53 p.m. EST
Joint Chiefs of Staff speak with lawmakers ahead of State of the Union
Members of Congress from both parties shook hands with the nation’s top military brass, including Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Trump has arrived at the Capitol
The president left the White House at 8:33 p.m. and arrived at the Capitol at 8:41 p.m. His address is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m.
Trump to go after Democrats on Homeland Security shutdown
As lawmakers sit in the House chamber, the Department of Homeland Security remains shuttered, with its funding having run out Jan. 30.
Trump will use his address to blame the shutdown on Democrats, who have been insisting on changes to law enforcement practices by federal immigration agents before agreeing to fund the agency.
“As we speak, Democrats in this chamber have cut off all funding for the Department of Homeland Security. They have closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and murderers,” Trump will say in his address, according to excerpts released by the White House. “Tonight, I am demanding the full and immediate restoration of all funding for the border security and homeland security of the United States.”
White House officials have been trading policy offers with top Democratic leaders, but both sides have indicated they are not close to an agreement on ending the shutdown.
8:41 p.m. EST
Vice President JD Vance and U.S. senators enter House chamber
Vance and Senate Majority Leader John Thune shook hands with lawmakers as they entered.
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer followed alongside the rest of the senators in attendance.
The gallery broke out into applause at the senators’ arrivals.
Vice President JD Vance arrives at the House Chamber before President Donald Trump delivers the first State of the Union address of his second term to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 2026. Photo by Kenny Holston/Pool via Reuters
Rep. Al Green, congressman removed from chamber during Trump’s last speech to Congress, arrives
In 2024, House Speaker Mike Johnson instructed the House Sergeant of Arms to remove Green from the chamber after a verbal altercation with the president over the Trump administration’s early policies.
A Texas Democrat who last year twice mounted unsuccessful impeachment efforts, Green has been an ardent critic of Trump since the president’s first term.
On Tuesday night, he spoke on the floor with several lawmakers, including Rep. Shri Thanedar, a Michigan Democrat who also proposed failed impeachment legislation last year.
8:34 p.m. EST
Paramount CEO David Ellison to attend
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina made a provocative choice for a guest: David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount who is making a play to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
Ellison and his tech billionaire father, Larry Ellison, have endeared themselves with Trump’s political movement.
The scion and Hollywood mogul is locked in a contest against Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, and his presence at the address might serve as a signal for Republicans’ preferences regarding the deal.
‘Left or right, we’re all on the same team’ — at least for a minute
“It’s a huge night for President Trump, and the stakes could not be higher,” anchor Anderson Cooper said at the open of CNN’s coverage Tuesday night.
“Can he convince the American public that his policies are working?” co-anchor Jake Tapper asked.
The cable news networks had hourlong pregame shows, and each started with different approaches.
“The State of the Union is always a big night, no matter who the president is,” Rachel Maddow said at the top on MS NOW, formerly MSNBC. “Tonight it definitely feels a little bit uniquely unpredictable.”
On Fox News Channel, Jesse Watters began his show with a focus on heroes, noting the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team visited the White House in the wake of its gold medal. Watters called it one of the most exciting, patriotic and unifying moments for the country in decades.
“Left or right, we’re all on the same team,” Watters said.
But he quickly pivoted to a political attack, criticizing some Democrats who announced they would not be attending.
Reaction in the room could matter as much as Trump’s words
Trump is delivering the speech, but his audience sitting in the House chamber has a big role, too. When Trump delivered his 2020 State of the Union, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi theatrically ripped up a copy of the speech afterward, overshadowing much of what Trump said.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York has said in a letter to colleagues “it is important to have a strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber,” indicating some members might choose not to attend in protest to Trump. But there’s also the possibility of Democrats razzing Trump as Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, did in 2025, leading him to be removed from the chamber.
8:31 p.m. EST
Sen. Padilla to look toward the future in Spanish-language response to SOTU
“The Dream that has inspired generations of Americans and immigrants will remain long after Trump is gone.”
