Reality-check: Trump says “there was an amazing renewal in faith, religion and Christianity and perception in God”
Trump stated “there was an amazing renewal in religion, Christianity and perception in God,” throughout his presidencies.
There’s no clear proof indicating a spiritual revival amongst younger individuals, in keeping with knowledge and evaluation from the Pew Analysis Heart printed Dec. 8. However after many years of decline, the variety of spiritual U.S. adults, together with the Christian share of the inhabitants, began to degree off and has remained comparatively secure since 2020.
— Megan Sauer
Trump tells Democrats ‘You have to be ashamed of your self’
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union deal with throughout a Joint Session of Congress on the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington, DC.
Win McNamee | Getty Photos
Trump instructed Democrats within the Home chamber, “You have to be ashamed of your self not standing up,” after he requested lawmakers to “get up and present your help” for the concept that the primary responsibility of the U.S. authorities is “to guard Americans, not unlawful aliens.”
Republicans had stood and loudly clapped at Trump’s name, with some trying over at their stony-faced colleagues among the many Democratic facet of the room. State of the Union addresses routinely characteristic one facet of the chamber standing and cheering when their occasion’s president is in energy whereas the opposite facet sits with out applauding.
“As we converse, Democrats on this chamber have minimize off all funding for the Division of Homeland Safety,” Trump stated.
“These individuals are loopy. They’re loopy,” Trump later stated. “Democrats are destroying the nation, however we stopped it within the nick of time.”
— Dan Mangan
Trump requires congressional inventory ban, will get uncommon bipartisan applause

Trump requires a ban on congressional inventory buying and selling, resulting in a uncommon bipartisan second of applause.
“As we be certain that all Individuals can revenue from a rising inventory market, let’s additionally be certain that members of Congress can not corruptly revenue from utilizing insider info,” Trump stated.
In January, a Home panel authorized a invoice alongside occasion strains that will ban lawmakers from shopping for new shares. Many Democrats known as the invoice too weak and would nonetheless permit lawmakers to profit off of insider info.
— Emily Wilkins
Trump says tech business will present its personal energy for AI knowledge facilities
Wiring sits within the Knowledge Corridor of the Microsoft knowledge middle campus, presently underneath development in Mount Nice, Wisconsin, on Sept. 18, 2025.
Audrey Richardson | Reuters
Trump stated he has secured a pledge from know-how firms that they’ll present their very own energy for synthetic intelligence knowledge facilities.
“They’ll construct their very own energy vegetation as a part of their manufacturing unit in order that nobody’s costs will go up,” the president stated. “In lots of instances, costs of electrical energy will go down for the neighborhood, and really considerably down.”
Knowledge facilities are dealing with political blowback in communities throughout the U.S. as individuals blame the amenities’ super vitality demand for rising electrical energy costs.
“I am telling them they will construct their very own plant,” Trump stated. “They will produce their very own electrical energy.”
— Spencer Kimball
Reality-check: Trump plugs decrease egg costs
Trump stated his insurance policies prompted egg costs to fall by 60%. Egg costs are down by 34.2% from a yr in the past, in keeping with the Client Worth Index printed Feb. 13.
In January 2025, some retailers had been charging greater than $9 for a dozen eggs.
— Megan Sauer
Trump: “We wish properties for individuals, not for companies”
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union deal with within the Home Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 24, 2026.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
Trump is driving residence his ask for Congress to codify limits on what number of properties giant firms can personal.
“I am asking Congress to make that ban everlasting, As a result of properties for individuals, actually that is what we wish,” Trump stated.
Hitting a populism be aware, he added “We wish properties for individuals, not for companies. Firms are doing simply superb.”
— Emily Wilkins
Trump hits on well being care as a part of affordability agenda
White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a press briefing on the White Home in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 15, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Preserving along with his affordability focus, Trump is touting elements of his well being care plan. That features ending tax credit for insurance coverage premiums underneath the Reasonably priced Care Act and as a substitute growing entry to well being financial savings accounts.
“I wish to cease all funds to massive insurance coverage firms and as a substitute give that cash on to the individuals to allow them to purchase their very own well being care, which might be higher well being care at a a lot decrease price,” Trump stated.
Congress debated a well being care package deal earlier this yr, however was unable to succeed in a consensus. The problems of well being care affordability and entry to medical care are robust ones for Democrats, however have divided Republicans.
