State of the Union address live updates: Trump clashes with Democrats on immigration

European leaders all marked the anniversary of the Ukraine war by visiting Kyiv, but no Cabinet-level U.S. official attended.

Statement

Verdict

Trump's comments about mail ballots are false.

Analysis

The SAVE America Act, which was approved by the House but has not passed the Senate, proposes adding significant new proof of citizenship and voter ID requirements, but it wouldn't eliminate mail voting.

Trump's waiting till 10:30 p.m. to even begin talking about Iran is, once again, not really making the case to the American people for why military action there may be needed someday soon.

There was some audible laughter in the chamber after Trump claimed that he ended eight wars during his first 10 months in office.

“Isn’t it funny? Sick people,” Trump said, looking in the direction of the laughter.

Statement

Verdict

This is exaggerated.

Analysis

There is no consensus about how many wars or potential wars Trump has ended or helped end. And where peace has prevailed, Trump’s impact as a mediator is up for debate.

Trump has claimed credit for ending conflicts between Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Thailand and Cambodia, Serbia and Kosovo, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and India and Pakistan.

In some cases, fighting has resumed after declarations of peace or ceasefires, including between Thailand and Cambodia and Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. And in other cases, there was no shooting war in the first place, as with Egypt and Ethiopia, but Trump’s envoys sought to defuse tensions that could trigger a conflict over a dam project.

Trump has claimed that in his first term, a U.S.-brokered economic secured peace between Serbia and Kosovo. The two sides have not been in a shooting war since the 1990s, but deep political tensions persist, despite the deal agreed upon during Trump’s first term.

Some of the countries’ leaders have said Trump helped end the fighting, including between Israel and Iran, Thailand and Cambodia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Pakistan and India. Pakistan has described Trump as having played an instrumental role in ending a war with India. But India’s government has denied that the U.S. played a role in negotiating the ceasefire, saying the fighting ended as a result of direct talks between the two countries.

Israel and regional experts have credited Trump with helping end a 12-day war between Israel and Iran after he ordered airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear sites. Trump is now threatening another U.S. air attack on Iran depending on the outcome of diplomatic talks with Iranian officials Thursday.

Even Trump’s critics have praised his role in helping broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, though the ceasefire remains fragile.

Harbani Kohli contributed reporting.

Trump lavished praise on Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Marco, you have done a great job," he said. "Great secretary of state. I think he’ll go down as the best ever."

The cheers and applause for Rubio might have been the loudest of the night, save for those for Team USA.

Watch: Lawmakers stand in support of immigration enforcement while others shout

03:09

Trump asked audience members to stand if they believed "the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens."

Republicans stood up for several minutes and clapped, while the Democrats remained seated. Trump then said, "You should be ashamed of yourselves, not standing up."

As he continued speaking, a few members sitting on the Democratic side of the chamber began yelling out.

Trump honors Charlie Kirk, condemns political violence 'of any kind'

01:48

During a section of his speech about the rise in Christianity in the U.S. over the last year, Trump honored the late Charlie Kirk, who he said was "martyred" for his beliefs.

"I’m very proud to say that during my time in office, both the first four years and, in particular, this last year, there has been a tremendous renewal in religion, faith, Christianity and belief in God," Trump said. "This is especially true among young people, and a big part of that had to do with my great friend, Charlie Kirk, great guy."

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., heckled Trump by calling on him to release the Epstein files.

“These people are crazy, I’m telling you. They’re crazy,” Trump said, gesturing toward the Democratic side of the room. “Boy, oh, boy, we’re lucky. We have a country with people like this. Democrats are destroying our country, but we’ve stopped it just in the nick of time, didn’t we?"

Tlaib continued to yell: “How about those Epstein files?”

Lawmakers, including Tlaib and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., are wearing buttons tonight that say “Stand with survivors, release the files.”

Trump called on Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, also known as the SAVE Act, which would force all Americans to show proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.

Most states already have laws requiring voters to show some form of ID at the polls. It's illegal for noncitizens to vote.

"Why would anybody not want voter ID? One reason — because they want to cheat; there’s only one reason," Trump said. "They make up all excuses, they say it’s racist, they come up with things you almost say what imagination, they had."

Trump then referred to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whom he called the "new communist mayor of New York City." This week, city officials required people to show forms of ID to get paid for shoveling the city's snow.

"I think he’s a nice guy," Trump said of Mamdani. "Bad policy, but nice guy."

Statement

Verdict

This needs context.

Analysis

Egg prices came down over the last year — dipping around 48% from January 2025 to January 2026, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Meanwhile, beef prices keep hitting all-time highs — with ground beef reaching a fresh record at $6.75 per pound last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Trump announced an effort dubbed the "Rate Payer Protection Pledge" to obligate tech companies to provide their own power for the data centers that power the artificial intelligence boom

Trump's announcement comes amid voter backlash to AI data centers, which require substantial power to operate and have been connected with electricity bill hikes for consumers. A cornerstone of Trump's economic agenda has been both rapid AI data center buildout and ensuring that tech companies face minimal regulation as they develop AI.

Governors, including Democrats J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, have announced new efforts aimed at curbing electricity bill spikes connected to data centers.

Recent polling shows that barring members of Congress from trading stocks is overwhelmingly popular.

A Fox News poll conducted Jan. 23-26 found 75% of registered voters favor banning current members of Congress and their immediate family and staff members from trading stocks, while 24% oppose doing so.

Statement

Verdict

This lacks evidence.

Analysis

The figure far exceeds estimates from the Justice Department, which has so far charged 98 people in Minnesota, 85 of whom are Somali, with $1 billion of fraud. The House Oversight Committee has estimated the fraud “could exceed $9 billion” as investigations continue.

Federal prosecutors have also indicated that the total amount of federal taxpayer money that was misused could be as much as about $9 billion. That number stems from a federal prosecutor’s public statement that estimated that half of the $18 billion in federal funds paid out to 14 programs in the state may have been fraudulent.

Trump again called Minnesota's Somali community "pirates," as he has in recent weeks.

"The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind us that there are large parts of the world where bribery, corruption and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception," Trump said. "Importing these cultures through unrestricted immigration and open borders brings those problems right here to the USA."

Trump announces Vance will lead the 'war on fraud'

01:09

He made the comments after he referred to a fraud scandal in the state, which implicated several dozen people, including some Somali immigrants.

Trump blamed Somalis and other undocumented immigrants for "higher medical bills, car insurance rates, rent, taxes and, perhaps most importantly, crime."

"We can take care of this problem," he said. "We are not playing games."

Trump got applause from some Democrats after he called for the passage of an act prohibiting lawmakers from trading stocks, prompting him to refer to former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., stood up and clapped for Trump.

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi is seen before President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address. Alex Brandon / AP

Trump, reacting, said: “They stood up for that. I can’t believe it.”

“Did Nancy Pelosi stand up if she was here? Doubt it,” Trump added. Pelosi, who as House speaker clashed with Trump during his first term, was shaking her head during Trump’s remark.

Statement

Verdict

This needs context.

Analysis

It's true that 10 million people entered the U.S. illegally under the Biden administration, but there’s no evidence that millions of migrants were coming from prisons and mental institutions, as Trump claims.