California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla will outline a “better path” forward for the country in his Spanish-language response to the State of the Union address, according to excerpts released ahead of the speech.
“The truth is that the State of our Union does not feel strong for everyone,” Padilla plans to say.
Padilla’s remarks come after a high-profile confrontation last year in which he was shoved to the ground and briefly handcuffed by federal agents after confronting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a Los Angeles news conference.
“They may have knocked me down for a moment, but I got right back up,” Padilla plans to say.
Lawmakers begin arriving
An hour before the president’s address was set to start, dozens of Republican and Democratic House members were already seated and trickling into the chamber.
Per usual, lawmakers generally stuck to their side of the chamber’s partisan divide, though some Democrats and Republicans could be seen mingling as it filled up. Some Democrats posed for photos with colleagues.
At least one senator, Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, was seated before any colleagues from her side of the Capitol arrived.
Most don’t think the country is headed in the right direction
Few Americans, 29%, think the country is heading in the right direction, according to the most recent AP-NORC poll. Most, 69%, believe things are heading in the wrong direction.
That pessimism is higher than it was when Trump took office last year. Last March, about 6 in 10 Americans said the country was heading in the wrong direction.
That’s partially because Republicans’ mood grew much darker last fall, after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Republicans are now more optimistic than they were a few months ago, but only about 6 in 10 say the country is heading in the right direction, down from about 7 in 10 last March.
7:52 p.m. EST
Democrats use invitations to highlight Trump’s immigration crackdown
Several Democratic members of Congress have invited guests to the State of the Union who they say highlight the cruelty and chaos of the president’s clampdown on immigration.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York has invited the mother of a New York City school student who is being held by immigration authorities, while Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado is bringing a college student who was arrested during a traffic stop and then detained in an ICE facility for more than two weeks.
WATCH: U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents describe how they were treated
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas has invited a pediatric critical care specialist who has repeatedly called attention to the poor medical care that children and mothers can face in immigration detention. And guests of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota include four people who were affected by the recent immigration crackdown in the Minneapolis area.
7:22 p.m. EST
Epstein survivor attending State of the Union hopes for acknowledgment from Trump
Lisa Phillips, who was invited by Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter of Oregon to attend in her place, said she was “just hoping for some type of acknowledgment” from the president during his address.
Phillips said she is “really close” with the other Epstein survivors who are attending, and while she felt a bit overwhelmed before her first State of the Union, it is always empowering to “stand here with my survivor sisters.”
“We’re not stopping until all the files are released,” she said.
How long were other presidents speaking?
Here are some recent averages:
- Joe Biden: 1:07:22
- Barack Obama: 1:02:45
- George W. Bush: 52:35
- Lyndon Johnson: 50:38
- George H.W. Bush: 45:32
- Gerald Ford: 45:31
- Ronald Reagan: 40 minutes (approx.)
- Jimmy Carter: 36:53
- Richard Nixon: 35:26
Measured in words, the brevity award goes to George Washington for his first speech. On Jan. 8, 1790, he spoke 1,089 words.
Senate Democrats vote to block DHS funding ahead of Trump’s address
The president will be entering a Capitol where lawmakers are at an impasse over funding the Department of Homeland Security as Democrats demand changes to how federal immigration agents conduct raids.
WATCH: Whistleblower and former ICE attorney calls agent training ‘deficient, defective and broke’
Legislation to fund the department failed to advance in the Senate yet again Tuesday evening as every Democrat present except Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted against it. There has been little sign of movement toward an agreement to reopen DHS since it shut down 10 days ago.
Trump says his State of the Union will be long — and that’s his normal
The president says to expect a long address. He’s already been the most loquacious president from LBJ forward, as measured by the University of California Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project.
Trump’s joint addresses and State of the Union speeches in his first presidency averaged 80 minutes and 20 seconds. Last year, his joint address topped 99 minutes – longer than any recorded State of the Union.
Only Bill Clinton, at almost 75 minutes, regularly approached Trump’s duration.