— Emily Wilkins
Trump blames Democrats for affordability disaster
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union deal with within the Home Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 24, 2026.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Trump says Democrats, who’re utilizing the phrase “affordability disaster” to level to the rising price of dwelling within the U.S. final yr, prompted the elevated costs.
“You prompted that drawback. You prompted that drawback,” he says.
Affordability is a key speaking level for each Democrats and Republicans because the nation heads into November’s midterm elections that may decide management of Congress.
— Megan Sauer
Trump says tariffs will change revenue tax
US President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union deal with within the Home Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Feb. 24, 2026.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Photos
Trump stated he believes his tariffs will change the revenue tax, simply days after the Supreme Court docket struck down a big swath of his tariff authority.
“As time goes by, I imagine that tariffs, paid for by international nations, will, like up to now, considerably change the modern-day system of revenue tax, taking a terrific monetary burden off the those that I like,” the president stated.
Trump has up to now stated he believes revenue tax could possibly be changed by his tariffs. Financial coverage specialists are skeptical that such a transfer is feasible. Tariffs are paid by importers of products to the U.S.
— Garrett Downs
Trump touts Trump accounts
US President Donald Trump delivers remarks on ‘Trump Accounts’ on the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC, on Jan. 28, 2026.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Photos
“That is one thing that is so particular has taken off and gone via the roof,” Trump stated of Trump accounts, a new sort of financial savings account for youngsters.
“Thousands and thousands might be pre-funded courtesy of the U.S. Treasury,” the president stated.
The tax-deferred Trump accounts, also referred to as 530A accounts, embody a $1,000 contribution from the U.S. Division of the Treasury for teenagers born between 2025 and 2028.
“With modest extra contributions, these younger individuals’s accounts may develop to over $100,000 or extra” by age 18, the president additionally stated.
To this point, households have signed up about 3 million children for Trump accounts, in keeping with the Division of the Treasury.
— Jessica Dickler
Rep. Al Inexperienced on Trump: ‘He received the message’ from signal
U.S. Rep. Al Inexperienced (D-TX) protests as President Donald Trump arrives to ship the State of the Union deal with throughout a joint session of Congress on the Capitol on Feb. 24, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Kenny Holston | Getty Photos
Rep. Al Inexperienced, D-Texas, stated he wished to Trump to see his handmade signal, which stated “Black Folks Aren’t Apes,” earlier than he was ejected from the Home chamber for the second time in two years throughout a speech by Trump.
“We should take a stand in opposition to this degree of invidious discrimination,” Inexperienced instructed reporters exterior the chamber.
“I need him to see it, up shut,” Inexperienced stated. “Judging from the expression on his face, he received the message.”
“He noticed it, he received the message.”
— Dan Mangan and Justin Papp
Trump says he’ll award Staff USA goalie the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Members of the US Males’s Olympic hockey crew are recogized by US President Donald Trump as he delivers the State of the Union deal with within the Home Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Feb. 24, 2026.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Photos
Trump says he’ll quickly award Staff USA males’s hockey goalie Connor Hellebuyck, 32, who blocked 41 photographs on purpose in Sunday’s gold medal recreation on the Olympics, with the President Medal of Freedom.
The award is given on the discretion of the president and usually given as a lifetime achievement award.
—Megan Sauer
‘Inflation is plummeting,’ Trump says
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers the primary State of the Union deal with of his second time period to a joint session of Congress within the Home Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026.
Kenny Holston | The New York Occasions | Through Reuters
“Inflation is plummeting,” Trump stated in his speech. “In 12 months, my administration has pushed core inflation to the bottom degree in additional than 5 years.”
Inflation is a measure of how briskly costs are rising for customers. The patron worth index, or CPI, a key measure of inflation, rose 2.4% in January from a yr earlier, in keeping with the newest studying by Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was down from 2.7% in December and decrease than anticipated.
Excluding risky meals and vitality, the core CPI was up 2.5%, the bottom degree since April 2021. The Federal Reserve, the U.S. central financial institution, goals for an annual inflation price of round 2% over the long run.
—Jessica Dickler
Staff USA males’s hockey crew will get massive applause within the gallery

Staff USA males’s hockey crew is attending the State of the Union, clad of their not too long ago received Olympic gold medals, as some Congress members chanted, “USA, USA, USA.”
