State of the Union 2026 Live Updates: Trump Speech

This address comes at a perilous time for Trump, with polls indicating he is sinking on issues including the economy ahead of the midterm elections that loom less than nine months away. Those elections threaten to change control of Washington by Republicans.

Trump will speak days after the Supreme Court overruled the tariffs that have underpinned much of his economic policy and as he awaits another decision from the high court on how much authority he has over the Federal Reserve. Trump is also weighing military action in Iran and contending with a lingering shutdown of the Homeland Security Department spurred by Democratic concerns about overreach by the department’s law enforcement.

Democrats are hammering Trump and the incumbent Republicans on affordability, a tactic that worked well in off-year elections in 2025 after the GOP used it to its advantage in 2024. The president’s speech is expected to focus heavily on the economy, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt telling CNBC that Trump will lay out “an ambitious agenda to continue bringing the American Dream back for working people.”

Tuesday night will mark Trump’s first official State of the Union of his second term after delivering a joint address to Congress last year, as is customary for a president’s first year in office.

State of the Union addresses are both a constitutional obligation and an opportunity for the president to lay out his political agenda to Congress and the public. Both chambers of Congress, Supreme Court justices, military leaders and the president’s cabinet typically attend the speech, though some Democrats plan to boycott and hold an alternate event outside the Capitol.

Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia will deliver the Democratic rebuttal immediately following Trump’s speech. Spanberger handily won the Virginia Executive Mansion in 2025 with a message focused on affordability. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., will deliver the Spanish-language rebuttal.