Trump to address joint Congress, but not State of the Union

US President Donald Trump is set to address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, but the speech is not officially considered a State of the Union address due to long-standing tradition.

While Article II of the Constitution mandates that presidents provide Congress with “Information of the State of the Union” from time to time, the format and timing of these reports have evolved over centuries.

According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), early presidents, from Thomas Jefferson to William Howard Taft, fulfilled this duty through written reports rather than speeches. It was Woodrow Wilson in 1913 who revived George Washington’s precedent of delivering an in-person address, a practice that has since become standard.

Initially referred to as the Annual Message, the term “State of the Union” was first used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who applied the constitutional language to both the message and the event. The title was officially adopted in 1947 during President Harry Truman’s administration, coinciding with the first televised address of its kind.

The timing of the address has also shifted over time. Before the 20th Amendment was ratified in 1933, Congress convened in March, and presidents typically delivered their reports in December.

After the amendment moved the start of congressional and presidential terms to January, the State of the Union shifted to the beginning of the year. However, in a president’s first year after inauguration, the tradition of delivering an official State of the Union address has not been followed.

Outgoing presidents sometimes opt not to deliver a final address before leaving office. In 1981, President Jimmy Carter submitted a written report to Congress instead of giving a speech.

Newly inaugurated President Ronald Reagan then addressed Congress in February of that year, but his speech was explicitly not labeled a State of the Union address. Subsequent presidents, including George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump, and Joe Biden, have all followed this precedent, delivering speeches that outline their administration’s goals without officially designating them as State of the Union addresses.

Despite the technical distinction, these speeches often carry the same weight and significance as an official State of the Union. The American Presidency Project notes that such addresses shape public perception of presidential leadership and set the administration’s agenda in much the same way.

For Trump, Tuesday’s address presents an opportunity to discuss the first six weeks of his second term, which have seen major policy shifts and global ramifications. The president teased the speech on Truth Social, writing, “TOMORROW NIGHT WILL BE BIG. I WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS!”

While the speech may not be officially classified as a State of the Union, it will nonetheless serve as a crucial moment for Trump to outline his priorities and rally support for his administration’s policies.