And while more than 13,000 convicted murderers without legal status are not in ICE custody, that figure can't be blamed exclusively on Biden. It’s not clear when those migrants arrived in the U.S. — they could have entered at any point over the last four decades or even earlier, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The 13,000 number also includes noncitizens in state and federal prisons.

Statement

Verdict

This is false.

Analysis

Trump is referring in this statement to his "One Big Beautiful Bill," which he signed into law in July. The law most prominently cut taxes for many people and businesses while also significantly cutting an array of federal programs.

Trump's claim that the law represents the largest tax cut in American history, however, is false. While the cuts are significant, they are the sixth largest in American history, according to a November analysis published by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.

Speaking to reporters outside the House chamber after he was ejected for holding a sign that read "Black People Aren't Apes," Green said, “I could not help but bring this to his attention."

Last year, Green was ejected for standing in the aisle and shaking his cane at Trump as he was delivering his annual address to Congress.

Rep. Al Green defends sign that led to his ejection: 'Trump got the message'

01:27

"The first time it was spontaneity. This time it was with intentionality. I wanted to make sure that I got a message to him. That's why I took the seat where I was on the aisle, so that I could give it to him personally," Green said tonight.

Even though Green left the chamber, the seat where he was still has a sign on it with his name written in permanent marker.

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, protests as President Donald Trump arrives to deliver the State of the Union address. Kenny Holston / Pool via AFP - Getty Images

Statement

Verdict

This needs context.

Analysis

Nearly 42 million Americans rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, informally known as food stamps.

Around 2.4 million people are expected to lose eligibility for the program because of new work requirements passed in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, according to the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities, a nonpartisan think tank.

But the timeline for making sure that people meet those requirements varies by state, so some of the cuts haven't happened yet. And there is no proposed federal program to supplement the loss of food assistance.

Under the new work requirements, adults ages 55 to 64 and parents whose youngest children are at least 14 years old must document 80 hours per month of work, education or volunteering to maintain SNAP benefits. Without such documentation, they are eligible for food stamps for only three months within a three-year period. The law also gets rid of exemptions for veterans and people experiencing homelessness.

The downside of Trump’s media omnipresence is that so much of this feels rehashed from previous speeches. Trump introduced the first TrumpRx customer weeks ago, for example, when he unveiled the website.

Trump, discussing his TrumpRx initiative, said he should be in his third term in office.

“So in my first year of the second term — should be my third term. But strange things happen,” he said.

Trump jokes this 'should be my third term' during remarks about prescription drugs

00:36

Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. The 22nd Amendment of the Constitution limits presidents to two terms.

Trump has previously mused about a third term. Last year, he said it was "pretty clear I'm not allowed to run" again.

Statement

Verdict

This is false.

Analysis

In 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, capping insulin at $35 a month for people on Medicare, placing a $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket drug costs for people on Medicare and, for the first time, allowing Medicare to negotiate the prices of some of its most expensive medications. On Jan. 1, the first negotiated prices took effect, including for the blockbuster blood thinner Eliquis and the cancer drug Imbruvica. After the law capped insulin costs for Medicare patients, drugmakers also extended $35 monthly caps to privately insured patients.

By contrast, Trump has stuck voluntary deals with at least 16 drugmakers in exchange for tariff relief. He launched the self-pay platform TrumpRx, which so far offers cash prices on 43 medications. Most of those deals, however, don’t change what people with private insurance or Medicare pay at the pharmacy counter. Medicaid patients already tend to pay little or nothing for prescriptions. And many of the drugs listed on TrumpRx have generic versions that cost less than the advertised prices.

Earlier today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked four years to the day since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of his country in 2022 with a three-day assault on Kyiv that ultimately failed.

But that milestone is not front and center tonight, and neither is the four-year struggle that is estimated to have caused more than a million casualties on both sides. On the contrary, relations between Washington and Kyiv are under strain, and Trump's diplomatic envoys have repeatedly tried and failed to push through progress on a deal to end the fighting.

Earlier in the day, Ukraine's U.S. ambassador, Olha Stefanishyna, said her government had received a formal message from the U.S. State Department telling Kyiv "that we should refrain from ... attacking American interests" in Kazakhstan, she told reporters.

Stefanishyna also told reporters she planned to attend tonight's speech.

Statement

Verdict

This is exaggerated.

Analysis

From January 2025 to January 2026, 44,000 construction jobs were added, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, far fewer than the 70,000 Trump touted.

The men's U.S. Olympic hockey team left the House chamber shortly after Trump addressed them.

One player wore a Make America Great Again hat as he walked out. The players all wore matching USA sweaters, with their gold medals around their necks.

Rep. Al Green, who was ejected earlier from the House chamber for holding a sign that said "Black People Aren't Apes," was still holding the sign when he spoke to reporters in the Capitol, telling them Trump "got the message" on the sign.

"Judging from the expression on his face, he got the message. He saw it; he got the message," Green said, adding that he hopes "others will let him have a similar message so that he would discontinue this behavior."

Rep. Al Green defends sign that led to his ejection: 'Trump got the message'

01:27

Green told reporters, "There are people who believe that I should not take a stand such as this," before he referred to American civil rights leaders who "have taken stands" and "been vilified."

"There are others who have taken stands, and they, too, have been vilified. Dr. [Martin Luther] King went to jail for taking a stand. Rosa Parks went to jail for taking a stand. Sometimes you have to take a stand," he said.

Trump discussed the Supreme Court’s ruling last week striking down his tariffs, mentioning “just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court. It just came down, very unfortunate ruling.”

Four justices — Barrett, Kagan, Roberts and Kavanaugh — sat in the audience. All but Kavanaugh voted with the majority in striking the tariffs down. Roberts authored the opinion.

Democrats were clapping as Trump mentioned the tariff ruling. Justices aren’t showing any emotion, as usual.

‘Unfortunate ruling’: Trump responds to Supreme Court striking down his tariffs

02:47

Statement

Verdict

This is false.

Analysis

Inflation is not typically measured in just three-month periods. In addition, core inflation excludes food and energy costs. While energy prices have been dropping, food prices have been on the rise over the last year.

On an annual basis, inflation when Trump took office was 2.9%, which is not a record high level.

Inflation fell as low as 2.3% in April before it spiked again after his sweeping worldwide tariffs were introduced.

Recent record inflation was experienced in 2022 when it hit 8.9%. The highest inflation ever experienced happened in the 1980s, when it reached as high as around 14%.

Statement

Verdict

This is true.

Analysis

The statement is correct, though the labor market’s rate of growth has slowed sharply since Trump took office, and 2025 was the worst year for job creation since 2020. Excluding recessions, 2025 was actually the worst year for job creation since 2003.

A total of 584,000 jobs were created last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s down significantly from more than 2 million in both 2024 and 2023. In 2022, as the economy bounced back from the pandemic, more than 4.5 million jobs were created. The pace of job creation is also slower than it was in each of the first three years of Trump’s first term.

Trump praises Republicans for helping pass the One Big Beautiful Bill

01:36

Trump describes the taxes in his so-called Big Beautiful Bill as benefits appealing to working- and middle-class voters — no taxes on tips, new Trump accounts, which he claimed he didn’t name, and tax breaks on car loans for cars made in America. But no mention of extending tax cuts for the wealthy, which doesn’t fit the theme of “affordability.”