Twenty of the 25 members of the lads’s hockey crew deliberate to attend. Trump shouted out the ladies’s hockey crew, saying they’ll quickly come to the White Home, although the crew rejected an invite to tonight’s deal with.
— Megan Sauer
Greater than 80 million barrels of Venezuelan oil obtained by U.S., Trump says
A view of the installations on the Puerto La Cruz oil refinery of Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA, because the Nationwide Meeting this week authorized in an preliminary vote a reform despatched by Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez to overtake the OPEC nation’s oil business by altering former President Hugo Chavez’s landmark oil regulation, in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, January 23, 2026.
Samir Aponte | Reuters
Trump stated the U.S. has obtained greater than 80 million barrels of oil from Venezuela.
The U.S. has taken management of Venezuela’s oil exports after a navy raid that captured former President Nicolas Maduro in January.
“We simply obtained from our new good friend and accomplice, Venezuela, greater than 80 million barrels of oil,” Trump stated.
— Spencer Kimball
Rep. Al Inexperienced ejected after holding up signal saying “BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES!”

Rep. Al Inexperienced, D-Texas, held up an indication studying “BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES!” as Trump walked into the chamber. And for a second yr in a row, he was ejected from a Trump speech to Congress.
He continued to carry up the signal as he walked down the middle aisle whereas he was ushered out of the chamber to chants of “USA! USA!” The signal referenced a racist publish on Trump’s Fact Social account earlier this month that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.
Inexperienced was faraway from the chamber throughout Trump’s 2025 joint deal with earlier than Congress for shouting at Trump throughout his remarks.
— Emily Wilkins
Trump shook fingers with Fetterman earlier than taking stage
Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, middle, arrives for a State of the Union deal with within the Home Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026.
Daniel Heuer | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
Trump shook fingers with Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., instantly earlier than taking the stage to ship his deal with.
Fetterman, who is understood for carrying gymnasium shorts and a hoodie, donned a go well with for the State of the Union.
— Garrett Downs
U.S. is ‘again, larger, higher, richer and stronger than ever earlier than,’ Trump says
US President Donald Trump arrives to ship his State of the Union deal with within the Home Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Feb. 24, 2026.
Andrew Caballero-rRynolds | AFP | Getty Photos
Trump opened the principle part of his speech by saying, “members of Congress and my fellow Individuals, our nation is again, larger, higher, richer and stronger than ever earlier than.”
“Lower than 5 months from now, our nation will have a good time an epic milestone in American historical past, the 250th anniversary of our superb American independence,” Trump stated.
“This July 4, we are going to mark two and a half centuries of liberty and triumph, progress and freedom in essentially the most unbelievable and distinctive nation ever to exist on the face of the earth, and you’ve got seen nothing but. We will do higher and higher and higher,” he stated.
“That is the golden age of America.”
— Dan Mangan
Trump arrives at State of the Union deal with to applause

Trump arrived on the Home chamber to ship the State of the Union deal with to loud applause.
Plenty of Democrats could possibly be seen standing, together with Sen. Chuck Schumer.
— Riya Bhattacharjee
Rep. Mike Thompson is Democrats’ designated survivor
Home Methods and Means Tax Subcommittee Rating Member Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) speaks throughout a information convention on affordability on Capitol Hill on Dec. 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Photos
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., is the Democratic designated survivor, an individual who sits out of a significant occasion to make sure a surviving successor to guide the federal government ought to catastrophe happen.
“I have been chosen as a delegated survivor for tomorrow’s State of the Union, so I will not be there in particular person, however I will be watching,” Thompson wrote in a publish on X Monday. “Individuals deserve accountability for the militarization of ICE, terrorization of our communities and killing of Americans.”
— Megan Sauer
Trump enters Home chamber
President Donald J. Trump coming into the Home Chamber earlier than delivering the primary State of the Union deal with of his second time period to a joint session of Congress within the Home Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026.
Kenny Holston/the New York Occasions | Through Reuters
Trump entered the Home chamber to broad applause from members of Congress.
— Dan Mangan
Trump to push ban on buyers shopping for new properties
Single household and paired mannequin homes at Uplands Colorado in Westminster, Colorado on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
Hyoung Chang | Denver Submit | Getty Photos
Excerpts of Trump’s speech launched upfront present he plans to name on Congress to make everlasting his ban on main buyers shopping for extra single household properties.