6:20 p.m. EST
Melania Trump’s guests include a young history buff and AI advocate
At 11 years old, Everest Nevraumont has three regional history bee titles and her own TEDx talk. On Tuesday she’ll add another honor: guest to the first lady at the State of the Union.
“Like everybody in the entire world is watching it, and I’m right there in the same room,” Everest said in a Tuesday interview.
The first lady champions the use of artificial intelligence — one of Everest’s passions. Her TEDx talk explores how she uses AI to learn, and she’s a student at the Alpha School in Austin, Texas, where learning is powered by AI.
Everest said she’s been using AI tools to study the history of the State of the Union. She was thrilled to get a tour of the White House (she loved the paintings and the “poofy” furniture).
Being chosen to sit with the first lady reflects AI’s growing national importance, she said, and also that “academic achievements like the history bee actually really pay off.”
5:15 p.m. EST
Speaker Johnson will display Washington’s gavel during speech
Speaker Mike Johnson will display George Washington’s gavel during the State of the Union.
The U.S. Capitol Historical Society says it’s the first time the gavel will be displayed during the president’s speech to Congress. It will sit on the rostrum in honor the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.
Washington used the gavel in 1793 to lay the cornerstone of the Capitol building, according to the Historical Society. It’s been maintained ever since by the Potomac Lodge No. 5, a Masonic Lodge in Washington, D.C.
“At the Capitol site, Washington stepped into a dug trench, laid a silver plate onto the ground, and set the cornerstone atop it,” the Capitol Historical Society wrote in a news release. “He was accompanied by brethren who conducted a Masonic ritual with corn (a symbol of nourishment), wine (a symbol of refreshment), and oil (a symbol of joy). Witnesses then chanted and celebrated until night.”
No. 2 ranked House Democratic leader won’t attend Trump’s address
Rep. Katherine Clark, the House Democratic whip, says she will skip the State of the Union address and instead attend an alternative event.
A large portion of the Democratic Caucus is planning to not attend the president’s speech, and Clark is one of the highest ranked in leadership to make that move.
“Rather than listen to Donald Trump lie to the American people, I will be hearing from the people of my district about their personal experiences with skyrocketing costs, new barriers to health care, dismantled Social Security services, and brutal cuts to medical research,” she said in a statement.
Technology has meant State of the Union firsts for presidents and voters
In the era of written messages, Americans could read the president’s report to Congress because newspapers around the country routinely reprinted excerpts or full text.
Then came mass media, allowing Americans to hear and see the president in real time. Radio audiences first heard Calvin Coolidge’s State of the Union in 1923. Truman followed with the first televised address in 1947. Lyndon Johnson moved to prime time in 1965.
Cable network expansion led to televised focus groups. Select voters listened and reacted word by word — a breakthrough in public opinion research.
George W. Bush’s White House offered the first livestream address in 2002. Barack Obama’s White House set a new curve in 2013 by adding infographics to the stream.
And now, in the social media age, snippets of the speech and commentary circulate widely — from power players and everyday voters — even as the president still speaks.
4:33 p.m. EST
Schumer’s State of the Union guest, victim of Epstein’s abuse, calls on Trump to ‘release the damn files’
Speaking at a news conference with Senate Democrats, Dani Bensky said she and other victims want the Department of Justice to release “every single file,” to investigate those “who caused harm to so many victims” and to properly redact their information when files are released.
Bensky has said she was sexually abused by Epstein two decades ago. She said Tuesday that she felt victimized again when her information was exposed in a recent release of Epstein’s case files.
Schumer said “the American people deserve the truth and survivors deserve accountability.”
The 20th century changed the State of the Union
The president’s annual message was once a catch-all report of the executive branch, especially in the era when it was written.
That changed over the first half of the 20th century. In 1921, Congress passed the National Budget and Accounting Act, which effectively required the president to submit a separate budget proposal — even if Congress never acts on it. The Employment Act of 1946 paved the way for a separate economic report from the administration.