Trump praises Coast Guard swimmer for rescuing girls during Camp Mystic flood

02:11

Trump honored a Coast Guard officer who saved over 160 people at Camp Mystic in Texas amid deadly flooding last summer.

He awarded Petty Officer Scott Ruskan the Legion of Merit medal, which is awarded to members of the military for exceptional conduct.

Ruskan got a standing ovation from the majority of the chamber.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Scott Ruskan is honored. Win McNamee / Getty Images

Trump said he will award U.S. men's Olympic hockey team goalie Connor Hellebuyck the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

"I will soon be presenting Connor with our highest civilian honor, which will be given and which has been given to many athletes over the years," Trump said. "But when I say many, not too many, like 12. It's called the highest civilian honor in our country, the Presidential Medal of Freedom."

Trump brings the U.S. men's hockey team into the chamber during his State of the Union speech

02:20

The audience broke into chants of "USA! USA!" as the men's hockey team stood up from their seats before the announcement.

Trump also said the U.S. women's Olympic hockey team would visit the White House. Earlier today, the team said it declined his invitation to attend the State of the Union address, a day after Trump jokingly told the men’s team that he would be impeached if he didn’t also invite the women’s team.

Statement

Verdict

This is false.

Analysis

While a number of companies, such as tech firms, semiconductor companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers, have made public commitments to invest in the U.S., many of those commitments are either only slight increases from previous announcements or in line with previous plans. In addition, the commitments and investments the White House touted on its own website total $9.7 trillion.

A review of the White House list also found the $9.7 trillion figure to be misleading. More than $2.5 trillion of that is not investments, Bloomberg Economics found in November. About $3.5 trillion of that comes from opaque sovereign pledges, and another $3.5 trillion is corporate investments. Of those corporate investments, $2.9 trillion is planned for data centers.

“More than $250 billion of the White House pledges were announced or planned before Trump retook office in January,” Bloomberg Economics researchers also found.

Many of the commitments are also over the long term and are likely to be subject to change. For example, it recently took drugmaker Fujifilm Biotechnologies five years to open one factory in North Carolina.

Statement

Verdict

This is true.

Analysis

This is true, according to an analysis of crime data published last month by the Council on Criminal Justice, an independent, nonpartisan group.

The group’s January analysis predicted that “when nationwide data for jurisdictions of all sizes is reported by the FBI later this year, there is a strong possibility” that the homicide level “would be the lowest rate ever recorded in law enforcement or public health data going back to 1900, and would mark the largest single-year percentage drop in the homicide rate on record.”

However, it’s important to note that crime did not suddenly begin falling when Trump returned to office in January 2025; it has been declining gradually for years. Several years of national data show that crime has consistently been falling in cities and towns across the U.S.

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, is in a hotly contested primary race in the newly drawn 18th District in Texas. He is facing off against Democratic Rep. Christian Menefee, who recently won a special election to replace the late Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner.

Green during the campaign has highlighted his expulsion from Trump's joint address to Congress last year, saying in a recent ad: “When I stood up, it wasn’t for attention. It was because some things are worth standing for.”

The primary is March 3.

The designated survivor tonight is Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, per an administration official.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Collins was the designated survivor last year, as well, during Trump’s joint address to Congress in March.

Trump touted the success of his first year back in office, saying, "Tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before and a turnaround for the ages.

"And we will never go back to where we were just a very short time ago. We're not going back. Today, our border is secure," he continued.

Notably, former Vice President Kamala Harris frequently used the phrase "we're not going back" during her 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump touted gains in the stock market since his re-election in 2024.

Trump touts stock market highs, gas prices and inflation

03:03

"The stock market has set three all-time record highs since the election," he said. "Think of that — one year boosting pensions, 401(k)s and retirement accounts for the millions and millions of Americans are all gaining."

Trump speaks in hyperbole — calling what he has achieved in one year “a transformation like no one has ever seen before, a turnaround for the ages" in describing what he inherited in apocalyptic terms.

Green has been escorted out of the chamber for the second consecutive year. 

Green was carrying a sign that said “Black people aren’t apes,” a reference to a video Trump reposted to his Truth Social account depicting the Obamas as apes.

Last year, Green was escorted out after he shook his cane at Trump.

Democratic Rep. Al Green escorted out during Trump's State of the Union remarks

00:19

Trump opened his speech by declaring: "Our nation is back."

The president claimed that his administration has started a "golden age of America."

‘Our enemies are scared,’ Trump says in State of the Union speech

00:57

"Today, our border is secure. Our spirit is restored. Inflation is plummeting. Incomes are rising fast. The roaring economy is roaring like never before, and our enemies are scared. Our military and police are stacked," Trump said. "And America is respected again, perhaps like never before."

Trump arrives to deliver his State of the Union address. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP - Getty Images

Trump has begun speaking. "This is the golden age of America," he says.

Rep. Al Green, D- Texas, is waving a sign in the chamber that says “Black people aren’t apes," which appears to be a reference to a video the president posted on social media this month that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.

Last year, Green was removed from the House chamber during Trump's State of the Union address after he stood up and shook his cane at the president during his speech.

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, holds a sign reading "Black People Aren't Apes" as he is escorted out during. Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images

What strikes me as we look at this room is that it is very different. The State of the Union in past Trump years was that one moment each year when the president had a national audience, when he could galvanize American interest.

It's different this go-around. He is ubiquitous. He is omnipresent. We hear from him so often. So for me, as important as what he says tonight is whether he can stick with this message, not just today, but going forward.

He sets a story as scripted for him, with his scriptwriters, his speechwriters today. Can he stick with the message, and ultimately, at the end of the day, is he able to help Americans at home who are seeing rising prices, who are experiencing the frustrations they have with the cost of living right now? Is he able to give them some sense that things are getting better and to have patience? Does he demonstrate a bit of the empathy that acknowledges the challenges they have?

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., spoke with NBC News' Tom Llamas about the attendance of survivors of Epstein at tonight's address.

Asked whether she thinks Trump should address the survivors, she said, “I think their presence here tonight is courageous, it's brave, it’s vindicating." Mace said she is wearing a butterfly lapel given to her by the brother of Virginia Giuffre Roberts, an Epstein survivor who died by suicide in April, as a symbol for every victim "as they're advocating for their justice and their truth."

Rep. Mace: Epstein survivors' presence at State of the Union is ‘courageous’

09:19

Mace also discussed her calls for Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, to resign amid a storm of recent recent allegations that he had an extramarital affair with a staffer who died by suicide in October. She asserted that regardless of party allegiance, "people have to be held accountable" and that “this thing should not end with Epstein until people go to jail.”

Mace is running for governor of South Carolina in a Republican primary in which Trump has not yet endorsed a candidate.

Trump arrives to deliver his State of the Union address. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP - Getty Images

Trump has walked into the chamber, shaking hands with audience members.

Trump enters the House chamber. Kenny Holston / Pool via Getty Images

Trump enters the chamber to a roaring round of applause from Republicans.

Four of the president's children are here, according to a photo shared by Ivanka Trump, who is with her husband, Jared Kushner. On the right is Barron Trump, and from right are Tiffany Trump and her husband, Michael Boulos.

In the center of the photo are Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancée, Bettina Anderson. The president's eldest son announced his engagement to the Palm Beach model and socialite in December at a White House holiday party.

Four of the nine Supreme Court justices are in attendance tonight: Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan and Chief Justice John Roberts.

