Several Democrats to boycott Trump’s address
Several Democratic lawmakers will boycott Donald Trump’s State of the Union address tonight. Instead, many will rally on the National Mall.
So far, at least 30 Democratic members of Congress have said they will skip the State of the Union. These include senators Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Adam Schiff of California, as well as progressive representatives Pramila Jayapal, Maxwell Frost and Greg Casar.
The event, dubbed the “People’s State of the Union”, is being coordinated by progressive media network MeidasTouch and the liberal advocacy group MoveOn. Attorney and commentator Katie Phang and former anchor Joy Reid will co-host the rally. The event’s organizers say it will spotlight federal workers, immigrants and Americans affected by the Trump administration’s policies.
In a statement, Van Hollen said that he would not attend the address. “Trump is marching America towards fascism, and I refuse to normalize his shredding of our Constitution & democracy,” he said. “This cannot be business as usual.”
My colleagues will be covering the latest developments from the counter-protests.
Key events
Cabinet members arrive for Trump’s State of the Union address
We’re now seeing pictures of Donald Trump’s cabinet arriving at the US Capitol ahead of the president’s State of the Union address. They’re walking through Statuary Hall as they walk into the House chamber, where Trump will speak.
Joseph Gedeon
Just hours before the State of the Union, the mood inside the National Press Club for one of the capital’s bigger counter events is restless and defiant.
“I got into DC a few hours ago and got to this event just minutes ago,” Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey told the Guardian. “It’s full of people trying to stand up for democracy right now – angry about the trajectory of where our nation is going. They’re frustrated by the lack of abiding to the United States constitution.”
Frey, who will be making a rebuttal tonight, gestured to the range of anxieties animating the ballroom: abortion rights, international tensions with Iran, environmental protections.
Hundreds of people are at the event, which is just getting underway.
In 2025, when Trump made a joint address to Congress, he spoke at length about his efforts to cut the size of the federal workforce, change US foreign policy and implement a risky trade agenda, which included massive tariffs. In the speech lasting an hour and 40 minutes – the longest in US history – he also pointed to executive orders and actions implemented in the first weeks of his second term.
This year, despite facing opinion polls showing growing disapproval on a range of issues, it’s likely Trump will continue to insist he is “making America great again”. Expect the president to address issues of tariffs, which were struck down by the supreme court last week and then implemented again this weekend, alongside a range of other issues including immigration and foreign policy.
This year’s address could also run long. According to the official White House schedule, he is not expected to return to the White House until 11.30pm.
A reminder that major news networks will broadcast Trump’s address live. CBS will broadcast a livestream on its YouTube page, as will PBS. The Guardian will have a live feed of the address to Congress and our team of reporters will be covering and factchecking the president’s speech.
As we noted earlier, Trump’s last address to Congress was the longest in recent history. The second-longest was Bill Clinton in 2000, who spoke for 89 minutes, according to the American Presidency Project. The former Democratic president also holds third-place for his State of the Union address in 1995, which lasted 85 minutes.
Trump, however, claims the remaining spots in the top five. His addresses in 2019 and 2018 ran for 82 and 81 minutes, respectively.
Erika Kirk to attend address as Trump’s special guest
Erika Kirk, the widow of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, will attend tonight’s State of the Union address as a special guest of the president.
After her husband was assassinated at a college event for his non-profit Turning Point USA, Erika Kirk took over the organization.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president would call on Congress to “firmly reject political violence against our fellow citizens” with Kirk as a guest.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota, criticized fellow Democrats who are planning to boycott Donald Trump’s State of the Union address tonight, a decision party leaders have left up to individuals.
Klobuchar told reporters on Capitol Hill earlier:
If he’s coming to our house, you got to be there. Otherwise, you let him own the house.
At least a dozen Democrats are planning to skip the address tonight and attend a rally organized by progressive advocacy groups on the National Mall instead.
