Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from New York

Image source, Getty Images

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger will be giving the Democratic Party’s official rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address tonight.

She will be speaking from Colonial Williamsburg, an outdoor museum covering America's history as a British colony on the current-day US east coast.

The rebuttal is a tradition dating back to 1966 in which a prominent member of the opposition party delivers a formal, televised counter-argument following the president’s annual message.

Members of Spanberger's team say she will speak about "the chaos" Trump has unleashed during his second term. The location, they say, was a "specific decision" that speaks to America's 250th anniversary this year, which is also a theme of Trump's speech.

A former CIA officer and three-term congresswoman, Spanberger, 46, ran for governor on a platform focused on increasing affordability. In January, she became the first female governor of Virginia after having won by the largest margin for a Democratic candidate in the state in six decades.

“She knows Americans want lower costs, safer communities, and a stronger democracy — not chaos and corruption,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said last week.

“Gov Spanberger will lay out a clear path forward: lower everyday costs, protect healthcare, and defend the freedoms that define who we are as a nation,” Schumer added.

Image source, Reuters

Like so much in Washington, the excitement and dread of the president's remarks run along party lines. Dozens of Democrats are sitting out the speech in protest, while Republicans appear eager to hear from their party's leader.

Congressman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, is among those lauding the president's work since he returned to the White House.

"In just over one year, this administration has taken decisive action to reverse dangerous Biden-era open border policies, strengthen public safety by removing criminal illegal aliens from our communities, restore American energy dominance by ending the radical Green New Deal agenda, and bring common sense back to Washington by rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government," he said.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said he expects Trump to hone in on the economy, saying in part that "the results speak for themselves".

Meanwhile, as we have heard, dozens of Democrats are expressing their frustration by skipping the speech altogether.

“What we have seen from this president is a series of lies," Congresswoman Katherine Clark, the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the House, said. She is among those boycotting the event.

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent, reporting from the US Capitol

Hello from inside the chamber of the House of Representatives, where Donald Trump will deliver his State of the Union address in less than one hour. I’m perched up in the press gallery above the rostrum where the president will speak.

I won’t have much of a view of Trump, but I can see the entirety of the audience of officials and legislators. On one side, Republicans are filling their seats. Democrats are much more sparse - perhaps an indication that many will follow through on their promise not to attend.

About a dozen Democratic women in the chamber are wearing white - a nod to the women’s suffrage movement that has now become a familiar show of solidarity and protest.

Image source, EPA

The BBC is now airing a special programme for the president's annual address to Congress.

Hosted from Washington DC, you can watch on TV on the BBC News channel and stream it live at the top of this page, in addition to following our posts and analysis.

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Congressional Democrats have also invited guests to today's address.

US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has invited family members of the Reverend Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who died last week.

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has invited Raiza Contreras, the mother of Dylan Lopez Contreras, a New York City high school student who is currently in immigration detention.

Several survivors of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been invited. Jeffries invited Marina Lacerda, while Schumer invited Dani Bensky.

Relatives of the late Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre have been invited by Representatives Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

As a constitutional technicality, the president's State of the Union address can occur only at the request of a key figure: the Speaker of the House.

Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker, formally invites the president to address a joint session of Congress, convening both the House of Representatives and Senate.

Johnson has extended the invitation to other guests as well.

The daughters of jailed activists Jimmy Lai of Hong Kong and Dr Gulshan Abbas of Xinjiang, the north-western autonomous region of China, are both expected to attend. Both have spoken out against China's government.

NASA's Artemis II crew has also received an invitation, along with conservative commentator Michael Knowles, from Ben Shapiro's media network The Daily Wire.

Image source, Getty Images

The president and first lady often invite guests to the State of the Union address, a tradition begun by President Ronald Reagan in 1982.

This year, Donald Trump's guest list includes Erika Kirk, the widow of the political activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in September 2025.

Also included are the parents of Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old National Guard member who was fatally shot while on patrol duty last November in Washington.

E. Royce Williams, a 100-year-old veteran who was awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions during the Korean War, has also been invited by the president.

First Lady Melania Trump has invited Sierra A. Burns, an advocate for children in foster care, and 10-year-old Everest Nevraumont, whose presence highlights positive uses of AI in education.

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Trump's achievements continue to polarise the US, and there is evidence that Americans are souring on his second-term agenda.

A recent CNN poll suggests his approval rating is around 36%, while a Washington Post survey puts it at around 39%.

While deportation crackdowns remain popular with his Republican base, voters deeply disapprove of the recent immigration enforcement action that led to two US citizens being killed in Minneapolis.

Affordability and the economy remain top concerns for voters, and Trump's signature tariff policy – struck down by the US Supreme Court on Friday – remains stubbornly unpopular.

As the November midterm elections campaign heats up, Trump's speech could give an indication of how he and his fellow Republicans plan to go about convincing Americans to stick with them.

Image source, Getty

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Andriy Futey, vice-president of the Ukrainian World Congress, is on Capitol Hill today with over 100 other Ukrainian Americans, urging US lawmakers not to lose focus on Ukraine.

On the eve of Trump’s State of the Union address, Futey tells the BBC: “We want to hear one thing from the president of the United States – ‘I stand with Ukraine.’”

Today also marks the four-year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war, a moment Futey hopes will help reenergize American support for Ukraine amid a growing US military presence in the Middle East.

“Of course, it’s a concern,” Futey says about the US shifting its attention towards Iran.

“The main message that we have is this,” Futey says, “Ukraine is America first, and it is in the interest, national security interest of the United States of America to make sure that Ukraine is victorious.”