Trump signed an government order that will ban firms that personal greater than 100 single-family properties from buying extra, with some exceptions.
Each the Home and Senate have handed bipartisan housing payments, and might be contemplating whether or not to incorporate Trump’s proposal in a ultimate invoice.
— Emily Wilkins
Supreme Court docket Justices arrive, lacking a number of
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Amy Coney Barrett converse to Congressmembers earlier than U.S. President Donald J. Trump delivers the primary State of the Union deal with of his second time period to a joint session of Congress within the Home Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026.
Kenny Holston/the New York Occasions | Through Reuters
Justices of the Supreme Court docket arrived within the Home chamber for Trump’s speech, together with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett had been each appointed by Trump. Kagan was the only member of the courtroom’s liberal minority to attend.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson had been lacking from the excessive courtroom’s retinue.
— Garrett Downs
Epstein survivor blasts FBI Director Patel for Olympics go to
FBI Director Kash Patel earlier than the Males’s Gold Medal Sport – Canada vs United States on the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy on Feb. 22, 2026.
Alessandro Garofalo | Reuters
A survivor of intercourse predator Jeffrey Epstein blasted FBI Director Kash Patel for touring to the Winter Olympics in Italy over the weekend fairly than investigating potential accomplices of Epstein.
“Why are there no investigations when there are many individuals in these information to analyze?” survivor Dani Bensky, who plans to attend Trump’s speech, requested at a information convention.
“Why is the FBI director on the market partying like a university child when he must be investigating the huge legal enterprise?” Bensky stated. “This administration must do higher.”
“There are two instances occurring right here, two instances of abuse,” she stated.
“The primary case is one which we endured whereas we had been ensnared within the largest intercourse trafficking ring that this nation has identified to this point,” Bensky stated. “And the second is the abuse of our authorities. They’re masking all the pieces up and defending energy, not the younger and the susceptible, as we put together to attend the State of the Union, survivors and this nation have so many questions that should be answered.”
— Dan Mangan
Schumer bringing 4 company, together with an Epstein accuser

Sen. Chris Murphy: ‘Democrats need to cease behaving usually’
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D–CT) speaks subsequent to his visitor Fereshteh Ganjavi, an Afghan refugee and founding father of Elena’s Gentle, in the course of the “Folks’s State of the Union” occasion forward President Trump’s State of the Union deal with in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 24, 2026.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
Exterior of the Capitol and down the Nationwide Mall, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., takes the stage on the Folks’s State of the Union.
“I am not on the State of the Union speech tonight as a result of these aren’t regular occasions, and Democrats need to cease behaving usually.”
Murphy, the main Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees funding for the Division of Homeland Safety, stated the division is not going to get “yet another dime till they begin following the regulation.”
— Emily Wilkins
Vance, Senate arrive in Home chamber; awaiting Trump arrival
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and U.S. Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) converse between one another in the course of the U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union deal with to a joint session of Congress within the Home Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 24, 2026.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Vice President JD Vance and the Senate have arrived within the Home chamber, the place Trump will ship his State of the Union.
The vice chairman shook fingers with members of Congress as he walked towards his seat behind the rostrum subsequent to Home Speaker Mike Johnson. Trump has not but arrived within the chamber, however has left the White Home.
— Garrett Downs
Sen. Graham to have Paramount CEO Ellison as visitor after Trump rant at Netflix
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and his visitor, CEO of Paramount Skydance David Ellison arrive for U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union deal with to a joint session of Congress on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 24, 2026.
Kylie Cooper | Reuters
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham stated on X that he could have Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison as his visitor for Trump’s deal with.
Ellison’s firm has raised its bid to purchase all of Warner Bros. Discovery by a greenback to $31 per share, WBD disclosed hours earlier.
Paramount is competing in opposition to Netflix, which has provided to purchase WBD’s studio and streaming enterprise.
Ellison’s father is Larry Ellison, a billionaire good friend of Trump, who over the weekend instructed Netflix to fireside board member Susan Rice, an Obama administration official, or “pay the results.”