Aside from Kavanaugh, all of the justices in the Capitol tonight voted to strike down Trump's tariffs last week. Trump strongly slammed the justices, including some of his appointees, who voted to strike down his tariffs.

From left, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Kenny Holston / The New York Times via AP, Pool

First lady Melania Trump has entered the chamber, taking a seat next to her son Barron Trump.

Shortly after, Trump’s Cabinet walked in, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Barron Trump and first lady Melania Trump. Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images

Trump is expected to call the past year of his term “a transformation,” adding that it is “a turnaround for the ages.”

“We will never go back to where we were just a short time ago,” Trump will say, according to excerpts from his planned speech.

Trump is expected to say that every generation since the country’s founding has “stepped forward to defend life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for the next generation, adding that it is now “our turn.”

Here's a look back at some of the promises Trump made during his joint address last year and where they stand as we head into this year’s speech:

Panama Canal

Promise: “To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it.”

Where it stands: UNFULFILLED

Though the administration has spoken of its concerns over China’s influence in the Panama Canal and Secretary of State Marco Rubio made his first trip in his position to Panama, the administration has made no formal moves to “reclaim” the canal, as Trump said it had already started doing last year, and Trump rarely brings it up anymore. 

DOGE 

Promise: “Meanwhile, we have hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have not been showing up to work. My administration will reclaim power from this unaccountable bureaucracy, and we will restore true democracy to America again. And any federal bureaucrat who resists this change will be removed from office immediately ... because we are draining the swamp. It’s very simple, and the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over.”

 Where it stands: PARTIALLY FULFILLED

Established on Trump’s first day in office, DOGE laid off thousands of federal employees across agencies, slashing funding for organizations like USAID. It quickly came to an end in November, despite its anticipated end date of July 4, 2026. And in October, the Trump administration rehired hundreds of federal employees that agencies needed to help “carry out basic functions.”

As Trump entered the House chamber to deliver his State of the Union address, he paused to shake hands with Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

It was unclear how he was going to react to her, saying that their family should be ashamed when she voted with the majority of the Supreme Court in striking down the tariffs deal.

We’ll see if he mentions her, if he says anything else but the president there, and he alluded to this when we were speaking to him. He wasn’t going to focus too much on the Supreme Court.

Trump plans to target Minnesota's Somali community in his speech, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks.

"But when it comes to the corruption that is plundering America, there has been no more stunning example than Minnesota—where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion dollars from the American taxpayer," the prepared remarks say.

Trump is referring to a fraud scandal in Minnesota, implicating a few dozen people, including some Somali nationals.

Renewed attention on the fraud scandal prompted the Trump administration to surge more than 3,000 immigration authorities to Minnesota. Federal agents killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during the immigration operation.

The energy feels a little quieter than in past years. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., remarked: “Everyone is quiet in here tonight.”

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said: “A little too quiet."

Kornacki analyzes President Trump’s approval ratings ahead of State of the Union address

04:55

NBC News’ Steve Kornacki analyses Trump’s approval ratings on job performance, immigration policy and the economy between his first and second terms and what they could mean for the midterm elections.

Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, brought Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton with him as his guest tonight, a move that raised eyebrows as Paxton is running in a bitter Senate race against Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

Nehls wasn't coy. Asked why he brought Paxton, he said: “I want people in the Senate to get familiar with this face. This is the face of Texas.”

Paxton said he hasn't talked to Cornyn yet, while Nehls said it's over for Cornyn.

Trump will take aim at Democrats in Congress for voting against funding the Department of Homeland Security, which is shut down, according to excerpts from Trump’s planned speech tonight.

"As we speak, Democrats in this chamber have cut off all funding for the Department of Homeland Security," he is expected to say. "They have closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and murderers."

"Tonight, I am demanding the full and immediate restoration of all funding for the Border Security and Homeland Security of the United States," the excerpt continued.

Just hours before it gathered for the State of the Union, the Senate took a vote on a full-year DHS funding bill. The measure, which needed 60 votes to pass, failed because of continued opposition from Democrats who demand reforms for ICE.

The official White House State of the Union livestream is playing a video loop of an apparent artificial intelligence clay animation of Trump's swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol rotunda. To the left of the video, Trump's accomplishments from his first 13 months in office are listed.

The White House has promoted its all-day coverage of the State of the Union address on its official social media accounts.

The video stream is playing in the White House briefing room and on the White House website.

First lady Melania Trump's outfit is all Dolce & Gabbana, according to her spokesman: an anthracite-colored pantsuit with wide pants and a white, crisp, cotton shirt. She's also wearing gray flannel Manolo Blahniks.

First lady Melania Trump departs from the South Lawn of the White House. Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., banged his gavel to call the House to order.

Moments later, Vice President JD Vance walked into the chamber, followed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Trump’s speech last year was 1 hour and 40 minutes, making it the longest presidential address to Congress by more than 10 minutes. (President Bill Clinton set the previous record in 2000.)

Could tonight's be even longer?

“It’s going to be a long speech,” Trump said yesterday, without putting a number on it.

All of Trump’s addresses to Congress during his first term lasted an hour or more, with the longest lasting 1 hour and 22 minutes in 2019.

John Havlicek traveled from Wisconsin to try to talk with his congressman and attend the “People’s State of the Union” event.

Megan Lebowitz / NBC News

He said that in his community, people care the most about issues including health insurance and rent, saying, “Those are the issues that I wish Congress would address, and they don’t.”

“This is not rocket science,” he added.

Caleb Peterson, a Virginia resident, said it was his first time protesting.

“I think it’s time for me to take a stand instead of just talking about it,” he said.

Megan Lebowitz / NBC News

John Gruber, the director of national campaigns from the Human Rights Campaign, said protesting outside was a “much better use of our time.”

Gruber said he hoped to hear “a message of defiance.” He criticized Trump’s focus on transgender children.

Tonight’s State of the Union address offers Trump a vast TV audience and perhaps the best chance he’ll get before the midterm elections to show voters that, yes, he understands they feel squeezed by high prices.

The question is, will he seize the moment?

Ahead of the speech, Trump has sounded peeved that Democrats have gained ground because so many Americans believe life is unaffordable. His argument is that he inherited high inflation from the Biden administration and deserves credit for reinvigorating the economy.

“I’ve won affordability,” he said in Georgia last week.

Americans aren’t buying it. Polling shows the extent to which the public has soured on his stewardship of the economy — once a strong point. A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos survey found that only 41% of adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy, compared with 57% who disapproved.

Trump just exited the White House hand in hand with first lady Melania Trump en route to Capitol Hill.

The president held up his right fist to reporters before he entered the presidential state car known as "The Beast."

The pair's unity is notable, given that they've arrived at previous State of the Union addresses separately.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump depart from the South Lawn of the White House. Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

Inside the House chamber, members and guests are starting to take their seats. 

The House is in recess until 8:35 p.m., at which time Speaker Johnson will gavel it back in order. Johnson has entered the chamber and is making his way to the dais. 

Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie are now together chatting on the Republican side. 

Among the lawmakers who have reserved aisle seats so they can shake Trump’s hand before and after the address are: Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and Reps. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., and Jeff Van Drew, R-NJ.

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, is also sitting near the center aisle, in the fifth row, similar to where he sat a year ago when he interrupted Trump’s speech.

Things could get awkward at tonight's speech.