The latter change dovetailed with the advent of the television political era, with Truman’s televised speech in 1947.
The speech has remained policy-heavy since then but presidents from Truman forward have been freer to make an inherently political pitch for their agenda — speaking in front of Congress but clearly aiming beyond the House chamber to voters at home.
4:29 p.m. EST
Democratic leader says Trump should apologize to Americans for the high cost of living
Jeffries says Trump should use his speech “as an opportunity to apologize to the American people for breaking every single promise that he made — particularly his promise to lower the high cost of living on Day One.”
Affordability has been top of mind for many lawmakers after Trump late last year called affordability a “hoax.”
“Nobody out there in America believes it’s a hoax, because far too many people are struggling to live paycheck. to paycheck,” Jeffries said.
While inflation has cooled some, dropping to 2.7% in January, the cost of food, gas, and apartment rents have soared after the pandemic, with consumer prices still about 25% higher than they were five years ago.
Leading Democrat on Senate Intel committee calls on Trump to explain Iran strategy
Following a classified briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the escalating tensions with Iran “an extraordinarily serious time.”
Warner said Trump should “make the case what our country’s goals are, what our country’s interests are and how we’re going to protect American interests in the region.”
Trump adds 3 outlets to SOTU anchors lunch
One of the traditions of a president’s State of the Union is the customary lunch with anchors from the major television networks.
Usually off the record, the lunch is a chance for the president to fill in top newscasters on his thinking ahead of the high-profile address.
This year, Trump invited three other outlets to the lunch: Breitbart, Newsmax and NewsNation. Leavitt said all those outlets “deserve a seat at the highly coveted table.”
3:57 p.m. EST
The TV era gave rise to the opposition response — with plenty of disadvantages
LBJ delivered the first prime time State of the Union in 1965. Networks gave Republicans a response time the following year and have done so since.
Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois and House Minority Leader (and future President) Gerald Ford of Michigan shared that first response.
The role often goes to perceived rising stars (Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will follow Trump). But it’s a thankless task. The president has the pomp and circumstance of the House chamber — impossible scenes and effects to replicate.
WATCH LIVE: Gov. Spanberger delivers Democratic response to Trump’s State of the Union
Results vary widely. Some, like Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams in 2019, get mostly positive reviews only to fade from the spotlight. Others, like Marco Rubio in 2013, get panned — and end up as secretary of state and a potential presidential contender.
Only Ford, George H.W. Bush (1978), Bill Clinton (1985) and Joe Biden (1986) have later given a State of the Union address themselves.
U.S. hockey team members meet Trump in the Oval Office
“I recognize every one of you. I know every one of you,” Trump said as the players entered. “Big guys,” he observed.
Trump stood by his desk and shook hands with the players as each one approached. They wore dark long-sleeved tops with “USA,” the American flag and the Olympic rings on the front and light colored pants.
Their gold medals hung around their necks.
The teammates posed for a photograph on the South Lawn and also took in the collection of presidential portraits Trump installed along a walkway between the White House residence and the West Wing.
3:17 p.m. EST
Democrats say negotiations over DHS shutdown are stalled as Trump blames them for funding lapse
Democratic leaders say negotiations with the White House over reopening the Department of Homeland Security are at a stalemate as they demand changes to federal immigration enforcement.
The department’s funding expired Jan. 30. Schumer said Tuesday that Democrats “have heard crickets” from the White House since they sent a proposal to end the shutdown last week.
He said the White House “has not budged on the key issues” like requiring agents to take off masks and obtain warrants before entering homes. Federal agents shot and killed two protesters in Minneapolis last month.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that “until that changes, the DHS funding bill is not going to move forward.”
“There hasn’t been any real, recent communication with the White House,” Jeffries said.
Leavitt said Tuesday that Trump will call on Democrats to reopen the department in his State of the Union speech and will call the shutdown “despicable.”
Last week, Leavitt called the latest Democratic proposal “unserious.” Neither side has made their proposals public.
