Saman ShafiqBryan AlexanderUSA TODAY
Updated July 16, 2026, 7:20 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump is set to address the nation on Thursday, July 16, amid renewed tensions in Iran, an election season that could result in the balance of power shifting in Congress, two deadly Immigrations and Customs Enforcement shootings and following the death of ally Sen. Lindsey Graham.
When radio host Hugh Hewitt asked Trump for a preview of his address, the president said it would be similar to recent speeches he gave at Mount Rushmore on July 3 and the National Mall on July 4 for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
“It’s just going to be a speech like a lot of my speeches,” Trump said. “We do pretty well in that regard.”
Here’s what to know about Trump’s address and how to watch.
What time is Trump’s national address tonight?
Trump will “deliver a speech to the nation” at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 16, the White House announced
Why is Trump addressing the nation?
The White House and Trump did not elaborate on why he would be addressing the nation, but he said he would discuss “free and fair elections” in his primetime address, USA TODAY previously reported.
“I’d rather save it, but it’s really big news,” Trump told reporters July 14 in the Oval Office when asked whether he would address election integrity in his remarks. “It’s really, really big news, and our country has to shape up. That’s what we’re going to be talking about Thursday. It doesn’t get bigger because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country.”
“We’ll be discussing other things, too, but it will be a very big announcement,” he added.
Trump’s speech comes as he continues to push unsubstantiated claims to assert that the 2020 election he lost to former President Joe Biden was stolen, while also alleging, without evidence and ahead of the November elections, that Democrats “cheat” to win.
How to watch Trump’s national address on TV, streaming
USA TODAY will <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-a9RZ9qPKk” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>stream the address live and provide updates.
As for television coverage, USA TODAY confirmed that ABC and NBC will air the president’s speech on their respective news streaming platforms, rather than broadcast it live.
“We will also cover the speech in our regular network newscasts and, as always, our Special Report team is fully prepared to break into network programming to deliver live updates and reporting should significant developments occur,” a spokesperson for ABC said.
A spokesperson for NBC told USA TODAY that in addition to streaming the speech the network plans to air a special report on the network following the address.
CNN said in a statement that the network intends to cover the speech as a “news event” on its live broadcast, with a live feed of the speech available on its website and CNN’s All Access streaming platform.
USA TODAY has reached out to Fox News and CBS about their plans to air the speech but has not received a response.
The address is also expected to stream live on The White House’s website and YouTube channel.
This story has been updated with new information
Contributing: Joey Garrison, Josh Meyer, Erin Mansfield, Bart Jansen, James Powel – USA TODAY
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@usatodayco.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
