State of the Union updates: Trump spars with Dems, touts economy and immigration

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump's speech would be "painful and tedious for the American people," and that the president would blame Democrats and the Supreme Court for the nation's troubles.

"America is deeply unhappy with Trump's leadership, and he'll blame everyone else for our country's troubles. He'll blame Biden, he'll blame the Supreme Court. He'll point the finger at everyone but himself," Schumer said Tuesday afternoon.

"So tonight, Americans aren't going to get the real state of the union ... What Americans will get is a state of deception, a state of denial," he said.

Schumer said that some of the chaos was the administration's crackdown on immigration, Trump's tariff policies and his involvement with the Jeffery Epstein investigation.

At 11 years old, Everest Nevraumont has three regional history bee titles and her own TEDx talk. On Tuesday she'll add another honor: guest to the first lady at the State of the Union.

"Like everybody in the entire world is watching it, and I'm right there in the same room," Everest said in a Tuesday interview.

The first lady champions the use of artificial intelligence - one of Everest's passions. Her TEDx talk explores how she uses AI to learn, and she's a student at the Alpha School in Austin, Texas, where learning is powered by AI.

Everest said she's been using AI tools to study the history of the State of the Union. She was thrilled to get a tour of the White House (she loved the paintings and the "poofy" furniture).

Being chosen to sit with the first lady reflects AI's growing national importance, she said, and also that "academic achievements like the history bee actually really pay off."

Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. -- two of the leading co-authors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act -- will sit next to each other at the State of the Union address.

This is notable because it is often rare to see Democrats and Republicans sitting together on the House floor during the State of the Union.

Khanna and Massie plan to show their support for Epstein survivors, with the Democrat inviting Epstein survivor Haley Robson as his guest to the address.

President Donald Trump greeted members of the gold medal-winning men's hockey team in the Oval Office on Tuesday, ahead of the State of the Union, photos and videos show.

The members can be seen filing into the Oval Office wearing their Olympic gold medals around their necks, with some shaking the president's hand, in a video posted on X by one of Trump's top aides, Dan Scavino.

"I recognize every one of you. I know every one of you," Trump said as the athletes made their way in. The president also laughed that they were "big guys" and congratulated the team.

The athletes were also captured holding up their gold medals while standing around the president at the Resolute Desk, on the South Lawn and making their way down the colonnade during their White House visit.