Since Friday, Trump has repeatedly bashed Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — both of whom he appointed — after they were part of the 6-3 majority that struck down most of his tariffs.

A handful of justices usually attend the State of the Union speech and typically sit in the front row. It's not yet clear who will attend this evening.

Asked last week about the six justices' attendance tonight, Trump said, “Honestly, I couldn’t care less if they come.”

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elana Kagan have attended all five of Trump’s State of the Union and joint addresses to Congress.

The House sergeant-at-arms, not Trump, controls the invitation process.

‘I’m not going to shut up’: Sen. Kelly to attend Trump’s State of the Union

07:18

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., spoke with NBC News’ Tom Llamas about his decision to attend the State of the Union address, saying he has an obligation, even though other members of his party chose to boycott. Kelly recently faced pressure from the Trump administration, which sought his indictment over a video in which he and other Democratic lawmakers urged troops to defy orders that may be illegal.

Sign up for an NBC News subscription for exclusive analysis and insight after Trump's State of the Union speech. Hallie Jackson will have a breakdown, Julie Tsirkin will have color from inside the U.S. House chamber, and Christine Romans will have takeaways on what it all means for the economy.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., will bring Paramount CEO David Ellison as his guest to tonight's State of the Union address.

Graham announced Ellison’s attendance tonight, posting a photo of the two of them to his X account.

Warner Bros. Discovery announced today that Paramount Skydance’s revised bid for the whole company, including its cable networks, could be preferable to an earlier $72 billion deal from Netflix for its studio and streaming business.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told NBC News that she "would encourage" Trump to "refrain from criticizing the Supreme Court" during his address.

"I would encourage President Trump to look back at what President Obama did in criticizing the Supreme Court and refrain from criticizing the Supreme Court," Lummis said.

Trump has repeatedly attacked the Supreme Court over the last few days after it struck down a key component of his tariff policy Friday.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said today that he wants Trump to talk about affordability in his speech.

“I would tell him tonight, or suggest to him tonight, that he can look the American people in the eye and address the things that moms and dads are worried about when they lie down to sleep at night and can’t,” Kennedy told reporters.

“One of those things is the cost of living. It’s not just food or housing — it’s insurance, it’s health care. I think the president has a good story to tell about his efforts to address those concerns to the One Big Beautiful Bill, but clearly the American people, many of them, want more,” he added.

Trump’s approval rating on the economy has declined. An AP-NORC poll this month found that just 39% approve of his handling of the economy, while 59% disapprove.

Trump said at an event in Georgia last week that he would talk about affordability this evening.

The House today rejected an aviation safety bill that the Senate unanimously passed in response to the deadly midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River last year.

In this U.S. Coast Guard handout, the Coast Guard investigates aircraft wreckage on the Potomac River on January 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles / U.S. Coast Guard / Getty Images

Family members of some of the 67 crash victims looked on from the gallery above the chamber as House members voted on the ROTOR Act.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the author of the bill, was spotted on the House floor trying to whip last-minute support for it. He was seen consoling family members after the failed vote.

The tally was 264-133, falling just short of the two-thirds threshold needed to pass since it was being fast-tracked under a procedure known as “suspension of the rules.” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his entire GOP leadership team voted against the bill after the Defense Department came out against it yesterday.

Read the full story here.

Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., said today that Trump is "the only person who can course correct and change the course of ICE, what ICE is doing and how it's operating."

“President Trump could be for immigration, listen to this, what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism,” Salazar told NBC News. “He is the guy who can fix the problem that has been happening for 40 years.”

Salazar spoke shortly before the Senate held a procedural vote on a full-year Department of Homeland Security funding bill that would end the partial government shutdown. The bill fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance as Democrats continue to oppose it amid negotiations over ICE reforms.

Salazar told NBC News in November, after Republicans sustained losses among Latino voters in that month's elections, that Trump needed to “course-correct” or those communities would abandon the GOP in the 2026 midterms and beyond. She told NBC News today that there is still time to make changes and that she hopes to hear a plan from Trump tonight in his State of the Union address.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and more than a dozen other lawmakers invited survivors of Epstein’s abuse to be their guests at Trump’s speech. Marijke Chartouni said, “It’s important to show up to remind lawmakers that we are not going away.”

Rep. Jayapal on bringing Epstein survivor to State of the Union

05:33

Sen. Ted Cruz today endorsed against a fellow Texas Republican in Congress, backing state Rep. Steve Toth over Rep. Dan Crenshaw ahead of next week’s primary.

“Steve faithfully served the people of Texas in the Texas House of Representatives, championing our Texas values of liberty, limited government, and constitutional governance,” Cruz wrote on X, adding that Toth is an “an unwavering fighter for school choice, fiscal responsibility, and the next generation of Americans.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas.  Getty Images; CQ-Roll Call

“Washington needs bold leadership and representatives who will stand up for Texans at every turn,” he added.

Cruz’s is arguably Toth’s highest-profile endorsement. Toth has attacked Crenshaw, a four-term incumbent, for supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia and accused him of being too moderate on immigration.

Read the full story here.

The oldest brother of an 11-year-old U.S. citizen girl whose treatment for a rare brain tumor was interrupted when her parents were deported to Mexico is attending the State of the Union address tonight as the guest of Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y.

Espaillat, who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said the 18-year-old from Texas joins a lineup of guests of Hispanic Caucus members who seek to spotlight how Trump’s immigration policies are affecting American families.

The eldest brother of an 11-year-old U.S. citizen whose treatment for a rare brain tumor was interrupted when her parents were deported to Mexico will attend the State of the Union address Tuesday.  Courtesy Texas Civil Rights Project

The 18-year-old, who is a U.S. citizen, has been living alone in his family home since Feb. 4, 2025. That’s when immigration authorities removed his five siblings from the United States — four of whom are U.S. citizens, including his 11-year-old sister — and sent them to Mexico alongside their parents, who lacked legal status.

The teen is not being named out of concern for his family members’ safety after they were sent to an area of Mexico known for kidnappings of U.S. citizens.

Read the full story here.

Top congressional leaders known as the “Gang of Eight” received a briefing today from Trump administration officials about potential military action against Iran, with some saying Trump needs to publicly make his case.

Lawmakers left the bipartisan briefing particularly tight-lipped about details, but they said Trump needs to explain why the U.S. would need to go to war, especially since the administration said last year that it totally “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program when it struck it.

“This is serious, and the administration has to make his case to the American people,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said after the briefing by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., echoed the sentiment, saying: “Part of the concern that I’ve articulated and will continue to do so is that the president made the representation that Iran’s nuclear program was completely and totally obliterated last year as a result of actions that the administration have taken.

The Champagne was still spraying in the locker room after Team USA clinched its first Olympic men’s hockey gold medal in almost five decades when Trump called into the celebration, kick-starting the nation’s latest culture war, which has pitted some of the sport’s top stars against each other.

After the U.S. defeated Canada 2-1 on Sunday, when New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal in overtime, the group gathered in the locker room with FBI Director Kash Patel, who The Athletic reported was invited to the celebration by Team USA general manager Bill Guerin.

Amid the chaos, Patel whipped out his phone to call Trump, who invited the team to tonight's State of the Union address.

Trump then joked that if he did not invite their female counterparts — who also beat Team Canada in overtime to win the gold days before — “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”

Read the full story here.