Stay or go? Democratic leaders say it’s up to each member to decide
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said there will be some members who sit in “silent defiance,” and others who choose not to attend Trump’s speech.
“Some are coming and some are not,” Senate Democratic Leader Schumer said.
Speaker Mike Johnson had criticized those boycotting, but Jeffries said it’s each member’s choice based on what makes the most sense for their constituents back home.
Jeffries said the Republicans, in the majority in Congress, are in no position to lecture because rather than operate as a separate and co-equal branch of government, they’re a “reckless rubberstamp” for Trump’s agenda.
2:42 p.m. EST
Trump to say that tech companies will pay more for electricity linked to AI development
Trump will announce as part of his State of the Union that tech companies involved in artificial intelligence are agreeing to pay higher electricity rates in areas where their data centers are located, according to a White House official who insisted on anonymity to discuss the speech.
The official said it would be one of many announcements related to the economy.
Data centers tend to use large volumes of electricity, creating a concern that they could lead to higher prices for households at a time when affordability is a leading concern for the electorate. The Wall Street Journal first reported the president’s plans to discuss.
— Joshua Boak
U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team members arrive at the White House
Trump invited the team to his State of the Union address after it brought home a gold medal by defeating Canada at the just-concluded Olympics in Italy.
It was not immediately clear if Trump would hold a press appearance at the White House with the members of the team.
1:49 p.m. EST
Ukraine ambassador plans to attend State of the Union address
The address comes on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Olga Stefanishyna, said she expects that Trump, who has made ending the war a priority and whose advisers have been mediating peace negotiations, will touch on the conflict in his address.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained maximalist demands, insisting Kyiv pull its forces from four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed but never fully captured. Trump argues it’s inevitable that Russia will win control of the Ukrainian territory and has pressured President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a deal to save lives.
“We do not expect that … everything we heard before will change into something new, and you know we will hear something extremely like positive or you know inspiring,” Stefanishyna told reporters. “But at the same time, we want President Trump to hear us ahead of the speech that, you know, despite all the complexity and tragedy of what is happening in Ukraine, still Ukrainian people very much rely on his leadership.”
1:06 p.m. EST
Minnesota Democrats use invitations to protest immigration crackdown
Some Democrats in Minnesota’s congressional delegation are using their privilege of inviting guests to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech to protest his administration’s immigration crackdown.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, of Minneapolis, invited four people impacted by Operation Metro Surge. They include Aliya Rahman, a disabled U.S. citizen who was filmed being pulled from her car by ICE officers on her way to a medical appointment; and Mary Granlund, chair of the Columbia Heights School Board, who championed 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, an Ecuadorian boy who was detained with his father and sent to a detention center in Texas.
WATCH: Minnesota schools and students struggle with fallout of immigration crackdown
But GOP Rep. Pete Stauber, from northeastern Minnesota, invited two conservative YouTubers — Nick Shirley and David Hoch — whose report alleging fraud at Minnesota child care centers caught Trump’s attention and provided an impetus for the surge.
Several Trump lieutenants could be in the spotlight after recent scrutiny
Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel will be worth watching for anyone wanting clues about their standing.
Trump has publicly backed all three but each is under public scrutiny.
WATCH: Pam Bondi appears at House Judiciary Committee hearing on Justice Department oversight
Noem survived a shakeup of Trump’s immigration crackdown. But she did not testify during DHS congressional hearings after two citizen protesters were killed in Minneapolis.
Bondi defended the president in a congressional hearing over the Jeffrey Epstein case files but has drawn criticism even from some Republicans for her handling of the matter.
Patel, after taking heat over the Epstein files, as well, is getting renewed attention after traveling to Milan for the Olympics even as he previously critiqued Democratic officials’ use of government resources to travel.
Trump notably did not call on either Noem or Bondi during his last Cabinet meeting that featured agency heads praising the president.
Erika Kirk will be among Trump’s guests in the House chamber, press secretary says
Leavitt said on X that Charlie Kirk’s widow will be one of the president’s guests.
