President Biden is expected to tout a resilient economy, call for tighter gun regulation, and contrast his administration’s achievements with a chaotic Republican party at his annual State of the Union speech tomorrow.

• The speech is complicated by the Chinese spy balloon incident with House Republicans weighing up legislation criticising Biden's response.
• Biden will likely frame his response within his administration’s broader drive to mitigate the threat China poses of US national security.
• Biden will focus on economic recovery as he makes a bid to capture the centre ground. He will develop his image as “builder president,” as he has done throughout 2023 in events marking Bipartisan Infrastructure Act legislation.
• Biden will continue messaging that legislation has contributed to an easing of inflation, delivered robust jobs data, and repositioned the US to effectively compete with China and secure critical supply chains for semiconductors.
• He will argue that his leadership of a global coalition has helped Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression and urge that continued US leadership is vital to address a rise of authoritarianism.