Trump’s demand got here in response to an X publish by far-right activist Laura Loomer, who urged him to “kill the Netflix-Warner Bros. merger proper now” after Rice stated it’s “not going to finish nicely” for companies that “bent the knee to Trump.”
Trump beforehand stated he wouldn’t weigh in with federal regulators on their evaluation of any takeover of WBD by both Paramount or Netflix.
— Dan Mangan
Supreme Court docket tariff case winner Studying Sources CEO is the visitor of Rep. Schneider
Rick Woldenberg, chief government officer of Studying Sources, arrives on the US Supreme Court docket in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025.
Eric Lee | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
Rick Woldenberg, CEO of Studying Sources and the named plaintiff within the Supreme Court docket case that dominated in opposition to Trump’s tariff agenda, is the visitor of Rep. Brad Schneider, D-In poor health.
On Friday, the Supreme Court docket determined in a 6-3 ruling that the president wrongfully invoked the Worldwide Emergency Financial Powers Act, or IEEPA, to implement a big portion of his commerce insurance policies.
“Rick Woldenberg is only one of 1000’s of American enterprise homeowners whose firms, small and huge, have been severely affected by President Trump’s unlawful, chaotic, and dangerous tariffs over the previous yr,” Schneider stated in a assertion.
After the excessive courtroom dominated in Studying Sources’ favor, Woldenberg stated he was “clearly feeling validated and vindicated.”
“I am proud to attend this yr’s State of the Union with Rep. Schneider and get up for the enterprise homeowners like me who’ve been combating again in opposition to the IEEPA tariffs which can be elevating prices, forcing cuts in funding, and driving costs larger for on a regular basis Individuals,” Woldenberg stated.
— Jessica Dickler
Trump leaves White Home for Capitol
U.S. President Donald Trump and First Girl Melania Trump depart for the State of the Union Handle on the U.S. Capitol from the White Home in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 24, 2026.
Tom Brenner | Reuters
Trump left the White Home to journey to the Capitol for his speech.
— Dan Mangan
Harris says ‘I’d” run once more
Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends the 56th NAACP Picture Awards on the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California, U.S. February 22, 2025.
Etienne Laurent | Reuters
Former Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris instructed podcaster Sharon McMahon on Monday that she could run for president once more, in keeping with a video that started circulating on-line Tuesday.
“I have never determined,” Harris stated on a possible run. “I’d.”
Harris, who misplaced to Trump in 2024 after former President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid, has up to now declined to rule in or out whether or not she is going to run in 2028. She not too long ago handed on a possible bid to run for California governor, a transfer that prompted hypothesis she is going to run for president once more.
A slew of Democrats are prone to run in 2028, making for a crowded Democratic main. Harris ran for the nomination in 2020, however finally dropped out and was later chosen as Biden’s working mate.
— Garrett Downs
Trump to award 100-year-old Korean Battle hero with Medal of Honor
Trump is planning to award a 100-year-old Korean Battle hero with the Medal of Honor tonight, CBS Information reported.
Capt. E. Royce Williams singlehandedly fought seven Soviet MiG fighter jets in a 35-minute dogfight. He shot down 4 of the fighters earlier than working out of ammunition and returning to a U.S. plane provider in his badly broken warplane.
The incident was labeled for many years to keep away from escalation with the Soviets, whose involvement within the Korean Battle was a secret on the time.
“This nonetheless stands out as one of the vital distinctive and courageous feats of naval aviation in our historical past,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., stated in a social media publish. Kelly, himself a former naval aviator, described 35 minutes of aerial fight as an “eternity for a fighter pilot.”
Kelly and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, handed a regulation final yr waiving cut-off dates so Williams may obtain a Medal of Honor.
“It appears to be like like that may lastly occur tonight, and I could not be extra proud to salute a terrific American,” Kelly stated.
— Spencer Kimball
Speaker Johnson’s company embody crew of NASA’s lunar mission
The Artemis II crew – (L-R) pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen of CSA (Canadian Area Company), commander Reid Wiseman and mission specialist Christina Koch – rehearse a walkout from the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Constructing at NASA’s Kennedy Area Heart in Florida on December 20, 2025 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Photos
The crew of NASA’s Artemis II upcoming lunar spaceflight mission, together with Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, are company of Home Speaker Mike Johnson at tonight’s deal with.
The 4 astronauts are scheduled to fly to the moon subsequent month. It’s the first such mission in additional than 50 years.
