Trump speech to Congress: Start time, how to watch and stream

President Donald Trump will address a joint session of Congress Tuesday, his first major address since having clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House Friday.

It’s unclear how much the president will mention Ukraine in his speech. On Monday, Trump ordered a pause on military assistance to Ukraine the U.S. had been providing since Russia’s invasion in 2022, the Associated Press reported. Trump has pushed for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, but has repeatedly criticized Zelensky and increasingly aligned himself with the Kremlin and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The speech also comes as a government shutdown looms in Washington, D.C. Republicans control the House and Senate, but don’t appear close to a deal ahead of a March 14 deadline. Trump has complicated negotiations by freezing spending previously approved by Congress. Just one example is in Montgomery County, where officials say they have yet to receive millions of dollars in assistance to keep residents in their homes and off the streets.

It’s likely Trump will tout his moves to dramatically overhaul the size of the federal government, having turned to billionaire Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to layoff tens of thousands of federal workers — many of whom work in Philadelphia.

In some cases, Musk and his team have been too aggressive in cutting jobs — the Tesla and SpaceX CEO admitted accidentally ending Ebola protection, had to bring back fired nuclear weapons workers, and called for retired air traffic controllers to return to the Federal Aviation Administration.

There’s also the question of Trump’s tariffs, which are taxes on imported goods. Tariffs on Mexico and Canada were set to go into effect Tuesday, and Trump announced Monday plans to impose new tariffs on agricultural imports beginning April 2.

The address will air on all major broadcast networks and cable news channels to an expected audience of 30 million to 35 million viewers. It will also be streamed live online. Here’s what you need to know:

Trump is expected to begin his address live from the Capitol shortly after 9 p.m. It will air live on all broadcast networks and cable news channels, and is available to stream here on Inquirer.com, courtesy of PBS:

Over the past 20 years, State of the Union-style speeches have averaged about one hour and three minutes, but Trump’s speeches during his first term ran longer, averaging about an hour and 15 minutes.

Using both as benchmarks, expect Trump’s address to end sometime around 10:10 p.m. Eastern.

Trump’s speech will have blanket television coverage and all the pomp and circumstance of previous speeches, but it isn’t technically a State of the Union address.

The president delivers remarks at the invitation of the speaker of the House. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s invitation welcomed Trump to deliver an “address,” a recognition the president needs to be in office a full year before giving an official State of the Union.

Every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 has addressed a joint session of Congress shortly after their inauguration. That includes Trump, whose first speech took place on Feb. 28, 2017.

As for the annual speech itself, the Constitution states the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

George Washington, in 1790, was the first to deliver a regular address to Congress. The address has transformed over the years, shifting from a speech to a written statement, and back to a speech with the advent of radio and later television. Since 1947, it has officially been known as the State of the Union.

Following Trump’s address, Democrats will offer their own message about the direction of the country in a rebuttal delivered by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D., Mich.).

Slotkin was elected to Michigan’s open Senate seat during the 2024 election, despite Trump winning the state. She is a former CIA analyst and Department of Defense official who served during the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

“The public expects leaders to level with them on what’s actually happening in our country,” Slotkin said in a statement. “From our economic security to our national security, we’ve got to chart a way forward that actually improves people’s lives in the country we all love, and I’m looking forward to laying that out.”

Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D., N.Y.) will deliver the Spanish-language response just three days after Trump signed an executive order making English the official language of the United States, a first in the nation’s 248-year history.

U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon (D., Calif.) of the progressive Working Families Party will deliver a separate rebuttal to Trump’s speech.