The congressional Gang of Eight convened for a high-level briefing on Iran at 3:00 PM UTC, attended by CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, just hours before President Trump's State of the Union address scheduled for this evening at the U.S. Capitol, according to Jake Sherman citing a source familiar with the matter, reported at 7:16 PM UTC on February 24, 2026. Participants included Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.). President Trump plans to discuss his administration's intentions for Iran during the State of the Union address tonight, according to two White House officials cited by Reuters in a report shared within the 29-minute reporting window ending at 7:45 PM UTC. Separately, Team USA Men’s Hockey arrived at Joint Base Andrews and greeted U.S. troops ahead of their attendance at the State of the Union, as shown in video footage posted by BensonNewsHub during the window. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) stated he will attend the address despite some Democrats skipping it, saying he understands their decision but plans to make a point to President Trump about the administration's failed effort to prosecute him, according to a report by Benjamin Weiss at 7:45 PM UTC. Kelly remarked, “I will be sitting there to make sure that he knows that so far, he has failed and the American people are really not into this.” This briefing follows earlier Pentagon threats against Anthropic over AI safeguards, as reported in the prior 30-minute window, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issuing an ultimatum expiring Friday. President Trump previously provided a U.S. Air Force 757 plane for the USA Men’s Hockey team en route to the event, per Outkick reports from that period.