“The Artemis II Crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen — will embark on this historic journey carrying ahead the hopes and desires of all humanity,” Johnson stated in a assertion.
The congressional chief can also be bringing the household of Marc Brock, a Louisiana police officer who was killed within the line of responsibility, and the brother of Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli diplomat who was killed in an act of antisemitism, amongst different company.
— Jessica Dickler
Home Democratic Whip Katherine Clark skipping speech
Incoming Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) speaks throughout a press convention on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2022.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
Home Democratic Whip Katherine Clark is boycotting Trump’s speech, becoming a member of quite a lot of her fellow occasion members.
Clark, who represents a Massachusetts district, is the second-highest-ranking Democrat within the Home.
“Moderately than hearken to Donald Trump misinform the American individuals, I might be listening to from the individuals of my district about their private experiences with skyrocketing prices, new boundaries to well being care, dismantled Social Safety companies, and brutal cuts to medical analysis,” Clark stated in an announcement.
“Donald Trump’s presidency has been one damaged promise after one other, and the individuals of this nation and the Commonwealth deserve so significantly better,” she stated.
— Dan Mangan
What is the underneath/over for the size of Trump’s speech? Johnson units it
U.S. Speaker of the Home Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to reporters as he arrives for a Home Republican Convention assembly on the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 10, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Photos
Step apart over FanDuel and DraftKings, Home Speaker Mike Johnson is setting tonight’s line.
Johnson, who will host Trump for his speech within the Home chamber, has set the “over/underneath” in the course of that deal with at 90 minutes, NOTUS reporter Reese Gorman reveals.
Trump greater than cracked that mark in 2025, setting a report of 100 minutes for the longest presidential deal with to Congress. However that was a joint deal with to Congress and never a State of the Union.
Invoice Clinton, who holds the report for the second-longest speech to Congress by a president, stopped one minute in need of 90 minutes in 2000.
Trump and Clinton maintain the highest eight spots for size of addresses to Congress.
— Dan Mangan
Khanna and Massie will cross the aisle, sit collectively at SOTU
U.S. Representatives Thomas Massie (R‑KY) and Ro Khanna (D‑CA) arrive on the Division of Justice workplace constructing to view unredacted Jeffrey Epstein information, in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 9, 2026.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., leaders within the battle during the last yr to launch information associated to disgraced intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, will sit collectively at tonight’s State of the Union.
A spokesperson for Khanna confirmed forward of the deal with that Massie would sit on the Democrat’s facet of the Home chamber.
It’s a uncommon bipartisan show at an occasion the place Democrats and Republicans are normally segregated on reverse sides of the room. Massie has had a contentious relationship with GOP leaders, typically voting in opposition to precedence laws and instigating the discharge of the Epstein information, which Trump had lengthy opposed.
—Justin Papp
New Dems name for Trump tariff refunds forward of SOTU
Consultant Brad Schneider, a Democrat from Illinois, throughout a New Democrat Coalition information convention on well being care on the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025.
Graeme Sloan | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
The New Democrat Coalition, the biggest Democratic caucus within the Home, despatched a letter on Tuesday to Trump calling on him to refund billions of {dollars} collected from tariffs that had been struck down by the Supreme Court docket final week.
“The financial injury President Trump has already executed to enterprise funding, manufacturing, relationships with our allies and buying and selling companions, and dealing households’ budgets will linger for years to return,” states the letter, which was signed by greater than 40 members of the caucus, which is usually centrist Democrats.
Democrats in each the Home and Senate launched laws after the ruling geared toward compelling refunds to companies.
— Justin Papp
Dozens of Democrats will skip the State of the Union in protest
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) speaks to reporters as he returns to his workplace on the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 10, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Photos
Greater than 30 Democratic lawmakers will skip Trump’s State of the Union speech and attend another occasion organized by progressive activist teams.
They embody Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Adam Schiff of California, Tina Smith of Minnesota, and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.
The protest occasion, pitched as a “Folks’s State of the Union,” might be livestreamed beginning at 8 p.m. ET. It may be considered on the MediasTouch YouTube channel or at MoveOn.org.
A full record of lawmakers attending the protest occasion might be considered right here.
In the meantime, Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Nancy Mace of South Carolina plan to indicate their help for victims of infamous intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein in the course of the State of the Union, in keeping with Axios.
