Live updates: Trump to give State of the Union speech tonight amid tariff threats and tensions with Iran
The address, scheduled to begin around 9 p.m. ET, comes as the president faces challenges at home and abroad with voters' dimming views on the economy and rising tensions with Iran.
What to know about tonight's speech
- STATE OF THE UNION: President Donald Trump is set to deliver the State of the Union address tonight, where he is expected to focus in part on the economy and affordability. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response.
- TRUMP'S GUESTS: Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, is expected to attend the speech as a guest of the president. The gold-medal-winning U.S. men's hockey team is also expected to attend the speech, White House officials said. Over a dozen House Democrats said they were inviting survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. The administration has faced ongoing backlash over its handling of the Epstein files.
- DEMOCRATS BOYCOTT: More than two dozen congressional Democrats say they're boycotting the State of the Union as progressive groups hold events around Washington to counter Trump's event.
- WHERE TO WATCH: NBC News and NBC News NOW will carry special coverage of the address starting at 9 p.m. ET, shortly before Trump is expected to begin his remarks at the Capitol.
Trump ignites culture war around U.S. hockey gold medal winners
The champagne was still spraying in Team USA’s locker room after clinching its first Olympic men’s hockey gold medal in almost five decades when Trump called into the celebration, kickstarting the nation’s latest culture war that has pitted some of the sport’s top stars against each other.
After defeating 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 into the celebration by Team USA general manager Bill Guerin.
Amid the chaos, Patel whipped out his phone to call Trump, who invited the men’s team to tonight's State of the Union address.
The president then joked that if he did not invite their female counterparts — who also beat Team Canada in overtime to win the gold days prior — “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”
Epstein survivor rips Kash Patel's hockey celebration
One of Jeffrey Epstein's survivors ripped into FBI Director Kash Patel over possible accomplices of the late sex offender at a news conference with Democratic lawmakers ahead of Trump's State of the Union speech.
"Why are there no investigations?" said 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 hockey team following their gold medal win in Italy on Sunday.
"This administration needs to do better," she said. "Release the damn files."
Patel defended himself in a post on X after the backlash over the weekend, saying members of the team "invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment."
South Texas region is seeing red over Trump's immigration policies
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, Texas.
White House shares photo of U.S. men's hockey team in Oval Office with Trump
The White House shared a photo of the U.S. men's hockey team meeting with Trump today in the Oval Office on X, hours before they're set to attend the president'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.
Reps. Khanna and Massie to sit together tonight
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.
House fails to pass aviation safety bill after Pentagon pulls support
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 Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (or ROTOR) Act was led by Sen. Ted Cruz, who was on the House floor during the vote. The bill would establish “new requirements for virtually all aircraft and helicopters to use Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast (ADS-B),” a technology that broadcasts an aircraft’s location.
The legislation passed the Senate by unanimous consent in December, but on Monday, the Pentagon pulled its support for the bill.
Sean Parnell, assistant to the defense secretary for public affairs and senior adviser, issued a statement saying that while the Defense Department worked with the Senate on the legislation, “the version passed by the Senate does not reflect several of the mutually discussed updates.”
“As currently drafted, enactment would create significant unresolved budgetary burdens and operational security risks affecting national defense activities,” Parnell’s statement said. “The Department remains ready to continue productive dialogue with Congress to ensure the legislation achieves its safety goals while protecting essential operational capabilities and resources.”
On Monday night, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves voiced opposition to the legislation, as well, saying that “any successful directive or mandate from Congress will be calculated, scalable, and future proof — not a blanket mandate that limits the aviation community to one technology.”
Graves pledged to bring up a House-led aviation safety bill called the ALERT Act as soon as next week in his committee for a markup.
Cruz was seen consoling the families of the crash victims after the vote.
Asked by NBC News about why he thinks the vote failed, Cruz said, “I think there was a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation that was put out. We came within a couple of votes of two-thirds. An overwhelming majority of the House voted for ROTOR and I believe we’re going to pass it.”
Johnson will display President George Washington's gavel during the State of the Union address
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
Trump previews his State of the Union speech at lunch with anchors
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 criticizes fellow Democrats who plan to skip Trump's address
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.
U.S. men’s hockey team expected to attend Trump’s State of the Union speech
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.
Trump invited parents of National Guard member shot and killed in D.C.
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.
Spanberger to rally Democrats at Virginia gathering after giving Trump response
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 says he will not resign
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.
What to expect from the Democratic response to tonight’s State of the Union
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.
Spanberger will be watching the president’s address, and her team plans to take into account what he says as they finalize her speech. In preparation for tonight’s remarks, the governor has been watching previous Democratic responses to Trump’s past State of the Union addresses.
Spanberger is a former CIA officer, three-term member of Congress representing Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, and a mother of three.
U.S. men's hockey team members post photos after invite to State of the Union
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 will be one of Trump's guests tonight, White House says
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.
How lawmakers are preparing for the State of the Union
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.