The Democratic senator Mark Kelly also confirmed to reporters that he plans to attend the State of the Union later.
Kelly said that Trump wants to see him “sitting in prison right now”, after the president branded the Arizona lawmaker “seditious” for taking part in a video where several Democratic members of Congress urged members of the military to defy illegal orders.
Earlier this month, a grand jury in Washington DC declined to indict the six members of Congress featured in the video: Kelly, Michigan senator Elissa Slotkin and House members Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania.
Warren confirms she’ll be at State of the Union: ‘I will be there as he tries to put a spin on this economy’
Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate banking committee, said she would be at the president’s State of the Union address tonight.
“I think it’s important to do. And I will be there. And I will be there as he tries to put a spin on this economy,” she told CNN. “He can spin it however he wants, but the Trump economy works great for billionaires and is not working for American families, and American families know that.”
The Massachusetts senator will be joined by Dr Geralde Gabeau, who leads the Boston-based Immigrant Family Services Institute Inc (IFSI), which works to support immigrant communities and protect immigrants’ rights. Warren noted that Trump’s immigration crackdown across the country, as well as the actions of federal immigration enforcement agents, are “making all of us less safe”.
“Dr Gabeau’s work makes our communities stronger, and I’m proud to have her by my side,” Warren added.
Supreme court justices expected to attend address days after monumental tariffs ruling
We’re expecting to see at least some of the supreme court’s nine members at this evening’s address. This comes just days after the court ruled that many of Donald Trump’s global tariffs are illegal.
In a 6-3 decision, the court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) – a 1977 statute that grants the president authority to regulate or prohibit certain international transactions during a national emergency – does not authorize Donald Trump to unilaterally impose tariffs. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.
After Friday’s ruling, the president was incensed and vented his frustration during an impromptu press conference. Trump said he was “ashamed” of the justices who ruled against his use of IEEPA. He hurled insults at them while speaking to reporters, calling them “fools and lap dogs” and “very unpatriotic and disloyal to our constitution” and even made baseless claims that they were being swayed by “foreign interests”. He also said that the justices were “barely” invited to his State of the Union address. “Honestly, I couldn’t care less if they come,” the president told reporters.
Notably, Trump didn’t say whether he regretted nominating Neil Gorsuch or Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court, after they concurred with liberal justices on the bench. “I think the decision was terrible,” Trump said. “I think it’s an embarrassment to their families, if you want to know the truth, the two of them.”
By contrast, Trump praised the justices who broke from the rest of the bench. “I’m so proud of him,” the president said of Kavanaugh, whom he nominated in his first term, while lauding the judge’s “genius and his great ability”. The president highlighted Kavanaugh’s dissenting opinion, which argued that other legal pathways remain for a president to impose tariffs. Trump announced that he plans to pursue some of those options.
Epstein survivors attending State of the Union as guests of Democratic lawmakers
Many Democratic members of Congress have invited several of Jeffrey Epstein’s survivors to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
The House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries announced that one of his guests tonight is Marina Lacerda, who said that she was groomed and abused by Jeffrey Epstein when she was a teenager. Jeffries’s counterpart, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, has invited Dani Bensky, who said she met Epstein when she was 17. “Dani has turned unimaginable pain into unrelenting advocacy,” Schumer said. “Survivors deserve justice. Trump must end the cover‑up and release the full Epstein files – NOW.”
While several Democrats are skipping the address, many are attending with survivors to intensify their calls for the justice department to release additional documents related to Epstein, after the latest tranche of files did little to quiet frustration with the Trump administration.
Ro Khanna, the Democratic representative who co‑authored legislation compelling the justice department to release the Epstein files, will bring another survivor, Haley Robson, who has said she was trafficked by Epstein at age 16.
Democrats choose Alex Padilla to deliver party’s Spanish-language response
In a statement, the 52-year-old senator said he planned to discuss “a federal government that weaponizes enforcement agencies against immigrants and US citizens alike”, as well as the Trump administration’s “failed economic agenda” and its effort to restrict voting access.
