Trump’s First State Of The Union Address Is Tonight. Here’s What To Expect.

BuzzFeed News will have a live show and updates through tonight’s address.

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• Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address tonight at 9 p.m. EST, and his spokesperson said it will “obviously be must-watch TV.”
• You can watch it here and on BuzzFeed News’s Facebook page, where we’ll be hosting a show with analysis, the speech, and coverage of the planned protests outside. We’ll also update this post when the speech begins.
• It’s a highly-anticipated speech, mostly because people are unsure what, exactly, Trump might say. But remember: Trump usually remains on-script during big, ceremonial speeches, like the one he gave at Davos last week.
• The speech comes amid a ramping up of tensions in the Russia investigation. It was reported Trump ordered Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigation possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, fired. (Mueller remained on the job.) Press Secretary Sarah Sanders wouldn’t say Monday if Trump will mention the investigation during the address.
• Sanders did say, “The theme of the address is, ‘building a safe, strong, and proud America.’”
• First Lady Melania Trump’s guests will include a welder, a family whose loved one was killed by the MS-13 gang, and a wounded soldier.
• US Representative Joe Kennedy III invited a transgender soldier to attend. Trump does not believe transgender people should serve in the military.
• And Democratic senators have reportedly invited more than a dozen DREAMERs, whose parents brought them to the US illegally as children. Their status is currently being debated in Washington.

Maxine Waters is giving a national address on BET after Trump’s State Of The Union

Andrew Caballero-reynolds / AFP / Getty Images

One of President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics on Capitol Hill will address the country just after next Tuesday’s State of the Union.

Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, will speak at the top of a BET News special after Trump delivers the State of the Union, a BET spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. The program, “Angela Rye’s State of the Union,” is part of a broader partnership announced just days ago between the network and the Democratic strategist and political commentator. Rye will executive produce news programs with a sharp focus on issues facing black Americans. The programs will run quarterly, BET said in a release.

The spokesperson said activists and some elected officials will analyze Trump’s first year in office on the program, and will talk about "building black politics and the value of engagement across today’s socio-political landscape."

BET News confirmed Friday that the special will air this Wednesday.

Read the full story here.

–Darren Sands

On Monday, some members of Congress attending the SOTU noticed that there was a little spelling error on their tickets. Part of the invite read: "State of the Uniom" — not "State of the Union."

("Visitor's" is also incorrect, per the Office of Art & Archives website.)

A spokesperson for the Sergeant at Arms Office, the nonpartisan office in charge of printing the tickets, confirmed that there was a "misprint" and that Senate staffers had corrected, reprinted, and are currently redistributing the tickets.

Read the full story here.

–Brianna Sacks

Congressional Black Caucus chairman says group could boycott or "hold up fists" during Trump's State Of The Union

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The Congressional Black Caucus will decide on Wednesday whether to boycott President Donald Trump's State of the Union address later this month, but that's not the only option it has on the table.

Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond, the chair of the CBC, said on BuzzFeed News' AM to DM Wednesday morning that the caucus is looking at options including showing up at the State of the Union and walking out or holding a separate event at the same time.

"We will decide in that meeting and discuss how we want to respond to the president's State of the Union. We could go, we could go and walk out, we could go and hold up fists ... or we could not go, or we could hold our own State of the Union," Richmond, a Democrat, said. "So there's a million options we could do, but I think the most important part is to let people out there know that we're still here, we're still fighting, we really don't care what he thinks about us."

Read the full story here.

–Lissandra Villa

A trans soldier will attend Trump's State Of The Union speech

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A soldier who President Trump believes should not be allowed to serve in the military because she is transgender will be in the audience for the State of the Union address at the invitation of a Democratic lawmaker.

Rep. Joe Kennedy III, who is scheduled to deliver the Democratic Party's rebuttal speech from Massachusetts on Tuesday night, invited Staff Sgt. Patricia King, 37, to attend the president's speech in the House Chamber.

Trump blindsided the Pentagon and top military officials last year when he declared on Twitter that he was banning transgender people from serving "in any capacity" in the military.

Read the full story here.

–Blake Montgomery and Vera Bergengruen

This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.

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