President Donald Trump will speak before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night for his first address since 2020. However, he won’t technically be giving a State of the Union speech.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, invited the president to make the address in January to share his “America First vision for our legislative future.”

Since George Washington’s address in 1790, presidents have long updated Congress annually on the state of play in the U.S. from expressing goals and celebrating accomplishments to conveying upcoming plans. These speeches traditionally take place within the first few months of the year and are broadcast for all Americans to watch.

Here’s what to you need to know about his upcoming speech and why it’s called a joint congressional address instead of a State of the Union address.

What is a State of the Union?

The State of the Union is an annual speech given by the president to Congress at the start of most calendar years, providing information on the current status and conditions in the United States. Typically, it is delivered to a joint session of Congress inside the House of Representatives chamber.

The address is written into the U.S. Constitution but did not become a tradition until 1913 when former President Woodrow Wilson brought the practice back and shifted its direction to focus on the nation’s priorities, achievements and future legislative plans. 

America’s first two presidents, George Washington and John Adams, gave annual addresses to Congress, but the tradition stopped when Thomas Jefferson chose to provide the report in writing, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Jefferson felt a formal speech too closely resembled addresses delivered by the British monarchy.

In the years since, most State of the Unions have been delivered orally, but some have been done in writing, akin to Jefferson’s practice. The first televised address was Truman’s in 1947. 

Why isn’t Trump’s address called the State of the Union?

The Republican president’s speech will not be an official State of the Union address because he was sworn into office less than two months ago.

Starting with former President Ronald Reagan, several recent presidents have delivered speeches in the months after being inaugurated that serve the same purpose as the State of the Union, even without formally being one, according to the American Presidency Project, a non-profit and non-partisan website created and managed by the University of California in 1999.

In 1981, Reagan’s address to Congress was called the “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the Program for Economic Recovery.” Bush and Clinton both gave “Administration Goal” speeches, respectively, in 1989 and 1993.

So far, there have been seven occasions where new presidents have delivered an “unofficial” address, according to APP.

• Ronald Regan (Republican) – 1981
• George H.W. Bush (Republican) – 1989
• Bill Clinton – (Democrat) 1993
• George W. Bush – (Republican) 2001
• Barack Obama – (Democrat) 2009
• Donald Trump – (Republican ) 2017
• Joe Biden – (Democrat) 2021

When will Trump address Congress?

Trump is set to address Congress on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.

Multiple media outlets including USA TODAY, ABC, Fox News, NPR, NewsNation, PBS and more, have announced plans to start live coverage of the event.

Contributing: Fernando Cervantes Jr. and Mary Walrath-Holdridge