Massie will sit with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., on the Democratic facet of the aisle throughout Trump’s speech, a supply accustomed to their plans instructed Axios.
— Spencer Kimball
State of the Union Bingo playing cards: Play on what Trump will say
Courtesy: League of Ladies Voters
State of the Union Bingo 2026 goes viral.
The annual deal with by a U.S. president is usually a little bit of a slog, however the League of Ladies Voters is seeking to jazz issues up for viewers by providing a downloadable set of Bingo playing cards to allow them to play alongside at residence in opposition to household and mates.
The playing cards supply a variety of phrases and phrases that Trump may say in the course of the speech, together with “Make America Nice Once more,” “authorities shutdown,” “witch hunt,” “ICE arrests,” “extremists,” “very very particular” — and the ever-popular “Faux Information!”
—Dan Mangan
Trump will name for brand new tax cuts via reconciliation
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress on the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Win Mcnamee | Through Reuters
Trump will name for Congress to advance new private and company tax cuts via the party-line funds reconciliation course of throughout his State of the Union deal with, he instructed reporters throughout a luncheon on the White Home.
CNBC’s Joe Kernen attended the gathering and reported on CNBC’s “Energy Lunch” that the president laid out plans to advocate for brand new private and company tax cuts. Public polls point out the president is shedding floor on how he’s dealing with the financial system, whereas Democrats are making positive factors on a message of affordability forward of the 2026 midterms.
Reconciliation is a parliamentary course of that permits a celebration in command of the Home, Senate and White Home to skirt the Senate filibuster’s 60-vote threshold and advance sure laws alongside occasion strains. Republicans used it to go their “One Massive Stunning Invoice” tax and spending measure in 2025.
Nevertheless, advancing any laws via reconciliation is now considerably tougher given Home Speaker Mike Johnson‘s shrinking margin within the decrease chamber. Republicans maintain a 218-214 vote majority within the Home, which is successfully a one-vote margin.
—Garrett Downs
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger to ship Democratic response to Trump
Abigail Spanberger is sworn in as Virginia’s first girl and the seventy fifth governor of Virginia on on January 17, 2026 in Capitol Sq. Richmond, Va.
Marvin Joseph | The Washington Submit | Getty Photos
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is ready to ship the response to Trump for the Democratic Occasion.
Spanberger will give her rebuttal from Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.
The previous CIA intelligence officer and member of Congress is the primary girl to function Virginia’s governor. She took workplace in January.
—Dan Mangan
Staff USA males’s ice hockey crew might be at tonight’s State of the Union deal with

The U.S. males’s hockey crew will attend tonight’s State of the Union deal with. Trump invited them by calling their locker room after successful an Olympic gold medal in opposition to Canada on Sunday.
Trump known as Speaker Johnson on Sunday to tell him the complete males’s hockey crew could come to the occasion, Johnson stated at a press convention earlier Tuesday. “One way or the other, a way, we’ll squeeze within the hockey gamers tonight,” Johnson joked.
Notably, the U.S. girls’s hockey crew, who additionally received Olympic gold, is not going to be at tonight’s deal with. The crew expressed gratitude and rejected the White Home’s invitation, citing “timing and beforehand scheduled educational {and professional} commitments,” in an announcement from USA Hockey launched Monday.
The locker room alternate between Trump and the lads’s hockey crew has incited controversy on-line, after Trump famous he needed to lengthen an invite to the ladies’s crew, too. If he did not, “I do imagine I in all probability can be impeached,” he joked over the decision. A few of the gamers laughed.
“Everyone seems to be giving us backlash for all of the social media stuff immediately,” Jack Hughes, who scored the successful purpose in gold medal recreation in opposition to Canada, stated in an interview with the Every day Mail on Monday, including: “I feel everybody in that locker room is aware of how a lot we help [the women’s team], how proud we’re of them. The identical method we really feel about them, they really feel about us.”
—Megan Sauer
Trump will announce pledge from Massive Tech to pay larger electrical energy costs
On this handout supplied by Amazon, a technician works at an Amazon Net Providers AI knowledge middle in New Carlisle, Indiana on Oct. 2, 2025.
Noah Berger | Getty Photos
Trump will announce a pledge from the highest know-how firms to pay larger electrical energy costs in communities the place they’re constructing new knowledge facilities, a White Home official confirmed.