At a news conference with Democratic lawmakers ahead of Trump’s State of the Union speech, one of Epstein's survivors ripped into FBI Director Kash Patel over possible accomplices of the late convicted sex offender.

"Why are there no investigations?" asked survivor Dani Bensky, who's attending tonight's speech as a guest of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

"Why is the FBI director out there partying like a college kid when he should be investigating this vast criminal enterprise?" Bensky said, referring to video of Patel chugging beer and spraying it over members of the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team after it won the gold medal in Italy on Sunday.

"This administration needs to do better," she said. "Release the damn files."

Patel defended himself on X after the backlash over the weekend, saying members of the team "invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment."

More than a year since Trump flipped the traditionally Democratic Rio Grande Valley, his deportation agenda is running headlong into the region’s workforce.

Several homebuilders who spoke to NBC News said they’re worried about whether they will make it through the year without the framers, foundation pourers, drywallers and other workers who were arrested in construction site immigration raids or who are too afraid to work.

Several builders openly acknowledge that the region relies on immigrant workers, many of them undocumented, a number of whom have been working and living there for years.

“This will put us out of business if it continues,” Ronnie Cavazos, president of the South Texas Builders Association and the owner of The Structure Team construction company in Mission, said this month at a luncheon in nearby McAllen.

Read the full story here.

The White House shared a photo of the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team's meeting with Trump today in the Oval Office on X, hours before the team is set to attend Trump's State of the Union speech at the Capitol.

The players met with Trump at the White House this afternoon, a senior White House official said. They also posed for a photo with their gold medals on the South Lawn.

In a video of the Oval Office visit posted by White House aide Margo Martin, player Matthew Tkachuk hands his gold medal to Trump.

Trump puts the medal on and jokingly says, "I'm not giving it back," later adding that he never thought he'd be wearing an Olympic medal.

Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., will sit together during the State of the Union, a spokesperson for Khanna told NBC News.

The duo led the legislation that forced the DOJ to release its Jeffrey Epstein files. Republicans and Democrats typically sit on different sides of the chamber. However, there are not assigned seats for members of the House, so they are free to sit wherever they choose.

The House failed to pass an aviation safety bill that previously passed the Senate unanimously and was designed to address safety issues after the January 2025 DCA crash.

The vote was 264-133, but the bill required two-thirds support to pass since it was being fast-tracked under the procedure known as “under suspension of the rules.” Families of the DCA crash victims were in a gallery overlooking the House chamber during the vote.

The U.S. Capitol Historical Society announced today that Mike Johnson, R-La., will become the first House speaker to display President George Washington's gavel during the State of the Union address.

The gavel was first used in 1793 to lay the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol building, the historical society said.

"Since that ceremony, the Gavel has been in the care of Potomac Lodge No. 5, the oldest Masonic Lodge in Washington, D.C.," it said.

"The U.S. Capitol Historical Society worked diligently with the Lodge and Speaker’s Office to enable the Gavel to rest on the rostrum during this year’s Address—marking the 250th anniversary of America’s founding."

George Washington's gavel. Roswell Encina / U.S. Capitol Historical Society

During a pre-State of the Union lunch with news anchors, Trump said he would argue the country is about to have the best three years economically in the nation’s history and it’s already started.

He also said he will be advocating for new tax cuts in a different form. He signaled that this will be corporate and personal but mostly personal. (He is not necessarily calling for a bill to be passed.)

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump will formally announce an agreement with all of the big artificial intelligence and tech companies that are building data centers to pay for their own electricity bills for their data centers.

Trump also touched on ongoing tensions with Iran, saying, “Iran wants to make a deal more than I do, but they just won’t say the sacred phrase: 'We won’t build nuclear weapons.'"

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., criticized Democrats who are opting to boycott Trump's State of the Union address tonight.

“If he’s coming to our house, like, you gotta be there. Otherwise you let him own the house," said Klobuchar, who's running for governor of Minnesota.

At least a dozen Democratic lawmakers are planning to skip Trump's speech this evening and attend an event on the National Mall instead.

Members of the U.S. men’s hockey team are expected to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, White House officials said.

The players also met with Trump at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, a senior White House official said. They also posed for a photo with their medals and took a tour of the White House, according to a photo and video posted by White House communications adviser Margo Martin.

Read the full story here.

Trump has invited the parents of Sarah Beckstrom, the 20-year-old National Guard member who was shot and killed in Washington, D.C., last year, to attend the State of the Union tonight, a White House official confirmed.

After delivering the Democratic response to Trump’s State of the Union address today, Spanberger will rally the troops at House Democrats’ annual policy gathering later this week. 

Spanberger, a former congresswoman, will be among the guest speakers at what’s known as Democrats’ Issues Conference in Leesburg, Virginia. There, leadership and rank-and-file members will discuss ways to combat Trump and plot their legislative strategy for 2027 should they take back the House this November.

Among the other confirmed speakers are Rohit Chopra, former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Biden administration; Shalanda Young, former director of the Office of Management and Budget under Biden; and Ron Chernow, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian.

The Democratic retreat runs from Wednesday through Friday. House Republicans will hold their own policy retreat next month at Trump National Doral Miami in Florida.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, told reporters in the Capitol that he is not going to resign, amid revelations that he sent sexual messages to a staffer with whom he allegedly had an affair.

Gonzales ignored reporters' questions about whether the reported text messages with the staffer, who died by suicide last year, were accurate, instead repeating, "I am not going to resign. I work every day for the people of Texas."

"What you’ve seen is not all the facts and there’ll be ample time for all of that," Gonzales added, though he declined to elaborate, saying, "My constituents are not here in D.C. My constituents are back home in Texas."

Gonzales is in a competitive Republican primary on March 3. Pro-gun activist Brandon Herrera is Gonzales' best-known challenger.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response to Trump's State of the Union live from Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, tonight, minutes after the president wraps up his speech at the Capitol. 

Only about 150 miles separate Williamsburg and Washington, but Spanberger's team indicated the distance between the two planned speeches could not be further apart.

The governor will speak about affordability, including housing, health care, energy and groceries, her team said. She also will address immigration and what Americans are seeing on the streets of their communities.

Spanberger will say the Trump administration has contributed to greater uncertainty around the world, according to her team. And she is expected to highlight how Americans are pushing back against what her team called the “chaos” caused by the administration. 

“Republicans in Congress, the folks who will be at this evening’s speech, are not standing up to the president,” a spokesperson for the governor told reporters in a briefing today. In her remarks, Spanberger will focus on the Americans who are doing so, whether "in their communities or at the ballot box,” the spokesperson said. 

Several members of the U.S. men’s hockey team posted pictures of themselves on an Air Force plane after Trump invited the team to his State of the Union address tonight.

Charlie McAvoy posted a picture of teammate Clayton Keller holding up his gold medal, while Quinn Hughes posted a picture of his brother Jack, who scored the gold-medal-winning overtime goal in the final game.

The team earned an overtime victory over Canada in the gold medal game of the Milan Cortina Olympics. Earlier today, NBC South Florida captured the same type of jet, an Air Force Boeing CA-32, which is typically used for VIP transport and special operations, departing from Miami around 10:53 a.m.

