President Donald Trump is set to address Congress for his State of the Union speech tonight, with U.S. forces amassing in the Middle East and administration officials engaged in an ongoing flurry of diplomacy with the Iranian regime.

We’ll be watching for how Trump will address the situation with Iran in his speech, if at all. Will he set red lines or negotiate demands for the regime? Will he lay out his plan or goals for a potential military attack? The White House, as of now, isn’t previewing his remarks.

Trump took to Truth Social yesterday afternoon with a post rejecting as “fake news” reporting from a series of outlets that Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had raised concerns about a sustained military campaign against Iran.

The president said that Caine “like all of us, would not like to see War” but also believes that a military conflict would be “easily won.” Although talks have reportedly centered around limits on Iran’s nuclear program, Trump continued to insist that the regime’s nuclear development is “no longer, but rather, was blown to smithereens.” He called reports that the administration is considering limited strikes on Iran “fake.” 

It’s not out of the question that Trump, who loves a made-for-TV moment, breaks major news on Iran during the speech — last year, he announced in the middle of his speech that the U.S. had apprehended a terrorist allegedly involved in the bombing that killed 13 U.S. servicemembers during the pullout from Afghanistan.

On the other hand, Trump might steer clear of the topic entirely as he focuses on domestic issues dominating the headlines, such as tariffs and immigration.

We’ll also be keeping an ear out for whether Trump tries to draw any boundaries for the conservative movement on Israel policy and antisemitism in his speech. The president has largely stayed out of the ongoing fight over Israel roiling the right, but the GOP’s most prominent Israel critic, Tucker Carlson, visited the White House on Monday after an interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee that grabbed headlines.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia is set to deliver the Democratic rebuttal to Trump’s speech — making her the second of a class of female Democrats with national security backgrounds to deliver the response in two years, following Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s (D-MI) remarks last year.

Despite Slotkin’s expertise, her speech last year was fairly light on foreign policy, and it remains to be seen whether Spanberger will follow that approach. 

Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), among the most strident Israel critics in the House, is set to deliver a response on behalf of the progressive Working Families Party.

On the Democratic side of the chamber, don’t expect to see a repeat of last year’s rowdy response from the crowd — Democratic leaders are urging members to avoid disruptive protests during the speech, such as attempting to interrupt Trump.

And a growing number of Democrats, mostly progressives, including several Senate Democrats with potential presidential ambitions,are set to skip the speech entirely, in some cases attending or speaking at counter-programming events being hosted by liberal groups.