President Trump will deliver the first formal State of the Union address of his second term tonight before a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol. It will be his first official State of the Union since returning to office; last year’s appearance was billed as an address to Congress rather than a State of the Union.

With midterm elections looming, analysts say both parties view the prime-time address as an early test of the message they will carry into November.

When and where it’s airing

The event is scheduled to begin around 9 p.m. Eastern, with broadcast coverage generally running until about 11 p.m. It will air live nationwide on the major broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and PBS.

• ABC will brand its coverage as “State of the Union and the Democratic Response,” airing the speech on the network and streaming it on ABC News’ YouTube channel.

• CBS News will also begin coverage at 8 p.m. on YouTube, with the address at 9 p.m. on both CBS and YouTube.

• PBS NewsHour plans special coverage starting at 6 p.m. on its YouTube channel, then carries the speech, the Democratic response and analysis on PBS stations beginning at 9 p.m.

• Fox News, Telemundo and Univision will offer live coverage beginning around 8:50 p.m. according to TV Insider..

On cable, C-SPAN is also carrying the address as part of its traditional gavel-to-gavel coverage, with a condensed version available afterward on its 2026 State of the Union page.

CNN has scheduled a YouTube livestream titled “Watch live: Trump’s State of the Union address | SOTU 2026,” beginning at 7 p.m. They will carry the speech and the Democratic response, according to the CNN Live page.

Listeners can also tune in to NPR’s special coverage on member stations or stream audio through local public radio websites.

Who will deliver the Democratic response

Democrats have tapped Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger to deliver the party’s official response following Mr. Trump’s address, with Sen. Alex Padilla, California Democrat, giving a Spanish-language response. The selections were announced in a joint statement from House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer, available on the House Democratic leadership site.

The leaders describe Ms. Spanberger as “a champion for lowering the high cost of living” and highlight Mr. Padilla’s role as the first Latino senator from California. Both responses are expected to air live on major networks and stream on party and media platforms.

What to expect in Mr. Trump’s speech

A ’test run’ for the midterms, focused on affordability

Mr. Trump is expected to devote much of his address to the economy, particularly the cost of living, in what the Associated Press calls a “test run” of the message Republicans hope will resonate with voters in this year’s congressional midterms. That framing comes from an AP preview of the speech.

Polling helps explain the emphasis. Analysis from the Pew Research Center finds that only 28% of Americans rate the national economy as “excellent” or “good,” while 72% call it “only fair” or “poor.” Overall, 28% say Mr. Trump’s policies have made economic conditions better, compared with 52% who say they have made the economy worse, Pew reports in its State of the Union 2026 brief.

Pew also notes that roughly seven in 10 adults are “very concerned” about the cost of health care, and majorities express similar concern about the prices of food, consumer goods and housing in the same analysis. An issue brief from the Urban Institute argues that nationwide frustration over housing, health care and everyday expenses is likely to push the president to use the address to explain “how he plans to bring down costs.”

Tariffs and a new Supreme Court complication

The economic portion of the speech will unfold against the backdrop of a major Supreme Court ruling on Mr. Trump’s trade agenda. In its pre-speech analysis, Pew notes that in a Feb. 20 decision the justices “threw much of the White House’s tariff policy into question,” prompting the president to call for a new 15% global tariff.

A foreign-policy issue guide from the Council on Foreign Relations says the court “struck down Trump’s sweeping tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners,” undercutting one of his signature tools for pressuring foreign governments and companies. Analysts will be watching to see whether Mr. Trump uses the State of the Union to sketch out a revised trade strategy or to double down on tariffs despite the ruling.

Public opinion on the issue is skeptical. Before the decision, six in 10 Americans disapproved of tariff increases, while 37% approved, according to the Pew survey cited in its State of the Union brief.

Immigration, enforcement and the border

Immigration and border security have been central to Mr. Trump’s second-term agenda, and aides indicate those themes will again be prominent Tuesday night, according to the AP preview.

Pew’s January polling shows a public that backs a muscular border presence but dislikes some enforcement tactics. A 62% majority favors a strong military presence at the U.S.-Mexico border. At the same time, 72% say it is unacceptable for federal immigration officers to use a person’s appearance or language as a reason to check immigration status, and 61% oppose officers wearing face coverings that hide their identities while working, the survey finds.

Since Mr. Trump’s return to office, U.S. Border Patrol encounters with migrants crossing from Mexico have fallen to their lowest level in more than 50 years, according to Pew’s analysis of federal data. The president is expected to highlight that drop as evidence his enforcement surge is working, while Democrats are poised to use Ms. Spanberger’s response to argue that his policies are too harsh and sweep up law-abiding families, as suggested in the Democratic leaders’ response announcement.

Foreign policy: ’America First’ abroad

Foreign policy is expected to be the other major pillar of the address. The CFR foreign-policy guide says Mr. Trump’s second term has been marked by a “fundamental shift” to an “America First” posture on trade, national security and immigration, and argues that his Feb. 24 address is likely to showcase those changes.

That guide highlights several arenas likely to loom over the speech, including trade and the economy, China and Taiwan, Russia and Ukraine, the Middle East, Venezuela, and energy and climate policy. It notes, for example, that the administration’s climate approach has been shaped heavily by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which rolls back or restructures a number of clean-energy incentives and Biden-era climate programs. Those details come from official IRS guidance on bill provisions and a detailed client alert by law firm Kirkland & Ellis analyzing the law’s environmental and tax impacts.

Pew’s State of the Union brief notes that since Mr. Trump returned to the White House, the Environmental Protection Agency has rolled back a number of regulations, including the 2009 greenhouse gas “endangerment finding,” and finds Americans split over whether environmental rules can be cut back without harming air and water quality in its spring 2025 survey summary.

Tone, temperament and what pundits are urging

Beyond policy, Mr. Trump’s tone may be one of the night’s biggest storylines. The Associated Press says the address is likely to resemble a campaign-style event, even as some strategists argue he should use it to reassure uneasy voters.

In a column for Townhall, conservative commentator Armstrong Williams argues that Mr. Trump should deliver “a governing speech, not a grievance speech,” and urges him to “lower the temperature” by acknowledging Americans’ economic anxiety and political exhaustion. Mr. Williams and other conservative analysts say the president has an opportunity to present himself as a more unifying figure without abandoning his core agenda — a move they contend could shape both his legacy and his party’s fortunes in November.