The speech comes as lawmakers are looking for a path forward on funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shut down since funding lapsed earlier this month after Republicans and Democrats deadlocked over proposals for overhauling Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters this morning that Trump planned to call on congressional Democrats to move to reopen the department in his address.
House Democrats are bringing Jeffrey Epstein survivors to Trump’s State of the Union 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.
Key moments from Trump's previous State of the Union speeches
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.
How long have Trump's past speeches to Congress lasted?
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."
White House working on logistics for men's hockey team to attend the State of the Union, official says
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.
"We're trying to work out logistics to see if there's some way to have them, perhaps, step into the gallery and the doors, wave and receive the applause that they're due," Johnson said.
Trump invited the men's team after it won gold, and he joked that he would be impeached if he did not also invite the women's team. The women's team pointed to scheduling conflicts in explaining why the players wouldn't attend.
Who made the list of White House invitations to the State of the Union?
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.
"Yeah, they are invited," he said. "Barely, barely."
The president, however, does not control the process of Supreme Court justice invitations, which is the purview of the House speaker and the sergeant at arms.
Trump's speech is occurring during a partial government shutdown
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.
Poll: Trump’s ratings on immigration tumble as Americans lose confidence in his top issue
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.
House speaker announces guests for State of the Union, including Jimmy Lai's daughter
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:
- Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, a NASA crew set to travel around the moon.
- Hanan Lischinsky, the brother of Yaron Lischinsky who, with Sarah Milgrim, two diplomats from the Israeli Embassy, were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum last year.
- Ziba Murat, the daughter of Dr. Gulshan Abbas who was detained and arrested by the Chinese Communist Party, in the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region.
- Shirley Brock-Dennis and Kambreigh Smith, mother and fiancée of Louisiana Police Officer Marc Brock, who was killed in the line of duty last year.
- Damon Magee, a Louisiana father and foster care and adoption advocate
- Trotter Hunt, a Louisiana business leader benefitting from GOP tax cuts.
- Michael Knowles, a conservative political commentator.
U.S. military boards third oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean
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.”
U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner banned from meeting French government over summons no-show
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.
The upstart MAGA-aligned party on the march in Britain
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.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previews State of the Union
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."
As examples of progress on that front, Leavitt pointed to lowering mortgage rates. She also said the president would tout tax policies on tips and overtime, including by highlighting a Pennsylvania waitress who she said benefits from Republican tax policies.
In other areas, Trump will tout the strength of the U.S. military, Leavitt said, pointing to the strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last year. She added that viewers will hear the president speak about "the threats that remain abroad, but what the United States is doing to ensure that not only America is the safest country in the world, but remains the strongest country."
Trump will also call on Democrats to move to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, which entered a shutdown earlier this month, Leavitt said. Democrats have been pushing for immigration enforcement reforms before they support a funding bill for the department.
Zelenskyy’s public frustration grows as Putin’s war enters a 5th year
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.
Trump to sell economy, unveil new affordability efforts in State of the Union
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.
First to NBC News: Progressive group PCCC endorses James Talarico over Jasmine Crockett in Texas
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.
“We do a lot of work with Congress, and Jasmine Crockett is an effective partisan jouster on flash points of the day but has never seriously shown up for an economic fight,” he said. “Are we just an anti-Trump party, or do we build a durable supermajority by clearly advancing a vision?”
He said they “thought it was important to intervene and reframe the race” away from the left-versus-moderate dichotomy that casts Crockett as the liberal option. Talarico “is a vibrant economic populist fighting for workers,” Green said. “There’s nothing mushy or moderate about that.”
Ahead of the endorsement, the group polled its roughly 10,000 Texas members on the primary and respondents favored Talarico 2-to-1 over Crockett, a spokesperson said.
Green added that he sees Talarico as more “electable,” criticizing Crockett for having told CNN it’s “not our goal” to convert Trump voters to win the general election. “No economic populist would ever say that,” Green said. “We are trying to appeal to independent and Republican voters.”
Talarico’s campaign had no immediate comment.
A new U.S. attack on Iran could risk large-scale retaliation
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.
Former British ambassador to the U.S. released on bail after arrest in Epstein investigation
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.”
Trump heads into the State of the Union facing diminished voter trust on the economy
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.
First to NBC News: Melania Trump invites Texas student and South Carolina foster care advocate to tonight's speech
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.
“Sierra and Everest embody my ongoing mission to uplift America’s foster youth and expand opportunity for our next generation through education and technology,” Trump said in a news release on her guests. “I am proud to have them join me at this historic event.”
The first lady raised awareness about foster care with several of her guests last year, as well, during her husband’s joint address to Congress. Recently, she secured $30 million in funding in the Department of Housing and Urban Development budget for her Fostering the Future initiative, which aims to support youths transitioning out of foster care.
Trump’s global tariff takes effect at 10%, despite announcement of 15%
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.
Where to watch tonight's State of the Union speech
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.
More than two dozen Democrats plan to skip Trump's speech
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.
