**🚨 BREAKING: THE FORMER PRESIDENT is Drawing Headlines After Reports of a Sizable Boycott Surrounding His State of the Union Address, With Some Lawmakers and Public Figures Choosing Not to Attend**

Donald Trump is once again dominating national headlines, but this time the spotlight is not on a rally, a court filing or a Truth Social outburst. It is on an empty seat — many empty seats — inside the House Chamber tonight during what was billed as his first formal State of the Union-style address since returning to the presidency.

Reports circulating throughout the day, first broken by Politico and quickly confirmed by The New York Times, CNN and multiple congressional offices, indicate that a sizable and still-growing boycott is underway. As of late afternoon, at least 137 Democratic members of Congress had publicly announced they would not attend the joint session, along with 9 Republicans — a total that surpasses the largest documented boycott of any presidential address in modern history. Several high-profile public figures outside Congress, including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (who will be attending but has said she will “remain seated and silent”), and a number of prominent civil-rights leaders, have also declared they will not be present in the gallery.

The stated reasons vary but converge on a single theme: refusal to “normalize” or “legitimize” what many Democrats and a handful of Republicans describe as an illegitimate return to power following the chaotic 25th Amendment invocation, Vance’s brief acting presidency, Trump’s rapid re-ascension after the Supreme Court’s stay, and the unresolved legal and political questions that still surround his status.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) set the tone in a morning statement: “Tonight is not a celebration of unity. It is a spectacle of division engineered by a man who refuses to accept constitutional limits. We will not provide the optics of normalcy while impeachment articles remain active, while property seizures continue, while grand juries deliberate, and while the country waits for answers about January 6, classified documents, election interference and financial fraud. Absence is a statement. We choose absence.”

Republican defections, though fewer, are arguably more damaging symbolically. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) posted on X: “I respect the office, but I cannot in good conscience sit and applaud while the former president continues to demand loyalty oaths and threaten primaries against those who voted their conscience on the 25th. This isn’t leadership — it’s extortion.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) issued a similar statement: “I will watch from my office. The speech may be official, but the circumstances are not.”

The boycott has sparked intense online debate. #SOTUBoycott and #EmptySeats trended globally within hours, with more than 41 million combined mentions by evening. Progressive users shared side-by-side images of packed chambers during Obama and Biden addresses versus the anticipated sea of empty blue seats tonight. Conservative accounts countered with accusations of “sore-loser behavior” and “disrespect for the presidency,” posting montages of past Democratic boycotts of Trump speeches in 2017–2021.

Trump preemptively attacked the boycott on Truth Social at 11:14 a.m. ET: “137 Radical Left Democrats and a few weak RINOs are BOYCOTTING my State of the Union because they’re SCARED of the TRUTH! They hate America and they hate WINNING. The chamber will still be FULL of REAL patriots. The biggest crowd ever — historic! They can sit home and cry!!!”

The claim of “the biggest crowd ever” drew immediate fact-check notes and ridicule, as the House chamber has a fixed capacity of 435 members plus guests and the galleries hold only a few hundred more. With more than 30% of the House expected to be absent, tonight’s event is projected to be one of the least-attended joint addresses in recent memory.

Acting President Vance, who will deliver his own remarks later this week, declined to comment on the boycott but reiterated in a brief statement: “The State of the Union is a constitutional tradition. All members should honor it.” Behind the scenes, White House aides are said to be furious, viewing the boycott as a deliberate attempt to delegitimize Trump’s return and Vance’s interim leadership.

Security preparations around the Capitol have been heightened. The U.S. Capitol Police, already on edge after recent protests, have activated Level 3 protocols. Metal detectors, additional magnetometers, and K-9 units are in place, and the National Guard remains on standby in the District. Pro-Trump demonstrators began gathering outside the Capitol perimeter at dawn, waving signs reading “Fill the Seats!” and “No Empty Chairs for Victory!” Counter-protesters arrived shortly after, chanting “No King!” and “Accountability Now!”

Late-night hosts are already taping specials. Jimmy Kimmel’s cold open reportedly begins: “Tonight’s State of the Union will have more empty seats than a Monday matinee of Cats. The Democrats are boycotting, some Republicans are boycotting, even the ghosts of January 6 are probably staying home. It’s less a speech and more a séance for a presidency that refuses to die.”

As the sun sets over the Capitol, the question hanging over Washington is no longer whether the boycott will happen — it already has — but how large it will grow and how the images of empty blue seats will shape the political narrative heading into the 2026 midterms. For a former president who once measured success by crowd size and television ratings, tonight’s address may be remembered not for what he says, but for who refuses to listen.