Clayton Keller holds up his gold medal.  @cmcavoy25

Jack Hughes holds up his gold medal next to teammate Jack Eichel.  @_quinnhughes via Instagram

The U.S. men's hockey team poses in front of an Air Force plane.  @matthew_tkachuk via Instagram

Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, will be one of Trump's guests at the State of the Union tonight, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.

“The president will call on Congress to ‘firmly reject political violence against our fellow citizens’ with Charlie Kirk’s widow in the chamber," Leavitt said.

In his speech, Trump will mention the “tremendous revival of faith, Christianity and belief in God in our country” since Kirk was killed, a senior White House official said. He will also mention the current threat environment and call on lawmakers to “firmly reject political violence against our fellow citizens.”

Kirk took over her husband's role as the CEO of the conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA after he was assassinated on a college campus last September.

Democratic leaders want their members to maintain decorum in the chamber tonight, telling lawmakers to focus on protesting effectively, such as by bringing guests who highlight Trump’s vulnerabilities, including on immigration enforcement and the Epstein files. 

A group of Democrats are choosing to boycott the speech entirely, opting instead to speak at the "People's State of the Union," a counterprogramming event hosted by progressive groups on the National Mall.

Some Republican lawmakers who are part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus plan to highlight immigrants and immigration enforcement.

Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., who spoke out about her party’s losses among the Latino community in the 2025 elections, held a news conference this morning with faith leaders to highlight problems with the administration’s immigration enforcement. Salazar is bringing Cuban activist Rosa Maria Paya as her guest to the speech. 

Over half a dozen House Democrats have invited survivors of Jeffrey Epstein to be their guests at Trump’s State of the Union address tonight.

They include Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., one of the authors of the Epstein Transparency Act, the law that has resulted in the release of millions of files related to the politically connected financier.

Khanna said in a statement he’s bringing Haley Robson, who has said Epstein trafficked her starting when she was 16, as his guest to the address to a joint session of Congress.

Read the full story here.

Trump's previous State of the Union addresses have featured acts of protests and a Presidential Medal of Freedom award as the president touted his signature policies.

Trump's 2020 State of the Union address mirrored campaign speeches, and it came just about a month before the country ground to a halt during the Covid-19 pandemic. At the end of that speech, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., ripped up a copy of his remarks. The moment went viral.

During that same speech, Trump awarded conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor. Limbaugh died from lung cancer complications about a year later.

In his 2019 address to Congress, Trump called for people to reject “politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution, and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good.” Pelosi responded by standing up and pointedly clapping at the president.

In the same speech, Trump said that "the state of our union is strong" — a traditional line for presidents — and said that women benefited from the "thriving economy." Congresswomen, dressed in white as a tribute to the suffrage movement, applauded. The 2018 midterm elections saw a wave of Democratic women elected to Congress.

Trump's longest speech to Congress as president was last year, which ran for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Here's a breakdown of the lengths of his other addresses:

• 2017: 1 hour
• 2018: 1 hour, 20 minutes
• 2019: 1 hour, 22 minutes
• 2020: 1 hour, 18 minutes

Trump said yesterday about his speech tonight, "It’s going to be a long speech, because we have so much to talk about."

The White House has been working through logistics so that members of the U.S. men’s hockey team can attend tonight’s State of the Union, a White House official said.

Lawmakers also indicated that the hockey players are expected to make an appearance at the speech. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said people will see the U.S. men's hockey team at the State of the Union tonight, adding, "we're going to celebrate them."

The gold medal-winning team has not yet said whether the players will attend the speech after Trump invited the men's and women's teams over the weekend. The women's team, which also won gold, has said that it will not attend.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said yesterday that Trump called him Sunday to say he wanted to invite the whole hockey team. Johnson added that he would work out the logistics to squeeze the hockey players in.

The president and first lady typically extend State of the Union invitations to people who are helped by the administration's policies, as well as high-profile guests who exemplify the president's priorities.

This year, the president also invited the men's and women's U.S. hockey teams after both teams won Olympics gold medals. The women's team declined the invitation, citing "timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments." The day before the team declined, Trump had joked that he would be impeached if he did not invite the women's team in addition to the men's team.

NBC News has also previously reported that Melania Trump will invite a 10-year-old student at an artificial intelligence-powered school, as well as a foster care advocate.

The speech is typically also attended by Supreme Court justices. After the Supreme Court ruled against Trump's signature tariff policies Friday, Trump was asked whether the six justices who ruled against his administration would still be invited to the speech.

Trump's speech tonight appears to be the first State of the Union address to take place during a government shutdown, partial or otherwise.

The Department of Homeland Security is shut down due to a funding lapse as Democrats and Republicans remain divided over how to overhaul U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The White House and Democrats remain far apart on a solution to the deadlock over DHS funding.

In 2019, the State of the Union was originally planned for Jan. 29, but was rescheduled to Feb. 5 by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., due to an ongoing shutdown. The government re-opened in time for the new date. 

Support for Trump’s immigration agenda is in free fall in early 2026 after federal immigration agents shot and killed two Americans last month, according to the new NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey.

The administration’s aggressive tactics and deportation goals have dragged down Americans’ views of Trump on the very issue that helped sweep him into office, the survey shows.

Immigration and border security had long stood out as a strength for Trump in polls, both as he ran for a second term in 2024 and in the first year of his new administration. Now, Trump’s ratings on the issue have sunk to the same level as his overall job approval rating.

Read the full story here.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced this morning that he has invited Claire Lai, the daughter of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy activist who is imprisoned in Hong Kong, to be his guest at tonight's State of the Union speech.

“Jimmy Lai has devoted his career to championing democracy in Hong Kong, steadfastly fighting for the freedoms we too often take for granted in America," Johnson said in a news release. "Today, however, he sits in a Chinese prison cell for simply defending free speech and speaking out against the totalitarian repression of the Chinese Communist Party.

"As I made clear in my address to Parliament in the United Kingdom, America is determined to secure Jimmy’s release," Johnson said. "Alongside my friend, Rep. Chris Smith, I will be proud to co-host his daughter, Claire Lai, who has shown extraordinary courage in the face of her father’s unjust imprisonment, as my guest for President Trump’s State of the Union address.”

Johnson announced several other guests as well:

U.S. military forces boarded a third sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean Sea in an effort to target illicit oil connected to Venezuela, the Pentagon said today.

U.S. Southern Command said in a post on X that U.S. forces boarded the Bertha overnight, conducting “a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding.”

“The vessel was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean and attempted to evade,” the post said. “From the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, we tracked it and stopped it.”

Read the full story here.

Historically the job of American ambassadors posted to friendly countries has been to quietly smooth over disagreements where they arise. The envoys dispatched to Europe by Trump, however, are increasingly finding themselves at the heart of controversies themselves.

France demanded an explanation today from Charles Kushner, the American ambassador in Paris, for why he failed to show up when summoned to explain comments made by the Trump administration that France objected to.

The State Department had said it was concerned that “violent radical leftism is on the rise” after the killing of a French far-right activist.

In response, France has barred Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, from meeting any French officials.

Read the full story here.

FAREHAM, England — This market town on England’s south coast is not usually associated with political upheaval, having voted for the traditional establishment Conservative Party at every election since 1885.

But the dramatic defection of Suella Braverman, one of the country’s most controversial politicians, made this town a vanguard of the MAGA-aligned Reform UK party, which polls suggest is a contender to form the next British government.