Microsoft promised in January that households will not pay extra for electrical energy because of the firm’s knowledge facilities. The pledge got here hours after Trump stated he was working with Microsoft to make sure utility payments do not improve because of the synthetic intelligence growth.
Peter Navarro, Trump’s commerce and manufacturing advisor, stated earlier this month that the White Home will power tech firms to “internalize the fee” of information facilities.
Electrical energy costs are growing in lots of areas of the U.S. because the grid faces excessive demand and tight provide. Knowledge facilities are dealing with rising political blowback as individuals blame them for larger utility payments.
The Wall Road Journal first reported Trump’s plan to announce the tech sector pledge.
—Spencer Kimball
‘Prices, chaos, corruption:’ Democrats construct their case in opposition to Trump’s SOTU
Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer (D-NY) holds a press convention after laws that will fund the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety previous a Friday deadline failed within the U.S. Senate, as Democrats pressed for tighter controls on immigration enforcement, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 12, 2026.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Tuesday boiled down Trump‘s second time period to a few phrases: “prices, chaos, corruption.”
“Tonight the American individuals will see a president whose ego doesn’t let him see actuality. The truth of the ache in America due to Trump’s insurance policies,” Schumer stated at a Democratic press convention forward of the State of the Union.
“Individuals, frankly, do not care what Trump has to say on the State of the Union as a result of they’re too frightened in regards to the state of their wallets,” Schumer stated.
Trump is anticipated to speak up the U.S. financial system in Tuesday evening’s deal with.
“We have seen for the final 13 months underneath Donald Trump, a Republican majority and the White Home working collectively to place billionaires first on the expense of working households,” stated Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., who will ship Democrat’s Spanish-language rebuttal to Trump’s speech.
—Justin Papp
Trump risk to assault Iran looms giant over State of Union
An aerial view of the usAbraham Lincoln Provider Strike Group whereas working on the Arabian Sea, escorted by two navy replenishment ships and two U.S. Coast Guard vessels, as fighter jets from Provider Air Wing 9 performed flight operations overhead within the Arabian Sea, on February 6, 2026.
US CENTCOM | Anadolu | Getty Photos
Trump’s deal with this night comes as he threatens to take navy motion in opposition to Iran with out authorization from Congress.
The president has ordered the biggest U.S. navy buildup within the Center East because the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Two plane carriers and 14 floor warships are deployed to the area.
The State of the Union affords a possibility for Trump to inform the American individuals why he’s contemplating strikes and lay out what the targets of a navy operation can be.
It is unclear whether or not Trump desires to overthrow the Islamic Republic or has extra restricted goals.
He has left open the potential of a take care of Iran on its nuclear program. U.S. and Iranian diplomats are scheduled to fulfill in Geneva Thursday for extra talks.
Trump stated final week he’s contemplating a restricted strike in opposition to Iran to strain the regime to make extra concessions in negotiations. However he beforehand threatened an assault “far worse” than the U.S. airstrikes in opposition to Iran’s nuclear amenities final June.
—Spencer Kimball
Congressional GOP urges Trump to hit affordability, international coverage in State of the Union

Congressional Republicans stated Trump ought to lean on his international coverage within the State of the Union and deal with affordability, a buzzword for each events heading into the 2026 midterms.
“We’re placing extra money again in your pockets, we’re restoring peace via power, we’re defending our border and deporting legal unlawful aliens, we’re standing up for American business and manufacturing and we’re making American employees – not international nations – the clear winners on this American financial system,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., stated at a press convention Tuesday earlier than the speech.
Sen. Invoice Hagerty, R-Tenn., stated throughout an look on CNBC’s “Squawk Field” that the president ought to tout the sprawling tax and spending package deal — generally known as the One Massive Stunning Invoice — that was signed into regulation final yr that Republicans say will end in tax cuts for American households.
And Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, additionally on “Squawk Field,” stated Trump ought to spotlight his work to scale back border crossings, crime and drug overdoses, in addition to the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and navy strain positioned on Iran.
“Tonight I count on the president to speak about historic successes over this final yr, as a result of it actually has been a rare yr, each in nationwide safety and international coverage, but additionally in home coverage,” Cruz stated.
—Justin Papp