A landmark 6-3 ruling by the most powerful court in the US hangs over Trump's speech.

The Supreme Court ruled the president exceeded his authority when he imposed global tariffs via a law reserved for national emergencies, a major blow to Trump's signature economic policy.

Chief Justice John Roberts, appointed under President George W Bush, and Trump appointees Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch joined three liberal justices to deliver the ruling.

Ahead of the State of the Union address, Trump said the justices were "barely invited", though he does not control the guest list.

"Honestly, I couldn't care less if they come," he told reporters.

It's not unusual for Supreme Court justices not to attend the State of the Union address. Attendance is a personal decision and not mandatory.

Image source, Getty

BBC Verify examines three topics that Trump is expected to discuss - conflicts, tariffs and immigrationpublished at 00:15 GMT 25 February

00:15 GMT 25 February

Trump has frequently made the misleading claim that he ended eight wars in the last year, however several of those conflicts never included any fighting, while others have continued the violence after his intervention.

He has also made claims about bringing illegal immigration down, and how tariffs have affected the US economy - both of which need further context.

Watch our video as we examine the issues.

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers from the US House and Senate are boycotting the State of the Union, as part of a protest against President Trump's policies.

So far, more than 50 legislators have indicated they will not attend, according to a tally by CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

The group includes several high profile Congress members including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Robert Garcia of California, and Kweisi Mfume of Maryland. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, who is the second highest ranking Democrat in the House is the most senior representative not attending.

Both of Maryland's US senators Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen and Oregon's US senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are not attending. Tina Smith of Minnesota and Ed Markey of Massachusetts are not going either.

Instead, some of those not attending plan to participate in a different event dubbed the "People's State of the Union" on the National Mall.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Washington

Image source, Getty Images

In the wake of the US men's hockey team's gold-medal victory on Sunday, the players joyfully celebrated in their locker room with FBI Director Kash Patel.

While there, Patel called President Trump and put him on speaker phone to congratulate the team. He also invited them to come to Washington and to the State of the Union.

Trump then said: "I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the women's team, you do know that."

The president added that if he did not also invite the women's team: "I do believe I probably would be impeached".

The comments prompted backlash online.

The US women's hockey team, which also won the gold medal, said team members would be unable to visit Washington due to "scheduled academic and professional commitments".

All but five of the men's players visited the White House on Tuesday, and some - though it's unclear how many - are expected to be in attendance at the president's speech, according to CBS News, the BBC's US news partner.

The overarching theme of Trump's speech tonight will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the US becoming independent, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

She said the president will highlight "American heroes past and present", but also that a "large portion" of his speech will be dedicated to the economy.

Officials say Trump will make several economic announcements during his remarks, including a call for more tax cuts and remarks about AI policy.

He is also expected to address US tensions with Iran, and Republican hopes of retaining a majority in next November's mid-term congressional elections.

Crime statistics are also likely to come up, as well as US policy towards Venezuela and Ukraine.

And the key question always remains with Trump, whether he will stick to his speech or adlib.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the US Capitol

US Rep Latifah Simon, who spent much of Tuesday on Capitol Hill with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, predicts that the women’s presence in the House gallery during Trump’s speech may be a factor tonight.

“I was just with some of the Epstein survivors, and Donald Trump, well, he's gonna have a difficult night, because those women are about to be staring him right in the face,” Simon said.

She wore a white pin on her suit jacket that read “Stand with survivors”, followed by a black mark that looks like the redactions on the Epstein files.

Simon sits on the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform that has been behind much of the pressure on the Trump administration to release the Epstein files.

She predicts that Democrats will return to power in Congress after the midterm elections in November. When that happens, she said: “We are going to hold their feet to the fire.”

Will Democrats interrupt? Will Trump stick to his script? What will the vibe be in the room, as Trump comes face-to-face with the Supreme Court justices that just blocked his tariffs agenda.

Our Washington correspondent Daniel Bush guides you through what BBC journalists will be watching for during the first official State of the Union speech of Trump's second term.

Sakshi Venkatraman
US reporter

The annual event is the keynote speech by the president to Congress in which he sets out his agenda for the next year, highlights his accomplishments to the American people, and shapes a political message.

It is a requirement of the US Constitution, external that the president "shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient".

That requirement has been interpreted differently in the more than 200 years since President George Washington delivered the first in 1790 in New York, then the US capital.

In recent decades, the State of the Union has become one of the major media events of the US political calendar, a closely watched affair that is countered by a rebuttal address from the opposition.

As the power of the presidency has increased in the last century, the importance of the State of the Union speech has grown. And that power has been reinforced by the role of television and radio, which have allowed the president to address the American people directly.

Image source, EPA

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Reporting from Washington

Welcome to our live coverage of the 2026 State of the Union address.

US President Donald Trump will address a joint session of the US Congress to give an update of his administration and he is expected to largely talk about his administration's achievements.

However, affordability, immigration, the recent Supreme Court ruling against Trump's global tariffs, and foreign policy, are also expected to be high on the agenda.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the nation's 250th anniversary will be overarching theme of the speech.

While Republicans, who hold the majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, are expected to applaud the administration, Democrats remain highly critical of Trump's first year back in office.

Last year's speech to a joint session of Congress - similar in style to a State of the Union - was marred by visible opposition by Democrats and one lawmaker was escorted out of the chamber. Several leading Democrats have already announced they will boycott today's address.

Stay with us for analysis from our correspondents and live coverage from our reporters on the ground at the US Capitol.