“I feel like I’ve come home,” a smiling Braverman said before a cheering crowd last month when she announced she was leaving the Conservatives and joining the hard-right, anti-immigration party led by Nigel Farage, an ally of Trump, who has vowed the mass deportation of 600,000 migrants if he is elected.

Braverman, 45, is the latest high-profile defector from the 200-year-old Conservative Party. Her move caps a remarkable two years for the insurgent right-wing party, rebranded from Farage’s Brexit Party, which has led every opinion poll for the past 10 months.

Read the full story here.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that "a large portion" of Trump's State of the Union address will focus on the economy.

Trump will "lay out a very ambitious agenda, I think, for the working people of this country to make America more affordable and prosperous and safe and make the American dream more attainable," Leavitt said.

Trump will highlight "the stories of great American heroes who exemplify bravery and the spirit of 1776," she said, referring to the upcoming 250th celebration of the nation's founding. She added that Trump would "tout his administration’s record-setting accomplishments over the past year, while laying out an ambitious agenda to continue making the American dream more attainable and affordable for working class people across the country."

Asked about the president's economic message, Leavitt said Trump "will lay out the case for why he and Republicans are better suited to tackle, continue tackling, the affordability crisis that was created by the Biden administration and Democrats on Capitol Hill."

After four years leading his country in war, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is very frustrated.

Russia may have been thwarted in its immediate bid to sweep aside the Ukrainian president and swallow its neighbor whole. But after months of U.S.-led negotiations, and as the conflict enters its fifth year today, there has been little clear progress on key sticking points in peace talks.

Now, Zelenskyy’s defiance of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion has taken on an increasingly exasperated, if not desperate, tone.

Read the full story here.

Trump is expected to try to sell the American public on the state of the economy and present new measures to improve affordability in his State of the Union address tonight, a senior administration official said.

Trump is expected to roll out several new measures to address affordability, including a program to require technology companies to pay for increased electricity costs related to artificial intelligence data centers, the official said.

The speech’s theme will be “America at 250: Strong, Prosperous and Respected,” the senior official also told NBC News, a reference to the 250th anniversary of the founding of the country. The Wall Street Journal first reported the economic focus of the president's address.

Trump will also use his speech to discuss his "peace through strength" foreign policy and his immigration and border strategy, the official said.

Trump's speech comes as polling shows voter satisfaction about the state of the economy, with a 39% approval versus 59% disapproval rating in an AP-NORC poll this month. 

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a Washington-based advocacy group known for supporting left-leaning populists, is endorsing James Talarico over Jasmine Crockett in the competitive and feisty Democratic Senate primary in Texas.

PCCC co-founder Adam Green, who boasts “hundreds of thousands of members,” told NBC News that his group will immediately start raising money for Talarico and provide an on-the-ground staff presence in Texas to boost him in the March 3 primary.

“James Talarico has risen to national prominence by effortlessly grounding his candidacy in bold economic populism, which is an important marker for how other Democrats should campaign,” Green said. “There’s a cogency to his worldview, where everything has a pro-worker, corporate accountability, increased quality-of-life center of gravity.”

Crockett, by contrast, has not impressed the group the same way, Green said.

Although weakened and facing a domestic crisis, Iran’s regime still has substantial firepower that could potentially inflict damage on American interests and allies in the region, disrupt the global economy and trigger a protracted conflict in response for a U.S. military attack, according to former U.S. officials, foreign diplomats and regional analysts.

The prospect of Iranian retaliation has factored into Trump’s deliberations over whether to order a military attack in Iran, following strikes on its nuclear program last June, as well as discussions between the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East, according to current U.S. officials.

While Iran retaliated in June against Israel and a U.S. base in Qatar, it stopped short of more dramatic actions that could have caused casualties among American forces or destabilized Persian Gulf economies. Iran’s response to U.S. military action could play out very differently this time if Trump makes that decision, the former officials, diplomats and analysts said, particularly if Iranian leaders perceive a threat to their survival.

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US and Iran Tensions Grow Amid Military Build up in Middle East

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British police said the country’s former ambassador to the United States has been released on bail after having been arrested following weeks of revelations over his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Peter Mandelson was detained yesterday amid an intensifying scandal after the Justice Department released millions of Epstein-related documents, some of which appear to show him leaking sensitive political and market information to the financier.

Video on Sky News showed Mandelson, 72, being led from his home in north London wearing a gray sweater and black coat.

London’s Metropolitan Police said in a news release that it was an update on an investigation into misconduct in public office offenses “relating to a former government minister.”

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Trump has spoken before Congress plenty of times. But when he delivers his State of the Union speech tonight, he’ll be standing on unfamiliar political ground: Americans watching the speech distrust him on the economy.

An AP-NORC poll this month found that just 39% approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 59% disapprove. It’s the latest measurement, but it’s no outlier, with other surveys showing Trump’s economic approval rating underwater.

Over the last year, Trump has seen his ratings on the issue sink. That’s a marked contrast from his first term, when he largely broke even or enjoyed broad approval on the economy, even in the Covid-19 downturn, according to the same AP-NORC poll.

The public perception that Trump was good for the economy had been a vital political asset. Dating to his first campaign, Trump’s business experience and claims of understanding the economy appealed to some voters who disapproved of him over other matters.

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First lady Melania Trump has invited two guests for the State of the Union address who reflect her focus on children, education and technology, according to two people familiar with her invitations.

She will be joined by 10-year-old Everest Nevraumont, a student at an artificial intelligence-powered school in Austin, Texas, and Sierra A. Burns, a foster care advocate from Greenville, South Carolina.

Everest is a three-time Texas state champion in history and has given a TEDx speech about how she uses AI in her education at the Alpha School. The private school network has been backed by the Trump administration’s Education Department.

Burns, 24, who experienced the foster care system firsthand, decided to help others like her and worked to develop training resources for caseworkers statewide. She is a voucher recipient in the first lady’s Foster Youth to Independence program. She graduated from Winthrop University and is pursuing her master’s degree in advocacy and social policy at Furman University.

Trump’s reworked global tariffs began today at a rate of 10%, even though he said over the weekend that they would start at 15%.

After the Supreme Court struck down most of Trump’s tariff agenda on Friday, he announced that he would quickly implement a 10% flat tariff for all trading partners using a different trade law.

One day later, Trump posted on Truth Social that “effective immediately” he would be “raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff ... to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level.”

Under the trade law the administration is now turning to, called Section 122, tariffs of up to 15% can be quickly applied, but only for up to 150 days.

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NBC News and NBC News NOW will air special coverage of the address starting at 9 p.m. ET, shortly before Trump is expected to begin his remarks.

"NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Llamas will anchor coverage of the speech, as well as the subsequent Democratic response by Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

At least 32 Democratic lawmakers say they won't attend this year's address.

Fifteen lawmakers are skipping it to attend a rally organized by progressive advocacy groups on the National Mall. MoveOn and MeidasTouch are co-hosting the rally as “counterprogramming” to “President Trump’s night full of lies and misplaced priorities for the American people.” Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland are among the Democratic lawmakers scheduled to attend.

Nearby, at the National Press Club, the anti-Trump group Defiance.org will host a “State of the Swamp” event, billed as a rebuttal to Trump's speech, with numerous Democratic lawmakers and celebrities scheduled to make appearances and give remarks.