Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), Ranking Member on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters earlier following today’s classified briefing on Iran by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “I'm very concerned. Wars in the Middle East don't go well for presidents, for the country, and we have not heard articulated a single good reason for why now is the moment to launch yet another war in the Middle East.”

Recent satellite imagery of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, by the Shanghai-based Chinese intelligence company MizarVision, shows 6 E-3G “Sentry” Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) Aircraft and at least 15 KC-135R/T “Stratotanker” Aerial-Refueling Tankers, with Prince Sultan expected to be a major support base for potential strikes against Iran.

Rep. Mike Thompson of California’s 4th District has been named the Democratic Party’s Designated Survivor for tonight’s State of the Union from President Donald J. Trump.

Germany’s Federal Foreign Office has issued a statement warning Germans in Israel and Lebanon of the “worsening security situation in the region,” urging them to purchase supplies and to familiarize themselves with protection facilities and spaces at every place, while suggesting that in case of airspace closures support options will be limited from the Germany Embassy and Federal Foreign Office, according to the German newspaper Bild.

President Donald J. Trump seen leaving the White House with First Lady Melania Trump ahead of tonight’s State of the Union.

Senior officials are beginning to arrive at the U.S. Capitol ahead of tonight’s State of the Union from President Donald J. Trump, with Vice President JD Vance seen here alongside the Joint Chiefs of Staff, including Chairman Gen. Dan “Raizin” Caine.

President Donald J. Trump arrives and is introduced at the United States Capitol in the lead up to tonight’s State of the Union.

Al Green was again escorted out of the hall after flashing a sign that said “Black people aren’t apes.” He was escorted out of last year’s SOTU due to repeated outbursts during President Trump’s SOTU Address.

According to President Donald J. Trump, the United States has received more than 80 million barrels of oil since new Venezuelan leadership took charge. This announcement follows the significant increase in bilateral cooperation on Venezuela’s oil industry following the capture of Venezuela’s previous President Nicholas Maduro.

President Donald J. Trump advocates for a bill banning stock trading for members of Congress.

Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe and the family of late National Guardsman Specialist Sarah Beckstrom are awarded/presented with the Purple Heart at the SOTUS after being shot in an ambush in Washington, D.C. by an Afghani immigrant, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, last November.

As many predicted, President Donald J. Trump has reiterated his administration’s stance on Iran, saying that they will not be allowed to have nuclear weapons and emphasized the “peace through strength” stratagem championed by the Trump Administration.

Full remarks from President Donald J. Trump regarding Iran during tonight’s State of the Union:

“As President, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must. That's why in a breakthrough operation last June, the United States military obliterated Iran's nuclear weapons program with an attack on Iranian soil known as Operation Midnight Hammer.

For decades, it had been the policy of the United States never to allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. Many decades. Since they seized control of that proud nation 47 years ago, the regime and its murderous proxies have spread nothing but terrorism and death and hate.

They've killed and maimed thousands of American service members and hundreds of thousands and even millions of people - with what's called roadside bombs. They were the kings of the roadside bomb. And we took out Soleimani. I did that during my first term. Had a huge impact. He was the father of the roadside bomb. And just over the last couple of months with the protests, they've killed at least, it looks like, 32,000 protesters. 32,000 protesters in their own country. They shot them and hung them. We stopped them from hanging a lot of them with the threat of serious violence. But this is some terrible people.

They've already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas and they're working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America. After Midnight Hammer, they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program in a particular area - nuclear weapons, yet they continue starting it all over. We wiped it out and they want to start all over again and are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions.

We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’ My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain: I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon. Can't let that happen. And no nation should ever doubt America's result.

We have the most powerful military on Earth. I rebuilt the military in my first term. We're going to continue to do so also, which is to prove the trillion-dollar budget. We have no choice. We have to be strong. because hopefully we will seldom have to use this great power that we built together. It's really called peace through strength, and it's been very, very effective. So thanks to Republicans in Congress, we're investing that record number of dollars, have no choice, in the United States Armed Forces.

We're also creating a lot of jobs, but we're not even doing it for that reason. Because, as I said, we have more jobs, more people working today than ever before in the history of our country. And NATO countries are friends and allies. They are. They're our friends and they're our allies. They’ve just agreed, at my very strong request, to pay 5% of GDP for military defense rather than the 2%, which they weren't paying. We were paying for almost all of NATO. Now they're paying 5 as opposed to not paying 5.”

Video credit: @TheLukeReport

U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover, a Chinook helicopter pilot, was just awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during President Trump’s SOTU Address for his actions under fire during the targeted raid that ended in the capture and extraction of Former Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro in January. An American Legend!

President Trump has now finished his State of the Union Address.

According to AFP, an unnamed Lebanese Hezbollah (LH) official has said that LH will not respond militarily to “limited” U.S. military action against Iran, but caveated the statement by saying that targeted strikes against Iran’s supreme leader will not be tolerated by the group.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel at the Knesset today during his visit to Israel. The visit follows a number of announcements regarding increased cooperation between the two nations, including foreign military sales and economic cooperation. This comes as India struggles to balance its strategic outlook amidst pressure from the U.S. to limit its cooperation with U.S. competitors and adversaries.

Historically, India has “sat the fence” on geopolitical issues and has come under fire from both U.S. Presidents Donald J. Trump and Joe Biden in the past for such an outlook.

According to a release from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), over 30 individuals, assets, and entities that potentiate Iran's petroleum sales and their ballistic missile/advanced conventional weapons production have been sanctioned in a continuation of the "maximum pressure campaign" enacted by the Trump administration. Additionally, OFAC also targeted networks that potentiate the efforts of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).

According to the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT), a fast boat originating in the U.S. was fired upon by Cuban Border Guard surface units after the individuals on the boat fired on them and injured a Cuban commander. As a result, 4 individuals on the vessel were reportedly killed and 6 injured

Approximate location of the recent incident between a vessel originating in the U.S. and the Cuban Border Guard that saw 7 injured, including a Cuban commander, and 4 killed.

Per Kristen Holmes of CNN, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed Vice President JD Vance on the incident between the Cuban Border Guard and a vessel carrying people attempting to extract relatives from Cuba, with Vance saying “Marco (Rubio) briefed me about 15 minutes ago on it, but we don't know a whole lot of details,” Vance said during an unrelated event at WH. "Hopefully it's not as bad we fear it could be. But can't say more, because I just don't know more."