How to watch President Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address for free

The first official State of the Union address of President Trump’s second term will take place tonight.

Last year, the President delivered a 1 hour, 39 minute address to congress less than two months after beginning his second term, but the speech was not referred to as an official State of the Union.

On Monday, Trump hinted that tonight’s speech could go long, if not longer than his 2025 address.

“It’s going to be a long speech, because we have so much to talk about,” he said.

President Trump will likely reflect on economic wins from the past year like lower inflation and touch on international feats like brokering a peace deal in Gaza and capturing Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.

He will also likely address the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down his “reciprocal” and fentanyl tariffs with Supreme Court justices expected to be seated in the front row.

Guests at this year’s State of the Union address will include Erika Kirk, two young women invited by Melania Trump who exemplify the values she champions as First Lady, and members of the United States men’s Olympic hockey team who won gold just three days ago.

The players — who are “super excited” to attend — received the invite via a phone call as the team partied with FBI director Kash Patel following the victory. The invitation was also extended to the gold medal-winning women’s Olympic hockey team, who declined.

What time is the State of the Union?

President Trump will deliver the State of the Union address at 9 p.m. ET tonight, Feb. 24.

The Democrats are scheduled to deliver their response to the address at 10:30 p.m. ET.

How to watch the State of the Union address for free

The State of the Union address will air on all major TV networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, MS Now, PBS, Fox News and Fox Business.

If you don’t have cable, a live TV streaming service will carry the address. DIRECTV is our top pick for watching television live for free — its five-day free trial includes every network the State of the Union is airing on. When the trial is over, you’ll pay as low as $39.99/month and gain access to over 90 live channels.

The address will also stream live on YouTube.

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This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about (or watching) TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on the underrated perfume dupes at Bath & Body Works and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.