NOTE: A live stream of the address will appear in the player above as it begins at 8 p.m. CT Tuesday.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday night will deliver the first joint congressional address of his second presidency, but it's not considered a State of the Union.
The State of the Union title is reserved for a president's annual address to Congress during other years of an administration.
By tradition, a State of the Union address is intended as a look back on the prior year. Trump just took office — albeit for a second time — on Jan. 20, so he's only been in office this go-round for just over a month.
Instead, newly inaugurated presidents typically use their first joint congressional addresses to look forward, setting a tone for their legislative agenda. According to the Congressional Research Service, the average number of policy requests in a first-year address is 42.
The address instead makes for an opportunity for Trump to lay out his priorities for the year.
Here's what to know:
Politics
What time is the joint address?
Trump's remarks to Congress are slated to begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT.
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What TV channel or streaming platform can you watch it on?
Trump's speech will be shown live on all of the major network and cable television stations, including on NBC, MSNBC, NBC News Now, NBC’s online streaming network Peacock, and this website.
It will also be available live on the NBC Chicago streaming channel.
The 24-7 streaming channel, NBC Chicago News, is now available at the top of this page, on NBCChicago.com and the NBC Chicago app, as well as on Peacock, Roku, Samsung TV Plus and Xumo. (Details on how to watch here)
Where does the address happen?
Trump's speech will take place in the U.S. House chamber. Larger than the Senate chamber, it can accommodate both House and Senate lawmakers as well as other officials who are typically invited to such events.
Who else will be there?
Members of the U.S. Supreme Court and Trump's Cabinet will attend.
There's always one Cabinet member missing, though. Called the “designated survivor,” that person — who by position is in the presidential line of succession — is intentionally left out of such events to ensure that someone could assume the office of the president in case of a catastrophic or mass-casualty event.
The president typically invites guests who join the event from the balcony above the House floor and are seated with the first lady. Sometimes, there are personal connections, and other times the guests have an association with an issue the president intends to highlight in his remarks.
In his first joint address after taking office in 2017, Trump invited the widow of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, as well as the widows of two California police officers killed by a man living in the country illegally.
What to watch for during the address?
Almost no detail is left to chance in these situations.
The president is in his element when he's delivering freewheeling remarks, bouncing from topic to topic in what he likes to call “the weave.” But that's not usually how these kinds of speeches go. They're often carefully scripted, the kind of monologue that Trump might label “BORING” in a post on Truth Social if he were watching it on television.
Trump himself has said the speech "will be big."
Here's an idea of what to look and listen for:
Will Elon Musk attend?
The most powerful people in American government are usually on the dais during an event like this. While the president addresses the nation, the House speaker and the vice president, who doubles as the ceremonial leader of the Senate, sit behind him.
However, they've been largely overshadowed by Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency and serving as a top adviser to Trump. There's no precedent for Musk's operation, which has burrowed into federal agencies, led to thousands of firings and counting, and rewired how Washington works.
Special guests at presidential speeches often sit above the chamber in the gallery. Will Musk, the world's richest person, be there — or somewhere else?
What about Ukraine?
It's been only a few days since the most dramatic encounter in the Oval Office in recent memory. Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to solidify a partnership involving critical minerals, only for a deal to fall apart after Trump and Vice President JD Vance laced into Zelenskyy over a perceived lack of respect.
Now the future of U.S. support for Ukraine, which has been fending off a Russian invasion for three years, is increasingly in doubt. “You either make a deal or we are out," Trump told Zelenskyy.
Will Russia try to press its advantage on the battlefield? Does Zelenskyy patch things up with Trump? Will fragile U.S. relationships with European allies deteriorate further?
There are no clear answers right now. But Tuesday's speech will be a high-profile opportunity for Trump, a Republican, to explain his vision for the war and his approach to foreign policy.
Does Trump spell out a legislative plan?
Trump has demonstrated his desire to push the limits of presidential power during his second term in office, but there are some things that he still needs congressional help to accomplish.
The president wants spending cuts, border security funding and tax cuts — a politically sensitive combination at a time when Republicans have only slim majorities in the House and the Senate. The party will need almost complete unanimity to move forward.
So far, Trump has followed his typical approach of playing one side off against the other, sometimes endorsing the House plan for one massive piece of legislation and sometimes supporting the Senate strategy of breaking the proposals into multiple bills.
Don’t expect a lot of details from the president — that’s not something that usually happens in speeches like this, regardless of who occupies the Oval Office. But Trump could reveal more about his goals or prod lawmakers to work faster. Given the power that Trump has over the party, any remark could reshape the debate.
What happens afterward?
As there is a post-State of the Union address, the opposing party — in this case, the Democrats — will offer a message in response to the joint congressional address.
This year, Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who previously served in the House, will give the Democrats' response, which is also televised. Democratic leaders have said that in her message, Slotkin will likely focus on economic issues.
The party has also tapped Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York, chair of the Hispanic Caucus, to give a Spanish-language response. On Saturday, Trump signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States, a measure that allows government agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to choose whether to continue to offer documents and services in languages other than English.
