US President Joe Biden is slated to deliver his third State of the Union address on Thursday night (Mar. 7), just days after he and former President Donald Trump, 77, dominated the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses -- putting both on course for a rematch of the 2020 election.
Biden's speech this year could become the most consequential of his presidency, as voters and members of his own party question his age -- 81 -- and ability to carry out the grueling duties of a second term. Biden will likely seek to highlight accomplishments in his first term, while also warning the country about what he has labeled former President Donald Trump's "chaos and division," as HNGN previously reported.
While it remains to be seen how often Biden would invoke former President Donald Trump's name—or whether he would choose to at all—the 2024 general election campaign would, for all intents and purposes, be kicked off with Biden's speech to Congress.
As the hours tick down, here are some of the things that those watching the State of the Union address should watch for.
Economic Performance
Aside from the House of Representatives approving $460 billion in government funding to avoid a shutdown, the US economy has outperformed experts' expectations since 2023, when many economists thought it would be undergoing a recession.
One factor contributing to the current stability of the economy was the unemployment rate staying below 4% for the past 24 months.
However, Americans generally convey strong disapproval of the state of the economy due to the country's inflation rate.
Even though price increases have moderated significantly from two years ago, Americans were paying 18% more for goods and services than before Biden took office, according to Consumer Price Index data.
Two days before Thursday's address, the Biden administration launched a new strike force with the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission "to root out and stop illegal corporate behavior" that resulted in higher prices for Americans. White House national economic adviser Lael Brainard told reporters Monday night (Mar. 4) that this is expected to be part of the address.
The Biden administration has also focused on lowering drug prices and health care costs more broadly, both through laws aimed at reducing costs and through administrative proposals aimed at increasing competition, such as a rule in November governing the financial incentives that health insurers offering Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D drug plans can provide to brokers and agents.
The proposal would set up guardrails to prevent plans from providing excessive compensation to brokers and agents to steer potential enrollees to their policies rather than those in senior citizens' best interests.
Border Issues, Abortion Rights
Another set of issues Biden would have to tackle include the border crisis and abortion rights issues, topics he would be expected to debate with Trump in the lead-up to November.
Visiting the US-Mexico border on the same day as Trump last week, Biden offered his foe an olive branch, entreating the former president to work with him to find a solution that would strengthen the US southern border and overhaul its immigration system.
However, Trump - who hoped to use illegal immigration as a political talking point against Biden - has not accepted a truce.
Meanwhile, Biden would also have the opportunity to increase his efforts to protect abortion rights in the country and the threat posed to those rights if Trump were to be elected again come November. The Biden administration has spent much of the time since the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, blaming Trump for the decision.
Diplomatic, Defensive Commitments
Biden would also need to convince lawmakers and the public regarding Ukraine and Israel.
The lack of further US-funded ammunition has had serious consequences for Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield, and Biden frequently said that history would judge harshly the lack of resolve shown in continuing to fund the country's defense.
The speech came weeks after Ukraine announced a withdrawal from the strategic hub of Avdiivka after fighting dealt heavy casualties to the Ukrainians and as other world leaders doubt the future of American leadership abroad in a hypothetical second Trump term.
Trump also sharpened his rhetoric around withdrawing the US from international partnerships, encouraging Russia to attack US allies who do not meet NATO spending guidelines and offering them no criticism of Vladimir Putin for the death of his leading critic, Alexei Navalny.
Meanwhile, Biden would also face backlash from fellow Democrats who have supported the Palestinian cause in the war between Israel and Hamas.
