Reporter’s Notebook: President Trump delivers State of the Union address Tuesday night

Imagine a boxing match.

A boxing match can only last a few rounds. But it’s a big production. There has been a massive build-up for weeks in the press. Here is the weighing. The two fighters enter the ring with fanfare. Everyone scans the crowd to see “who” is there or has found seats near the ring. Celebrities. Actors. Musicians. Models. Other famous athletes.

There is a lot to see.

And that’s why the president’s State of the Union address is similar.

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President Donald Trump arrives to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for Southern Boulevard at the Mar-a-Lago Ballroom in Palm Beach, Florida, January 16, 2026. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)

Yeah, that’s the talk. But there are plenty of other topics to focus on when President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address Tuesday night. This can range from the “trunk” that fighters carry when they enter the ring to the one that serves as their cornermen.

Are you paying attention to the speech itself and what the president says? Is he delivering a speech in a rush, branching out into numerous political tributaries and addressing countless grievances? Are you watching the performance of a president who maintains a mostly loyal MAGA base but struggles with skyrocketing disapproval ratings? What about the presence of the Supreme Court justices who ruled against the president last week on tariffs, one of the most consequential issues of his administration? What about its desire to double its pricing policies, despite the High Court decision? We haven’t even discussed what the president might say about ICE, the unrest in the Twin Cities, the impasse over funding the Department of Homeland Security. And that’s not to mention the possibility of invading Iran or the new issues emerging regarding Greenland.

This is just an incomplete list regarding the speech. But State of the Union messages are now mixed with theater and performance. This goes well beyond what the president can say or do. A few decades ago, lawmakers were virtually nothing more than props, clapping and cheering when they heard the president tout a policy or achievement they supported. Or, to sit in silence if something came up that they objected to.

From now on, the State of the Union is a participatory, even contact, sport. The president’s most ardent opponents should make noise, heckle, boo, shout or even berate the president. Consider the iconic photo depicting Rep. Al Green, Democrat of Texas, waving his cane at Trump before House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democrat of Los Angeles, banned him from the speech last year. Or former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., standing, mocking former President Joe Biden a few years ago.

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Trump delivers his joint speech to Congress and is interrupted by Rep. Al Green protesting his cuts to several government programs on March 4, 2025. (PA)

Tuesday evening will serve as a test of Congressional decorum. Expect explosions and shouted retorts. But we’ll see if anyone raises — or lowers — the bar when it comes to their conduct compared to Johnson running Green out of the room last year.

Then there’s the old “look who I brought” to the voice watch. Democrats can look to pillars of their community, local heroes, or those who have been wronged by ICE. Republicans can bring in local law enforcement officials who are helpful in detaining and deporting people in the country illegally. Or even the relatives of the victims of illegal immigrants.

It is also questionable whether any legislators will show up.

Some Republicans representing vulnerable districts or competitive states could withdraw to create distance between themselves and the widely unpopular president. Meanwhile, a growing number of Democrats are considering attending an alternative to the president’s speech. They are avoiding speech in exchange for what they call the “People’s State of the Union” on the National Mall.

Some Democrats could do double duty.

One wonders if some lawmakers – from both parties – will use travel problems posed by the East Coast blizzard as a convenient excuse not to participate.

Someone who might not escape: former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. The House expelled Santos at the end of 2023. Only the sixth member was expelled from the House. But as a former lawmaker, Santos still has the privilege to come and go from the Capitol as he pleases. So Santos showed up for Biden’s State of the Union address in 2024. Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft in 2024. But Trump commuted Santos’ sentence last fall.

And then there is who reacts to Trump. Virginia Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger gives the official Democratic response. She’s a former moderate congresswoman who won last fall campaigning on “affordability.” Republicans will focus on Spanberger and plan to redraw House districts in Virginia to offset potential gains by GOPers through redistricting — at the president’s request — in Texas.

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Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger during an election night event at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia on November 4, 2025. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

Three other prominent Virginians have rebutted State of the Union messages in recent years.

Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, was governor of Virginia when he responded to then-President George W. Bush in 2006. Democrats then appointed Senator Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, to respond to Mr. Bush’s speech in 2007. Republicans tapped Republican Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell to speak after Obama’s speech in 2010. Most responses to the presidential State of the Union addresses do not do not go well or are barely remembered. It might be interesting to know if Spanberger manages to cut through the noise and if people remember anything from his presentation.

Sen. Alex Padilla, Democrat of California, will deliver the Democrats’ response in Spanish. It will be Padilla’s highest-profile moment since guards protecting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem threw the senator to the ground when he interrupted her remarks about ICE at a news conference in Los Angeles in June.

The president will be on screen most of the time during the speech. But the two men who probably rival Trump in terms of screen time are Johnson and Vice President JD Vance. Or at least their torsos will be since they’re half visible in the frame, sitting above Trump on the House dais. Johnson will run the show, since he is Speaker of the House. Vance is there in his capacity as President of the Senate. Both are seated directly behind the president.

Johnson owes much of his viability as president to Trump. And Vance’s viability as a potential 2028 presidential candidate could also depend on the president. Reports emerged this week that Trump was polling his advisers about who should carry the MAGA torch after leaving office: Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio will appear in the House as a member of the president’s cabinet. The network feed will inevitably pick up footage of Rubio when Trump discusses the January raid in Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, the future of NATO, or U.S.-Canada relations. But Vance will be there – literally – for most of the night. Viewers are sure to watch for Vance’s behavior. Commentators will dissect and analyze various reactions and body language from the vice president. And everyone will know if he name-checks Vance or Rubio during his remarks.

Lots to see. Lots to look at. Lots to debate. But State of the Union addresses aren’t what they used to be. We see the president all the time. Whether it’s on TV. Social networks. Memes. Not so long ago, presidential messages and their impacts were organized differently. People didn’t see or hear about the president very often. Today, the public hears about this particular president all the time. This therefore diminishes the impact of such speech.

Yet this is the annual televised boxing match of American politics. Everyone will “mark” which side delivered the blows. Who won which round? And to what extent one side or the other has bludgeoned its opponent.

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But we enter the political arena daily, not just once a year. Every day is a fight judged by the public. And while it remains an important day on the annual political calendar, the State of the Union may have lost its impact.

Politics today involves a daily fight under the map. And the public is usually obsessed with social media, monitoring TKOs.