“The president will call on Congress to ‘firmly reject political violence against our fellow citizens’ with Charlie Kirk’s widow in the chamber,” Leavitt posted.
Trump spoke at Kirk’s Arizona memorial service, where Erika Kirk said she forgave her husband’s assassin “because it was what Christ did. And is what Charlie would do.”
The president said during the service that he held a different view: “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry. I am sorry, Erika.”
Melania Trump’s speech guests represent her focus on AI education and foster youth
The White House says the guests who will sit with the first lady in the House gallery during the speech include:
Ten-year-old Everest Nevraumont, a student at the Alpha School in Austin, Texas, where learning is powered by artificial intelligence. Everest is a public speaker and advocate for AI education who gave a TEDx talk on how she uses the technology in her learning.
The first lady champions the use of AI and launched the Presidential AI Challenge, a White House-sponsored contest for students.
Foster care advocate Sierra Burns, 24, of Greenville, South Carolina. Burns grew up in foster care and benefited from the first lady’s Foster Youth to Independence Program. Last year, Melania Trump secured $30 million in funding to help young people transition out of foster care.
Spanberger to deliver Democratic rebuttal to Trump from Virginia historical site
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver Tuesday night’s Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union from Colonial Williamsburg, invoking the historic backdrop as she frames her message.
Colonial Williamsburg, a living history museum with restored 18th-century buildings and interpreters, is seen as the center of Virginia’s early opposition to British rule. Spanberger’s team says she plans to draw on that legacy and connect it to the country’s current political moment.
In her brief rebuttal, Spanberger is also expected to emphasize affordability — the message her team credits with helping her secure a double-digit victory in flipping a previously Republican-held office.
Democratic women and their guests wearing ‘suffragette white’ to confront Trump
The women of the House Democratic Women’s Caucus and their guests, including a number of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse, are dressing in all white for the address this evening, modeling themselves after the early 20th-century women who pressed for the right to vote and other rights.
“Tonight, when Donald Trump looks out into the chamber, he will see a wall of white,” said Democratic Rep. Jill Tokuda of Hawaii.
Some lawmakers are also wearing pins that express support for Epstein survivors and call for the release of case files on Epstein that do not redact information on his associates.
“We are standing here in solidarity so that we are not forgotten,” said Sharlene Rochard, one of the survivors,
Speaker calls boycotts of Trump’s speech ‘shameful’
The House speaker said Democrats protest everything, from the president’s joint address to the administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown.
“It’s shameful,” Johnson said.
He said the Democrats have nothing to offer but their “TDS agenda” — what the president’s supporters call “Trump Derangement Syndrome” by those opposed to the president’s policies.
A phone call, a scramble and Men’s Olympic hockey team to attend, House speaker says
Johnson says Trump called him Sunday night saying the needed to make changes.
“‘We need some more guests,'” the speaker recalled Trump saying.
The visitors’ gallery was already full, Johnson explained, with waiting lists of those trying to get tickets for seats.
Auston Matthews #34 of Team United States celebrates after the game against Team Canada during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Photo by Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
“‘Mr. President, how many people are you talking about?” the speaker asked.
“The whole team,” he said Trump told him.
Johnson said they’ve been working out logistics and are going to “squeeze in” the gold-medal winning hockey players. “It’ll be a great moment,” he said.
The gold-medal winning women’s Olympic team declined Trump’s invitation to attend.
After confronting Noem in Los Angeles, Sen. Padilla to deliver Democrat’s Spanish-language response
Sen. Alex Padilla will deliver the Democratic Party’s Spanish-language response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union on Tuesday night, elevating a California Democrat who made national headlines last year after being forced to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents.
Padilla had confronted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a Los Angeles news conference, attempting to speak out about immigration raids that sparked protests in California and across the country.
The son of Mexican immigrants, Padilla said in a statement that his response will focus on “a better path — one that lowers costs, safeguards our democracy, and reins in rogue federal agencies.”
