Who's who at Trump's State of the Union address: Here's full visual guide

Amid the rising noise of the Epstein files saga, President Trump is set to deliver the SOTU address tonight, Tuesday, February 24, 2026

President Donald Trump will address a joint sitting of the 119th Congress tonight, February 24, at 9 pm ET.

President Trump had formally accepted the invitation from House Speaker Mike Johnson in January this year to address the Congress.

The SOTU address is often viewed as an opportunity for the incumbent president to outline his administration’s direction and count on success and influence public opinion.

Let’s take a closer look at the SOTU address from a unique point of view—how it will look on Tuesday night as the nation watches on TV and keeps up on mobile phones.

When President Trump takes the center stage on Tuesday night, February 24, Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson are expected to fill the rows behind him on either side.

Seated before the president are Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, Joint Chiefs of Staff, former members of Congress, and members of the diplomatic corps.

While seat arrangements in the rest of the chamber are not designated, as per the details available on the Congressional Research Service portal.

And for the senators and House representatives, seats are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Traditionally, the president and first lady have the prerogative to extend invitations to about a dozen guests to sit in the gallery to give the president’s speech a human touch for both the domestic consumption and policymakers.

Who is the 'designated survivor' that will miss SOTU address tonight?

On each president’s address to the Congress, one person by intention is kept absent during the address of the president, and the person is called “the designated survivor.”

The person is chosen from the cabinet as the ‘designated survivor’ to remain in a well-guarded location during the speech in case of catastrophe, to make sure of the smooth running of the business of government.

Well, for the unversed, the previous year’s address, ‘the designated survivor’ role, was assigned to Doug Collins, the secretary of the Department Veterans Affairs.