{"id":19325,"date":"2026-02-25T01:16:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/heres-how-to-watch-trumps-state-of-the-union-address\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T01:16:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:16:44","slug":"heres-how-to-watch-trumps-state-of-the-union-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/heres-how-to-watch-trumps-state-of-the-union-address\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s how to watch Trump\u2019s State of the Union address"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump is set to descend on Capitol Hill for his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday, as his administration faces growing outcry over its nationwide immigration crackdown and declining support for several of his key policies.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s high-stakes speech comes just days<\/a> after the Supreme Court dealt a crushing blow<\/a> to the centerpiece of his economic and foreign policy agenda, ruling his sweeping tariffs illegal. The president is also staring down brewing conflict abroad, with an immense military buildup in the Middle East<\/a> amid threats toward Iran, and an ongoing partial government shutdown impacting the Department of Homeland Security.<\/p>\n

Amid a stark backdrop \u2014 and just months before kicking off festivities for America\u2019s 250th anniversary \u2014 Trump will be tasked with highlighting his administration\u2019s biggest wins in his first year back in office and shoring up support with key voter blocs ahead of November\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know before Trump delivers his highly anticipated address to Congress \u2014 and the nation:<\/p>\n

How can I watch the speech?<\/b><\/span>
Trump\u2019s State of the Union speech is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday. The address will be broadcast on major television networks and available to stream online, including on Blue Light News\u2019s website. You can follow our live coverage of the address here.<\/p>\n

What will Trump talk about?<\/b><\/span>
Trump said Monday that his address is \u201cgoing to be a long speech because we have so much to talk about,\u201d hinting that his remarks will likely touch on the state of the economy. The White House has attempted to keep Trump on message about affordability ahead of this fall\u2019s midterm elections, with the president offering a preview<\/a> of his possible remarks during a Thursday rally in Georgia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would say affordability, everybody would say, \u2018Oh, Trump caused\u2013,\u2019 no, they cause\u2013 they caused the affordability problem,\u201d Trump said at the rally. \u201cAnd we\u2019ve solved it. And we\u2019re going still lower, but we\u2019ve solved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several Republicans told Blue Light News they hope Trump will focus on highlighting economic issues<\/a>, American energy dominance<\/a> and the tax cuts passed in last year\u2019s GOP megabill during his address.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s job approval has slid in recent months, with numerous polls revealing widespread disapproval<\/a> of his handling of immigration and the economy \u2014 two issues that helped propel Trump back to a second term in the White House.<\/p>\n

Who is attending?<\/b><\/span>
Lawmakers from both chambers of Congress, members of Trump\u2019s family and several administration officials, including Cabinet secretaries and Vice President JD Vance, are expected to attend. Several personal guests of the president will also be at the Capitol, including Turning Point CEO Erika Kirk, widow of the late conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n

Supreme Court justices are also invited to the State of the Union, although Trump sniped at several of the justices<\/a> who voted to strike down his tariffs last week, telling reporters Friday: \u201cI couldn’t care less if they come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of Congress are each permitted to invite a guest to the address, and lawmakers frequently use the invite to draw attention to high-profile issues. Some Democrats \u2014 including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer \u2014 have announced that they\u2019ll bring survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as their guests. Many Republicans are bringing guests who benefited from Trump\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last year.<\/p>\n

Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed Tuesday<\/a> the U.S. men\u2019s hockey team will attend Trump\u2019s address, although the women\u2019s team said it would not participate due to scheduling issues.<\/p>\n

Who won\u2019t be there?<\/b><\/span>
More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers have announced that they won\u2019t attend Trump\u2019s State of the Union, with several choosing to attend a counterprogramming rally<\/a> on the National Mall instead.<\/p>\n

The event, dubbed the \u201cPeople\u2019s State of the Union,\u201d will feature lawmakers who also skipped Trump\u2019s inaugurations, including Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).<\/p>\n

Jeffries advised Democrats during a private leadership meeting<\/a> earlier this month that members of his caucus should either attend alternative programming or sit in \u201csilent defiance\u201d of Trump\u2019s speech, hoping to avoid the image of Democratic hecklers during last year\u2019s address.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers from both parties are also facing weather-related delays in traveling back to Washington after a winter storm led the House to cancel Monday votes.<\/p>\n

Who is giving the Democratic response?<\/b><\/span>
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is set to deliver the official Democratic rebuttal to Trump\u2019s address Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Spanberger, a former CIA officer who served in the House from 2019-2025, defeated GOP nominee Winsome Earle-Sears to flip the Virginia governor\u2019s mansion blue in November. Democrats widely lauded her campaign<\/a> for its focus on affordability.<\/p>\n

Spanberger hinted last week<\/a> that her response will likely center on those issues, writing in a statement that \u201cVirginians and Americans across the country are contending with rising costs, chaos in their communities, and a real fear of what each day might bring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) \u2014 California\u2019s first Latino senator and the son of Mexican immigrants \u2014 will deliver the Democratic response in Spanish.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump is set to descend on Capitol Hill for his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday, as his administration faces growing outcry over its nationwide immigration crackdown and declining support for several of his key policies. Trump\u2019s high-stakes speech comes just days after the Supreme Court dealt a crushing blow to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19325\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}