The Spanish-language response comes as Democrats try to reclaim ground with Latino voters ahead of the midterms, after Trump increased his share of Latino support in 2024 compared with 2020.
12:43 p.m. EST
Trump and Wilson speeches have parallels and contrasts
Trump speaks days after the Supreme Court invalidated his tariffs imposed as national emergency measures, leading him to reup levies under different statutes.
Woodrow Wilson, the president who revived in-person congressional address, addressed lawmakers on tariffs weeks after taking office in 1913. It wasn’t his official annual message (that would come months later). But, like Trump, Wilson wanted to mold Congress and public opinion.
Unlike Trump, Wilson wanted income taxes on the wealthiest Americans to lower tariffs imposed through his Republican predecessors – including one of Trump’s favorites, William McKinley.
Wilson urged the U.S. to “build up trade” while trusting “the whetting of American wits by contest with the wits of the rest of the world.”
In 1917, Wilson asked Congress in-person to declare war on Germany. Trump is considering military action against Iran and has taken action in Venezuelan — but not sought congressional approval for either.
Trump owes his State of the Union platform to a Democratic predecessor
From the end of John Adams’ presidency in 1801 to the start of Woodrow Wilson’s in 1913, the State of the Union was a mere letter ferried down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Adams’ successor, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, was considered a more comfortable writer than speaker and sought to avoid spectacles that he associated more with monarchy than a democratic republic.
So, to satisfy the Constitution’s requirement that the president “shall from time to time” apprise Congress on “the State of the Union,” the third president wrote to lawmakers instead of addressing them in person.
Thus began a century-plus tradition of written presidential read on Capitol Hill by congressional clerks.
Wilson bucked that tradition, viewing in-person speeches to Congress as a valuable presidential megaphone to shape public opinion and congressional action. Every president since has addressed joint sessions of Congress.
Trump will urge Democrats to fund the Department of Homeland Security
“He will call on Democrats in Congress to reopen the Department of Homeland Security,” Leavitt told reporters, blaming Democrats for the department’s shutdown and calling the situation “despicable.”
She said Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel are in the Northeast and working without pay as a result of the shutdown to help authorities restore power to hundreds of thousands of people after the blizzard.
DHS funding lapsed on Jan. 30 as Democrats demanded changes to federal immigration enforcement.
The shutdown is also affecting several agencies within the department, including the Coast Guard, Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration.
The White House and Democrats have been negotiating potential changes to ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies after federal agents fatally shot two protesters in Minnesota.
But the two sides appear to be at a stalemate after the White House rejected the latest offer from Democrats last week.
Kansas City Mayor says urban crime is dropping ‘in spite of Trump’
Democrats are attempting to get ahead of Trump’s anticipated celebration of lower crime rates during his State of the Union speech.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said the drop is because of initiatives taken at the local level — not the aggressive steps from the White House.
“While mayors would welcome a federal partner who works with them, and not against them, the Trump Administration has done nothing to help,” Lucas said in a statement. “In fact, it has actively made our cities less safe.”
Lucas, who leads the Democratic Mayors Association, said the administration has “recklessly attacked our cities, undermining them at every turn.”
Trump will be face-to-face with the Supreme Court he trashed
The president blasted the three Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices who sided against his tariffs.
He’ll almost certainly have them sitting in front of him Tuesday night. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett are regular attendees at the State of the Union.
When reporters asked Trump about his appointees, Gorsuch and Barrett, he declared their tariff votes “an embarrassment to their families.”
Trump has been similarly personal on the debate stage during campaigns. But he has a history of avoiding conflict with rivals — real and perceived — when they’re in the room. He was especially chummy with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office after previously calling him a communist.
President Barack Obama notably criticized the court during a joint address after its Citizen United decision that expanded big money in politics. Roberts shook his head, visibly perturbed by Obama’s critique.
House Democratic leader invites Jackson family among SOTU guests
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said House Democrats intend to carry on the legacy of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson.