“Americans don’t need another speech from Donald Trump pretending everything is fine when their bills are too high, paychecks are too low, and masked and militarized federal agents are roaming our communities violating constitutional rights on a daily basis,” Padilla said in a statement.
Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants and the first Latino to represent California in the Senate, was tackled to the ground by federal agents and handcuffed after attempting to ask the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, a question at a news conference in Los Angeles during the administration’s immigration crackdown in the city last summer.
Virginia governor to deliver the Democratic response
Lauren Gambino
Virginia’s governor, Abigail Spanberger, will deliver the Democratic response to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, after tonight’s speech wraps up.
Spanberger, a former undercover CIA officer who served three terms in Congress, became Virginia’s first female governor earlier this year, resoundingly winning an office previously held by a Republican. She won the race by a double-digit margin, campaigning on affordability and lowering costs for families.
Spanberger said she plans to use her rebuttal to address Americans’ concerns with “rising costs, chaos in their communities, and a real fear of what each day might bring”.
“I look forward to laying out what these Americans expect and deserve – leaders who are working hard to deliver for them,” she added.
In choosing Spanberger, 46, Democratic leaders are handing the spotlight to a battleground-tested moderate with national security credentials and a reputation for message discipline, particularly on economic issues and highlighting the impact of federal policies on everyday Virginians. Her 15-point victory in a purple state last November, alongside Mikie Sherrill in the New Jersey’s governor’s race, provided a jolt of optimism for Democrats still searching for an effective response to counter a president who dominates the national political conversation.
Several Democrats to boycott Trump’s address
Several Democratic lawmakers will boycott Donald Trump’s State of the Union address tonight. Instead, many will rally on the National Mall.
So far, at least 30 Democratic members of Congress have said they will skip the State of the Union. These include senators Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Adam Schiff of California, as well as progressive representatives Pramila Jayapal, Maxwell Frost and Greg Casar.
The event, dubbed the “People’s State of the Union”, is being coordinated by progressive media network MeidasTouch and the liberal advocacy group MoveOn. Attorney and commentator Katie Phang and former anchor Joy Reid will co-host the rally. The event’s organizers say it will spotlight federal workers, immigrants and Americans affected by the Trump administration’s policies.
In a statement, Van Hollen said that he would not attend the address. “Trump is marching America towards fascism, and I refuse to normalize his shredding of our Constitution & democracy,” he said. “This cannot be business as usual.”
My colleagues will be covering the latest developments from the counter-protests.
Welcome to our coverage of the State of the Union address
Welcome to our live coverage of Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address of his second term. We’ll bring you the very latest from Washington and beyond, as my colleagues and I cover the main event, the counter-programming and the responses to the president’s speech.
Trump telegraphed that he’s not particularly concerned about the length of tonight’s address, which will begin at 9pm ET. “It’s going to be a long speech because we have so much to talk about,” he told reporters at a White House event on Monday.
Last year, the president spoke for a record-breaking 100 minutes. As that was Trump’s first year back in office, it was considered an address to a joint session of Congress, as opposed to a State of the Union speech. This year’s address doubles as his pitch to voters to keep Republicans in control of both chambers.
Trump’s frequent press appearances mean that we’re expecting many of his greatest hits, as he touts what he sees as the primary achievements of his second administration. We can expect to hear several jabs about Joe Biden’s presidency, mass deportation numbers, the state of the economy, the president’s perceived diplomatic victories and the number of “wars” he’s settled. Throughout the night, we’ll also be factchecking the president’s comments.
Earlier, top Democrats predicted Trump’s speech would be “long, painful and tedious”. At a press conference on Capitol Hill, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer slammed Trump’s address, just hours before it was set to begin. “Never in our lifetime have we gone into a State of the Union where the president’s rhetoric and the country’s reality are so far apart,” Schumer said.