The Brooklyn congressman also invited Vonetta Rougier, a bus operator and a caregiver for her family, from his district. He said she is “picking up extra shifts just to keep up with the skyrocketing price of housing, food and healthcare.”
He he is also welcoming Marina Lacerda, who is among the Epstein survivors attending as guests of the Democratic Women’s Caucus.
Speaker Johnson invites moon-bound astronauts as guests
Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen are preparing for Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed mission in more than half a century to venture around the moon.
They will join the House speaker’s seats at the speech.
Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., is also hosting other guests, including Claire Lai, the daughter of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media tycoon who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after his criticism of Beijing.
Johnson is co-hosting her visit with Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., a longtime champion of the family.
Trump will have guests to highlight his policies
The president will have multiple guests in the House gallery, including some who will make for touching moments, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“You’re going to hear the President share the stories of everyday Americans who have benefited from his policies,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House. “You’re gunna hear the president share tear-jerking stories of American heroes past and present who really exemplify what it means to be a patriotic American.”
Trump’s guests will include a worker who is benefitting from a new tax exemption on tip and overtime income and a woman who is saving money on infertility treatments.
“He’ll be sharing these stories again of every day Americans who are benefiting from his policies,” Leavitt said on Fox & Friends.
Trump’s big speech will be delivered to a Congress he has sidelined
As the lawmakers sit in the House chamber listening to Trump’s agenda for the year ahead, the moment is an existential one for the Congress, which has essentially become sidelined by his expansive reach, the Republican president bypassing his slim GOP majority to amass enormous power for himself.
The GOP-led Congress has largely stood by as Trump dramatically seized power through hundreds of executive actions, many being challenged in court, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to impose his agenda.
READ MORE: Trump’s big speech will be delivered to a changed nation and a Congress he has sidelined
“It’s crazy,” said Nancy Henderson Korpi, a retiree in northern Minnesota who joined an Indivisible protest group and plans to watch the speech from home. “But what is disturbing more to me is that Congress has essentially just handed over their power.”
She said, “We could make some sound decisions and changes if Congress would do their job.”
It wasn’t always called the State of the Union
The State of the Union address gets its name directly from the U.S. Constitution.
Article II, which establishes the presidency and its powers and duties, states in part: “He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”
READ MORE: The word nearly every president uses to describe the state of the union
But until the World War II years, presidents fulfilled that duty with an “Annual Message,” whether in writing (from Thomas Jefferson through William Howard Taft) or in person (George Washington, John Adams and every president from Woodrow Wilson to Trump).
Franklin Roosevelt’s Annual Message began being called, colloquially, his “state of the Union” message in 1942.
Harry Truman’s 1947 speech, according to the Congressional Research Service, was the first annual address officially recognized a “State of the Union” message. It was also the first to be televised.
Trump will highlight U.S. military accomplishments as he threatens war against Iran
Leavitt said one of the missions Trump will talk about during the speech is last summer’s Operation Midnight Hammer, in which the U.S. bombed several nuclear sites in Iran.
Trump, who says those sites were “obliterated,” is again threatening Iran with military action and flooding the region with U.S. military assets if Iran fails to reach an agreement with the U.S. over its nuclear program. Another round of negotiations is set for Thursday in Switzerland.
WATCH: Trump suggests limited strikes to push Iran to nuclear deal
“You’ll hear the president proudly and rightfully say that the United States military is the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world,” Leavitt said at the White House.
“And you will hear him talk about the threats that remain abroad” and “what the United States is doing to ensure that not only America is the safest country in the world, but remains the strongest country in the world.”
Trump’s speech will celebrate America’s 250th anniversary
“You’re going to hear a speech that’s a celebration of 250 years of our nation and our nation’s independence,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House.
WATCH: George Washington’s vision for American identity tested 250 years later
Trump will tell stories about “everyday Americans who have benefited from his policies” and also share “tear-jerking stories of American heroes, past and present, who really exemplify what it means to be a patriotic American,” she said.
The United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.